LinkedIn for those of you who may be new to the social network, launched in 2003 and is currently the third most popular social network in terms of unique monthly visitors - just behind Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn is primarily centred around careers and it enables users to connect and share content with other professionals, including colleagues as well as potential employers, business partners, and new employees.
Here is Switchboard Media's TOP TWENTY PROFESSIONAL LINKEDIN TIPS to help you become a LinkedIn Wizard.
Keep ALL information up-to-date
Specifically your headline (text under name), your current job position, education and address/contact information. Be sure to include your email, telephone number, social links and website (if you have one).
Profile picture
It is very important to add a clear, professional and up-to-date profile picture. After all, you never know who might see it.
Create a cover image
This adds colour and personality to your page. It may also help other users to remember
you. LinkedIn specifies that your cover photo must be a JPG, PNG, or GIF file under 8MG in size and should have a resolution of 1400 x 425 pixels for the best look.
Turn on Notify your network
Doing this will inform your followers about future updates you make to your profile.
Sections
Add as many relevant sections to your profile as possible. Adding more information will improve your search rank score.
You can also add, remove and rearrange entire sections of your profile. LinkedIn enables you to reorder entire sections of your profile in any way you prefer. When in edit mode,
hover your mouse over the double-sided arrow in each section. Your mouse will turn into a four-arrowed icon, at which point you can click, then drag and drop to another position on your profile.
Customise your public profile URL
Make your personal profile look more professional (and much easier to share) by customizing your LinkedIn public profile URL.
Post
Create occasional posts (no more than 1/day, to avoid spamming). LinkedIn posts should be kept professional. Limit hashtags and double check your spelling. Attach media & share posts to Twitter for optimum exposure.
Summary
Include a compelling summary to give users a quick glance at who you are. Include your skills, and passions but keep it concise. You might want to upload a video here to do the talking for you.
Experience
Add your relevant experience, but keep it sensible, users may not want to know about your 6+ swimming certificate. Add info like dates, links to company pages and a detailed description of your experiences. Add a variety of media such as videos, images,
documents, links, and presentations to the Summary, Education, and Experience sections of your LinkedIn profile. This enables you to showcase different projects, provide samples of your work, and better optimize your LinkedIn profile.
Skills
Get endorsed for your skills. Back in 2012, LinkedIn launched a feature called
Endorsements, which enables users to endorse their connections for skills they’ve listed in the Skills section of their profile - or recommend ones they haven’t yet listed. These endorsements then show up on your profile within that same Skills section.
We recommend endorsing your connections and colleagues from time to time.
Notifications
Check your notifications feed periodically for a quick snapshot of what your connections are up to and sharing.
Check who has viewed your account
This feature (found at the top of the page) gives insight to who has checked you out. These might be potential leads, existing clients or colleagues who wish to connect with you. It is always worth following these users up.
Adjust your privacy settings
Visit your Settings (click your thumbnail image in the top right and click Manage next to
Privacy & Settings) and click Select what others see when you've viewed their profile under Profile >> Privacy Controls. Make sure you check off the Your name and headline (Recommended) option.
Education
Add detailed information about your education. This will help users better understand your current career level. This is also a great place to showcase specific skills you have learnt whilst at college or university.
Personal Details & advice for contacting you
These sections should be kept up to date at all times. (You can choose what
personal details you wish to display).
Additional information
Here you can personalise your account (within reason). Add your interests, chosen sports and general qualifications, such as first aid or lifeguard training. You can continue by adding more information about yourself, including any honour or awards you may have been entered into or won. You can also add publications, volunteer job information, projects you have helped work on and any additional languages you might speak.
Certifications
Here you can include certifications you may have achieved. Remember to link to the company who provided the certification and include a date to add legitimacy to your certificate.
Search techniques
Change up your search technique to find new connections. For example, searching for a specific company like TXM and then sorting by “Relationship” willbring up any first- or second-degree connections you have to any TXM employees.
Groups
Use groups to receive notifications about specific subjects, businesses & sectors. Following groups that are similar will also increase your profile exposure. It is recommended you follow all pages that your company is affiliated with as to improve your profile exposure.
Let our infographic graphically inform you.
