New To LinkedIn? Don’t Make These Rookie Mistakes!

LinkedIn is a wonderful resource for anyone who is looking to expand their professional network. Because it is easy to set up and reflects a resume, many of our students find it to be user-friendly and a helpful tool. But just as there are ways to look like a rookie on any social media platform, there are ways to look like a rookie on LinkedIn.  In his article on Careerealism, Don Goodman outlines 4 mistakes that will need to be avoided in order to really make your LinkedIn account shine.

1. You connect with everyone – When establishing a LinkedIn account, it’s easy to go crazy and want to connect with anyone you can think of.  But remember LinkedIn is for networking purposes, so make sure the people you connect with are going to be a positive reflection of you – and that you are a positive reflection for them!
2. Your profile picture isn’t great (or nonexistent!) – Your picture is many times the first impression a fellow LinkedIn user may have of you, so make sure it is clear, professional, and shows how approachable you are. Also keep in mind that many times, if a profile doesn’t have a picture, people will be less likely to accept the connection.
3. Your sub-header doesn’t reflect how awesome you are – Your sub-header shows up in search results, along with your name and picture. Why have something bland, like “Marketing Specialist” when you could be “Marketing Specialist for Non-Profit Organizations With 5 Years Experience”? This conveys much more detail!
4. You didn’t establish how private you want to be – This is especially important for anyone who may be job searching. Tweaking some of your privacy settings can limit how much of your information is shared with others (or not shared with your current employer!)

You can read the full article here: http://www.careerealism.com/linkedin-mistakes-rookie-avoid/

Advertisement

LinkedIn: Taking the Stress Out of Networking Since 2003

LinkedIn: Taking the Stress Out of Networking Since 2003

The link is from our friends over at Education Week, and I love the article because it addresses two concerns that many students- regardless of whether they are education majors or not- face: the stress of networking, and understanding the value of LinkedIn. I think it’s important to reiterate that the value of LinkedIn is it  can reduce the stress that comes with networking. LinkedIn has many ways to find information about employers and companies, which can help you feel better prepared as you walk into a job fair or other networking events. For example, if you can see a list in advance of which companies will be at a job fair, you can search for them on LinkedIn to get a better idea of what their company represents, who some of their recruiters are, and what job listings they may have posted already. Or, if you know the specific person who will be available for questions at a networking event, you can search for them individually, look through their profile, and determine if you have any connections with them- maybe a shared hometown or you have mutual acquaintances. By finding similarities, you’ll feel more comfortable and confident approaching them. Another positive aspect of LinkedIn is the fact that can connect with professionals through groups.  For example, you can join alumni groups or groups for people with similar interests just as a service organization or fraternity. Additionally, many professional organizations, such as Teachers Networking Group or Creative Design Pros-Creative Forum, will help you connect with others in your field, again, finding a common bond and making it easier to reach out to new connections. Networking doesn’t have to be stressful as long as you do your research ahead of time, and LinkedIn will be a great resource for you!

LinkedIn Etiquette

LinkedIn Etiquette

It seems that on many social media platforms, etiquette has gone by the wayside. It’s all too common to use abbreviations, post drunk selfies or food pictures, and unfriend someone just because you don’t like what they post.  If you do these things on your personal site, that’s ok.  Unfortunately, if you do that on your professional LinkedIn profile, it’s not.   Careerealism has a great article on what to expect on LinkedIn and how to be polite about those things. Remember last week we talked a little bit about first impressions? For some people, your LinkedIn profile may be the only impression they have of you. You want to keep that wonderful reputation, right? So follow these rules and you’ll be shining in the spotlight!

10 Reasons Why You Need LinkedIn

10 Reasons Why You Need LinkedIn

In our office, we actively encourage all of our students to create a LinkedIn profile. It doesn’t take long to create, it’ll upload your resume for you, and it makes it so easy to network! Even if YOU don’t know anyone in your field or at your dream company- one of your connections might! Kristin Johnson at Profession Direction, LLC came up with this great list of 10 Reasons Why You Need a LinkedIn Profile. What do you think? Do you have any other reasons?

Using Keywords to Boost Your Views on LinkedIn

Using Keywords to Boost Your Views on LinkedIn

Our friends at USA Today College put together a nice article on using keywords to boost your views and the number of times you come up in search results on LinkedIn. Which prompts the question, what keywords do you use? Do they accurately describe you and where you want to go?

Social Media: It Is My Gift, It Is My Curse

And Thank You to SpiderMan for that awesome quote!

Almost everyone has Facebook nowadays, and most even have Twitter, too. They can be great tools. They remind you to say Happy Birthday. They announce exciting news, like engagements or new jobs. They invite other people to events. You can even use them to find jobs and connect with professionals. You can “like” company Facebook pages to see promotions or breaking news. You can use hashtags (#) to find specific keywords, like #accounting or #Nevada. Putting them together, you can tweet: #Jobsearch in #Nevada for #accounting and see if anyone has tweeted about openings with those key words. OR someone else can see that you used those keywords and reach out to you. Pretty neat, huh?

Unfortunately, there is a downside to social media, too. Unless you keep your privacy settings as tight as possible, others can see you just as well as you can see them! Which means, they can see the status update where you slammed your internship supervisor, they can see the picture of you with a red solo cup (regardless of what is in it) and they can see that you posted a youtube clip of a comedian that uses a lot of profanity. Unfortunately, although an employer shouldn’t be looking for things like this (Facebook announced it goes against their privacy policy), they still do. So be aware of what you post. Untag yourself from pictures if you need to, and make sure people you aren’t friends with can’t see your posts.

However, one form of social media I encourage others to use is LinkedIn. It’s set up a lot like Facebook, and you can use your friends on Facebook and Twitter to find people to connect with. You can join groups and follow companies. You can even upload your resume right onto the page. It’s a much more professional form of social media, and again, you can use it to see if there are job openings. Moreover, employers can search for skills, and if you match what they are looking for, they’ll reach out to you!

Social media can be really helpful as employers shift their sites to hiring with them. However, you also have to make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward!