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It is estimated that the average Indian spends about 2.4 hours every day on social media networks and messaging platforms. This comes from Global Web Index’s Social Media trend reports 2019, when more than 2.78 lakh respondents from about 45 different countries where surveyed. The global average was 2.5 hours in 2019.
Most of us scroll down limitlessly on our never-ending Facebook and Instagram feeds, connected on the go in Whatsapp and messenger. But how efficiently do you use social media to improve your skills and boost your career growth? How often do you use LinkedIn when compared to other social media platforms? Probably not as much as you should.
LinkedIn is one of a kind social and professional networking platform which when used wisely, helps in building your career and personal brand. Facebook might be the most popular social media platform out there, but LinkedIn was around even before Facebook.
You probably know all about which filters to use for each occasion when you upload your cool pics into Instagram or Facebook, but that won’t help you much in the real world.
Why LinkedIn?
LinkedIn presents you the opportunity to connect and interact with other professionals and recruiters in any industry. Apart from building your network, you could search for jobs and stay updated about current positions and industry trends. Companies and recruiters use LinkedIn for sharing company information with prospective employees.
As of 2020, LinkedIn boasts of more than 600 million members, with more than 260 million active monthly users. This includes executives from all the Fortune 500 companies. If you are a job seeker, you would be delighted to hear that at any given time, there are more than 3 million active job listings on LinkedIn.
One out of every 20 LinkedIn profiles is a recruiter looking for prospective employees meeting their requirements.
While other social media platforms have more users in the 18-29 years age group, LinkedIn has more users who are in the 45- 64 years age group. This doesn’t make LinkedIn boring or irrelevant for a youngster. It just means that LinkedIn has more seasoned professionals who are in a position to recruit you.
How to Use LinkedIn Effectively?
Leveraging LinkedIn is the best way to boost your career and announce your presence in the digital corporate world, thereby promoting your personal brand and marketing yourself as a prospective employee.
LinkedIn stands apart from other platforms with its ability to filter search results based on metrics such as company, years of work experience, current position and seniority, thereby helping you to build essential business connections and a professional network. Here are some strategies to make the best out of it.
Brush Up Your Profile
Setting up your LinkedIn profile is as simple as setting up any other social media profile. There is one exception though. Be more professional while filling up all the relevant areas to demonstrate your qualifications and skills in the best manner possible. Start with a professional profile picture.
This is said to guarantee 14 times more profile views for the average user.
Update at least five relevant skills and any job experience that you have. Adding your current position brings a fivefold increase to your connection requests. Make sure to craft a genuine summary outlining your accomplishments, career focus, and goals. Don’t forget to use a specific profile headline that reflects your core skills.
Reach Out and Grow Your Network
Start by adding your email contacts and other social media accounts to choose whom you want to connect with. Grow your network by reaching out to former coworkers, teachers, college mates, and people you know from your field of expertise.
Most of us use social media from the perspective of never adding someone on your network unless we know them personally. This is where LinkedIn is different. It isn't an ordinary social network — it is about careers.
You may find it a little jarring when you get connection requests from total strangers who work in similar industries. You may not know them personally, but you have to use it as a networking opportunity to meet new people and build online relationships to pitch your personal brand.
Having as many connections will boost your profile ranking in search results and recruiters will find it more appealing. Add everyone you know and start connecting with people you want to know by sending them a personalized message when you reach out to them for the first time.
Join LinkedIn groups that suit your career and interact with more people. Actively participate and comment on ongoing discussions in those groups and share topics on your newsfeed.
Don’t Hesitate to Self-Promote
If you are an active job seeker looking for new roles, you will have to compete with thousands of others who have similar backgrounds. This is why it is important to make your profile outstanding and appealing for the recruiter.
Nobody wants to fade into the background, be it on LinkedIn or out there in the real world. So, start marketing and self-promoting yourself. LinkedIn is essentially like your online CV and it has an inbuilt resume builder where you can create a customized resume based on your profile which can be edited and updated as many times you want.
Make sure to showcase all your achievements, positions of responsibility, past and current projects, awards, and skills on your profile. One of the salient features of LinkedIn is ‘endorsements’, where your connections can vouch for the skills that you list on your profile.
Don't hesitate to ask previous employers and coworkers for endorsements. You can also start giving endorsements to others in your network so that they might feel obliged to return the favor. Keep in mind that asking for endorsement from people you don’t know well won’t sound that great at first. Build a relationship and then feel free to ask for endorsements.
‘Recommendation’ is another feature on LinkedIn. It’s a written statement of endorsement from a connection and works better than job references in gaining the attention of recruiters. Proactively recommend your connections and concurrently request recommendations from them. Endorsements and recommendations act like references on your online resume and they are tremendously valuable.
Make Your Profile Dynamic
LinkedIn provides you the option to make your profile look more dynamic and authentic by linking your profile with several apps and sites. You can choose to pull in your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile. It also facilitates filtering your tweets based on hashtags so that only professional tweets show up in your LinkedIn profile.
In case you are a writer, designer, photographer, journalist, or any other creative professional, you could benefit by creating a portfolio display to showcase all your major works on your LinkedIn profile. If you are a software engineer or computer programmer, you can choose to use Github to show off your coding and programming skills on your LinkedIn profile.
You can also connect your profile with Box.net or Slideshare to share files, PowerPoint presentations, infographics, and E-books on LinkedIn.
Actively Share Content and Keep Learning
Sharing content and posts regularly and participating in discussions that happen in various groups is a very effective way to make your presence felt on LinkedIn. Keep track of LinkedIn's blog to stay updated on all the latest posts about recruitment and technology. This also keeps you updated about the latest features that they roll out from time to time.
Invest time in producing and sharing valuable content, tag other people on your posts, and use relevant hashtags. While building a portfolio for your work purpose, select topics that are closely related to your specialty or area of expertise.
LinkedIn is full of information that could come handy for your career. Besides posting and reading articles on LinkedIn you can opt to use their dedicated learning platform called LinkedIn Learning. It offers a wide range of courses and learning paths on a variety of subjects. It gives you course suggestions based on your industry background and area of expertise.
Stay LinkedIn
Out of all those hours you spend on other social media platforms, allotting a few minutes every day to polish your LinkedIn profile and staying as an active LinkedIn user can significantly improve your career and life as a professional. It helps you to get ahead in the highly competitive job market and your life ahead.
Written By - Rahul Prem
Edited by - Nidhi Verma
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