LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and there are many ways to use the site to reach your goals. No matter if you’re 17 years late to the LinkedIn party, have a profile but can’t remember last time you opened it or you’re an active member, the uses and possibilities outlined below can benefit you as you build, maintain or enhance your LinkedIn profile and engagement.
1. Expand your network.
Although your network may be large, there is always room for more connections, meaningful relationships and value. LinkedIn was designed with a mission to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and with more than 700 million members, your next colleague, employee, client, mentor, sponsor or business partner could be one connection, follow or message away.
2. Maintain contacts and relationships.
When it comes to professional relationships, there’s often a disconnect when colleagues make career transitions. Through LinkedIn you can follow their journey, provide support and celebrate their successes along the way. If you’re someone who networks often, connecting on LinkedIn is a great alternative to collecting business cards. It saves paper, keeps contacts in one place and gives you reminders to stay connected when there’s a birthday, career change or status update.
3. Learn and share news, skills and industry trends.
From industry publications and subject-matter experts to working professionals sharing through native articles and videos, there’s no shortage of knowledge, news, trends and openings on the site. With a global network spanning more than 200 countries, you can easily gain diverse perspectives and stay up to date on what’s happening within your career path locally, nationally and globally. Learn by joining groups, following hashtags and reading LinkedIn News to stay up to date. Share through articles, videos and graphics.
4. Build your skillset.
As you learn about news and trends, the platform also allows you to keep them current through thousands of hours of LinkedIn Learning content. Although users of the array of social media platforms find innovative ways to incorporate learning, the credibility you gain through LinkedIn courses and certifications are unmatched. Many are available free of charge for 24 hours.
5. Keep your skills current.
While using your skills and developing new sets, 15-minute timed skills assessments allow you to test skills added and endorsed on your profile with 15-20 questions based on core competencies. It’s a great way to see if you’re really as skilled in areas that may not be a to priority for your role. If you score 70% or higher, you’re considered to be proficient and will have the option to display a badge on your profile. If you don’t pass the assessment, your profile will remain unchanged and you’ll have another opportunity to take the quiz three months later.
This is a new feature in the testing phase, and it doesn’t currently allow you to view detailed results outlining the questions answered incorrectly. For the assessments I’ve completed so far, I took screenshots of questions I was unsure of or didn’t know the answer to. I was then able to access some of those free LinkedIn Learning courses offered at no cost for 24 hours. I anticipate improvements coming soon. The assessments are also currently limited to tech, business and design skills with plans for more to become available in the future.
6. Track your performance highlights.
Many professionals don’t think about updating their profile or résumé until they are seeking or applying for new positions. Tracking performance highlights and successes as you achieve them better positions you for potential opportunities. Your experience section on LinkedIn should prioritize accomplishments over responsibilities. When you or your team set a record, launch a new program or product or make any significant achievement, Linkedin is a perfect place to document it and add the news release or post created by your organization or external media to show credibility. When you update your profile according to your performance you’ll have an easier time sharing them when it’s time to explore new opportunities.
7. Explore and apply for jobs or candidates.
Whether you’re looking to make a career transition tomorrow, next year or five years from now, LinkedIn can help you on your search. If you’re in the latter two categories or don’t have any plans to leave your current company yet, exploring job opportunities that align with your current role, the next level up or your dream career can help you assess the skills you are confident in, what you need to improve and those that you need to add. Added skills are especially important if you’ve been in your industry or role for more than five years. As roles and responsibilities connected to job titles change, it’s important to know which skills are priority for new hires to ensure that yours are up to date. Job Alerts can help you stay in the know on job openings based on your desired location and the Easy Apply feature makes submitting your application as simple as a few clicks. It’s much quicker if your profile and résumé are up to date, of course. Following hashtags like #NowHiring can also help you find openings.
For those hiring, the millions of potential candidates on LinkedIn, makes it the easiest place to search, screen and contact candidates in one place before moving the conversation to email. If you’re seeking candidates for a position, your listing should definitely be posted to attract professionals that are looking.
8. Get inspiration.
No matter what level you’ve reached in your career, inspiration is something that should never be lost. Whether you’re an entry level professional working to rise to the ranks of a Vice President or CEO, a corporate professional planning to transition or weave entrepreneurship into your career or a C-Suite leader looking to better understand the experiences and motivations of employees firsthand, LinkedIn is a great place to find inspiration.
9. Gain exposure and opportunities.
Being an active member of LinkedIn allows you to gain exposure among your peers and leaders in your industry and beyond. This is important because you could be the perfect candidate for a job, panel, advisory council or a variety of other opportunities. The more engaged you are, the more you will be noticed.
How are you using LinkedIn on your professional journey? What areas are you planning to be more engaged? Share in the comments below or on social media wherever you’re active. Join me over the next several weeks as I guide you through a LinkedIn Audit and share tips to help you maintain your profile and better engage your network on the platform.
I’m looking forward to engaging with you over the next few weeks and seeing you shine on LinkedIn.
(Virtual) Hugs & Handshakes,
Jasmine C. Tate
