The king of professional and business networking online is LinkedIn. Therefore the your first step in networking online should be to create your LinkedIn profile.
Why is LinkedIn so important?
LinkedIn has now become one of the most important websites for finding a job. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to connect with a company or a person within that company directly. Recruiters are actively recruiting via LinkedIn and they could well be looking for you, so you need to stand out from the crowd.
If you already have a profile, let’s do a LinkedIn audit. If you don’t have have a profile yet, take a note of what’s important.
How is your photo? Up to date? Having a good photo that you use across all networks says something about you. It says that you are a professional and care about your public image.
Have you claimed your public profile URL? Claim your public profile URL so you can promote your profile in your CV, email signature, business card, blog etc, in an attractive and easy-to-read format.
Is your professional headline up to date? Your headline should succinctly say what you are all about, what you are looking for right now and your future goals.
Is your summary up to date? If your summary is not good then recruiters won’t even take a look at the rest of your profile.
Is your experience up to date? Just like your CV, it’s important to keep LinkedIn up to date at all times.
Are you using applications? Do you have a blog? Are you using the blog application? Have you added the Amazon application to show you which books you’re reading?Make your profile that little bit more personal by adding an application.
Do you have an uneven number of recommendations? Do you have more recommendations than you have given out? That’s a good sign that you are a well-liked reliable individual. Get as many recommendations as you can!
Have you imported your your email contacts? Import all your email contacts to make sure your email acquaintances are also your LinkedIn connections.
Have you customised your email invitations? ‘I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn’ is the standard message receives. Change it and stand out!
LinkedIn keyword research
A recruiter searching for the right candidate on LinkedIn is going to use certain keywords. You therefore need to be aware that everything in your headline and in your summary needs to be full of the keywords that recruiters are likely to be looking for.
You probably know some of the words that should be associated with roles you want, such as marketing, executive, creative, accountant, sales. etc. However, you need to appreciate that there are a lot more keywords surrounding these words that different people will search.
One great way of doing this is to use www.wordle.net as follows:
- Find a few job postings for the kind of jobs you are looking for.
- Copy and paste them all into Wordle to see instantly which are the most commonly used keywords within the job listings.
- Ensure these keywords are covered in your current job title, status, your summary and your experience.
Finally, remember to insert an email address and a phone number so you can be contacted..
How to build your LinkedIn network
If you add just the people you know already on LinkedIn, chances are you won’t get much beyond 100 connections. However, in most cases, you should expand your network to its maximum. The further your reach, the greater exposure you have to opportunities.
You have to be careful about adding the right people because if too many people, in response to your invitation, click ‘I don’t know this person’, then there’s a risk that LinkedIn will delete your profile without any warning.
Try to get 500 connections as quickly as possible and then be more strategic about who you add.
You should also search under ‘TopLinked’ for groups and then request to join them. When you have been accepted then you’ll be able to download a ‘CSV’ file. You can then invite people and they will accept you with no questions asked.
Having a large network also means that you’ll be able to connect with more people through second – and third-degree connections.
How to stand out from the crowd and get noticed
You need to show your worth!
Join groups and answer questions. This will give you green stars on your worth. Join as many groups as you can and answer questions, or start up your own group. This will give you a green star on your profile.
Identify and connect with recruiters. What is your target market? Identify who could recruit you. Who can make that decision? You first need to know what companies you want to work for. Then you need to find out who is hiring at the company. Now, check what groups they or their close connections are active in. Who has influence on that person? Perhaps it is the founder of the company if they are an SME. The goal is then to is to persuade the hiring manager to hire you. Do not try adding them before offering them some value.
The default setting on LinkedIn is that if you join a group, you allow other members of that group to contact you. Also, in groups, you’ll find job postings relevant to that group.
Other things you should do
Always make your profile public. If you don’t you won’t get noticed – it’s as simple as that!
You should always have a photo, but don’t add a photo of you in the pub with your mates holding a pint, or a photo of yourself on the beach in a bikini, unless you want a job as a bikini model of course. It should be a headshot, looking as professional as possible.
Try and personalise your ‘invitation to connect’ message. LinkedIn is a social network, so be social.
Next week I’ll be looking at cover letters.
