In this day in age we are all very interactive using the internet. I mean everyone I know has some sort of social media site- even if they’re not “active” they are “looking”. Anyways, if you’re a modern career girl like me, then I hope you’ve jumped on the LinkedIN bandwagon. Believe it or not, not everyone I know has a LinkedIN. Shocking right? I wonder why? Anyways, while I may not know the answer to that question, I do know and have personally witnessed the power of this professional tool so I’m going to share some of the tips I think you should know!
Only connect (or try to) with people you actually know! Now, I know it might sound cool to have 1000 LinkedIN connections but, if you don’t really know them then they’re really not that valuable. Remember that LinkedIN is a professional network and not Instagram or Facebook so it’s not about the quantity but rather about the quality of your connections. I like to pretend that this is sort of a yearbook for my career so that I can look back and see how far I’ve come and where the people I’ve worked with in the past are at in their career at the moment. Trust me when I say, time flies and people change positions very often!!
Make sure your information is updated! Ughhh this is a big one. Unfortunately, many people don’t have their information updated! Don’t be one of these people because you never know who is looking at your profile. I’m serious. Even if you’re not looking for a job you want people to see where you are in your current state. What you do and how far you’ve come. I mean look at it this way. Wouldn’t you get frustrated if you looked someone up and their last position was in 2010 and you know they’re currently employed at a very good company?
Comment and Engage with your connections + share updates about yourself too! This one is important because people don’t like to be used (you wouldn’t either right?). So it’s important to constantly engage with your connections whether that be liking or commenting what they post. It is just as equally important to share updates about what you are doing too. You can do this but just sharing an update or sharing professional news that is relevant to your career would all be good. Just like other social media sites, some people spend time scrolling through their LinkedIN feed and it wouldn’t hurt to have your name pop-up every once in a while- let’s say organically.
Always job search– Ok I know this sounds crazy- especially if you’re happy at your current job but hear me out for a second. I think that it is always important to constantly see what is out there because you just never know if your next opportunity is out there. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are happy at your current job I wouldn’t suggest doing this too often but, looking never hurt anyone right?
Make sure your contact information is clear and accessible- This one is a big one. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across a profile where I just can’t find an email. Now, this might be easy if one of your connections is trying to contact you but, if they’re not connected with you and they want to reach out (say for a cool opportunity) and you don’t have an email easily accessible then how are they supposed to reach you? Believe me, they won’t.
I hope these tips helped you out and it you got anything from them is that LinkedIN is not supposed to be hard. Make it easy on yourself and just spend a few minutes on it here and there and you’ll see how beneficial it can be.
Talk soon!
Love,
Marisol
