In reading each item you can get an idea of how you will interact with the LinkedIn system.
How to Effectively Use LinkedIn:
The LinkedIn System
1. After signing up, fill out your personal profile as completely as possible. Your profile will reflect your personal goals and career aspirations.
2. It might help to learn from any personal friends you may have who already use LinkedIn.
3. Strengthen your profile by getting involved with those “Questions and Answers” you can answer. Look at the “Answers Application” on your home page and outline your areas of subject matter expertise .
4. To keep up with the “Questions and Answers” pick answer categories and get the RSS email feeds. Now you will not have to go to LinkedIn to become involved
5. To give you an indication of your profile’s completeness, look at the bar graph on the right side of your screen – this will tell you the percentage of profile completeness.
6. There is also a linkage for your Twitter and blog accounts from within LinkedIn to bring some closure to your use of the Internet in your social networking.
7. If you are looking for a job, you can indicate that – but realize that anyone can read that, even your current employer.
8. Your professional presentations can be shared in your account using a widget called ‘slideshare.’
9. Ensure your own company has a LinkedIn profile. That your company is ‘searchable’ means job seekers and contact seekers can see what industry you serve in.
10. You can use your contacts to provide survey or market information to help you or your company plan or make decisions.
11. Just as you have set aside part(s) of your day to respond to emails, you should link LinkedIn announcements to your email – and you should set aside some time on a regular basis to perform your LinkedIn tasks.
12. It is great that you directed implementation of a talent management program in your company which saved $XX million dollars. A simple statement of this along with some valuable experience you gained is preferable to ‘blowing your own horn!’
13. Your personal SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be enhanced by listing your LinkedIn address in your email, listing your blog and its link in your LinkedIn profile, and
Social Networking with LinkedIn
1. When you read an article you liked or enjoyed, you can search for the author and establish a social network connection. A personal communication would not hurt.
2. Join professional LinkedIn groups which relate to what you do now and those to which you aspire. If a group does not exist to capture your interest, start your own group, and you will enjoy meeting and greeting new group members.
3. One way to let people know what you are doing is to click “What you are working on.”
4. You should not make contacts blindly, so you should access your trusted contacts and ask them to provide some names of their trusted contacts for you. Do not make contacts with the “Get introduced through a connection” selection.
5. When your contacts announce achievements, let them know you are celebrating them, too.
6. Ask those who know you best to write you recommendations to post in your profile – because social networking is not all ‘getting,’ be sure to offer recommendations to others. You might also offer to “trade” recommendations with your trusted contacts. Your profile will never be complete unless you have three recommendations.
7. You have not always been a social networker – use LinkedIn to find former colleagues and co-workers with whom you wish to re-establish contact.
8. LinkedIn is not a social networking site for non professionals. Its strength is that it permits you to advertise your qualifications to other professionals, thereby enhancing your professional reputation.
9. If you are trying to connect with a person you do not know, use your personal contacts (particularly easy if your contact works in the same company as your ‘proposed’ new contact.
10. Distinguish between LinkedIn contacts you have physically met or with whom you have communicated. You will use them first if you need advice.
11. When you answer someone’s question from “Questions and Answers,” learn what you can from that person’s profile and send a message from you which may offer more information. Who knows – maybe you will establish a two-way relationship with that person.
12. When you look into an RFP at a company, search that company for LinkedIn members whom you might know or members you might contact for inside information about the RFP.
13. You cannot know everything, so posing the right question can introduce you to SMEs who are willing to share their expertise. Be sure to expand your network with contacts who are SMEs in areas you have an interest in acquiring expertise.
14. Use LinkedIn to identify vendors who offer expertise in areas you do not. This knowledge will mean you will not have to admit personal ignorance on any topic.
15. To manage my contacts I use Time and Chaos (Isbister.com), There is an interface between T&C and my Gmail to keep my client/contact email addresses up to date. T&C allows me to keep track of dates of contact and other information can be kept in fields I control.
16. Politicians review their contacts so names and faces will remain fresh. If a contact is important to be added to your list, that person should be contacted on a regular basis to keep the connection fresh. Perhaps you could send an update on your professional successes – or even that you are getting married!
17. You can review the statistics of your account by seeing how many visitors you had in a given period of time. This is just one minor indication of a possible ROI for your LinkedIn activity.
Recruiting – for the job seeker
1. If you are recruiting, you can search LinkedIn for appropriate applicants.
2. The better the profile, the better the job opportunities.
3. If you are using LinkedIn to find a job, put in your resume.
4. Try to link to all professional groups in which you are interested.
5. If the profile is not complete or does not answer the recruiter’s needs, it will be rejected.
6. Give the profile scrutiny the time devoted to an elevator speech. If perusing a resume takes about 30 seconds, why would a recruiter spend more on your profile?
