I’m on LinkedIn – Now What?

Setting up your profile is only the first step in using LinkedIn for professional networking.  To make the most out of your profile you will need to take advantage of everything the site has to offer.  This article covers some of the tips and tricks that will put you one step ahead of the competition.

PERSONALIZATION:

Personalize your URL.  LinkedIn will automatically assign your account a url address but to make yourself easier to find change it from the default to a personal one.  If your name is Jane Smith try something like, www.linkedin.com/janesmith.  If it’s already taken try putting in a number or middle initial, www.linkedin.com/janesmith1.

Add a picture to your profile.   Remember this is a professional site and your photo should reflect that.  It’s a good idea to use the same photo on for other professional sites you belong to.  And while you don’t have to change your picture every time you get a haircut it’s a good idea to update it at least once a year to keep it current with how you look.

COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE:

Simply adding your personal and professional information does not complete your profile.  When you are in edit mode you will see a percentage indicating how complete your profile is.  It is said that having a 100% complete profile increases your chance of appearing higher in a search.  In order to have a 100% complete profile you need:  a current position, two past positions, education, profile summary, a photo, specialties and at least three recommendations.

ADDING CONNECTIONS:

Theoretically, the more connections you have the bigger your professional network but keep in mind that this is not like other social networks, you don’t need to ‘friend’ or in this case ‘connect’ with anyone and everyone.  In fact, LinkedIn suggest that you only connect with people you know.   If you want to connect with someone you don’t know because you share an industry or are alumni from the same college or whatever the reason that’s up to you. Be careful though, if five people complain about you trying to connect with them and not knowing you, you may be blacklisted.

When requesting a connection try not to use the default invitation.  It’s generic and shows little effort on your part.  You should tell the person why you want to connect, what is the ROI (return on investment) for them, what is it that “connects” you to this person?  An example:  Mary, I really enjoyed getting to meet you at the conference and found your ideas on increasing employee morale very interesting.  As another HR professional, I’d like to connect with you so that we might continue to share ideas and learn from one another.

On the other hand, you don’t have to accept every request to connect either.  If you know of them or are in the same industry you may want to make the connection.  But if there is no relevant reason to connect you can decline the request.  Do it politely so as not to offend.  You could say, “Thank you for your interest in making a connection.  Unfortunately I am not familiar with you and have made it my policy to connect only with individuals I know personally.  Perhaps in the future we may be able to collaborate on a professional level.”  That should do it.

RECOMMENDATIONS – MAKING THEM AND ASKING FOR THEM

Part of building your profile and solidifying yourself as an expert in your field is having your connections recommend you.  If you recommend someone they may recommend you back.  If you make a recommendation it will ask the recipient is they want to recommend you back.  Sometimes your connections will proactively recommend you but if they don’t you can always go ahead and ask them for a recommendation.  Example:  “John, I really enjoyed working with you on the business proposal.  The response was overwhelming and I’m looking forward to the next step.  I was hoping that based on our collaboration on the project you would consider writing me a recommendation on LinkedIn.”  Remember, you can’t expect to receive recommendations without making them.

GROUPS

LinkedIn has a groups feature that allows you to join groups to connect with others that have the same profession, interest and ideas.  It’s a good idea to join groups and be an active part of the LinkedIn community.  Join in discussions, answer questions and post your own news and updates.  Joining groups can also expand your network and opens the door for making new connections. 

APPLICATIONS

You can add applications to your profile including presentations, links to your blog, twitter updates, upcoming travel, market polls and events.

OTHER TIPS:

Put some power words behind your name, it could be your title, a short description etc.  It will make you stand out.  Go to edit profile and edit your name.  After your last name put a comma and whatever keywords or descriptors you want to use.  Now your name will appear like this:  Jane Smith, Dedicate Animal Advocate.  You are limited to 40 characters so you might need to get creative.

There are character limits.  Your professional headline is limited to 120 characters, your summary 2,000, specialties 500 and status update 140.

It has been suggested that you should include common mis-spellings or phonetic variations of your name.  This way if someone is trying to find you and doesn’t know how to spell your name you have a better chance of being found.  Where to put this information is the problem.  I’ve seen it suggested to include it in your summary but that not only takes up valuable space it also will look odd.  Another option would be to include it at the bottom of your profile in the additional information section.  You can add it to the interests area or the honors and awards section.  This way it won’t be as noticeable.

Drag and drop your profile suggestions to highlight your best information.  It is very likely that someone will not read all the way through to the bottom of your profile so to get the key information up front you can reorder the sections.

Use the free LinkedIn Browser Toolbar, you can find it at the bottom of any LinkedIn page, to the right of the “Tools’’ heading.  If are looking for a job on Craigslist, CareerBuilder, or Monster the toolbar will tell you the people in your network that work at that particular company.

Use LinkedIn to research the people who will be interviewing you.  You may find a common interest that will let you connect with your interviewer.

You can save your profile as a pdf by clicking on the pdf icon located in the top right of your profile.

Put your LinkedIn URL on your resume, CV, blog, etc.  Include it in your email signature.

Go to the settings tab at the very top right of your profile and make sure your profile is set to display full profile information, so that it’s accessible to search engines.

ContempoResume specializes in creating customized resumes and social networking profiles.  If you think your LinkedIn profile needs an overhaul send it to info@contemporesume.com for a FREE profile analysis.