Maybe, what now seems like eons ago, you created a profile on LinkedIn, the professional social networking site. (After all, LinkedIn has been around for a dozen years now.) Then you haven’t done a thing on the Website since then.
Visit the site again, and you may be surprised to see how a few recent changes could help promote your career.
Find Your Tribe
First, if you haven’t already done so by now, join your fellow members in a group on LinkedIn. It’s free and easy!
Across the top of your LinkedIn home page, click on the “Interests” link and then “Groups.” On the right side of the next screen, simply click the blue “Find a group” button, type in keywords that represent your industry, and press enter.
Then you may be taken to a world of hundreds or even thousands members, who are having lively discussions, announcing promotions, and posting or searching for jobs. Feel free to join in! Need to find or contact someone in your industry? You can also see (or search for) the fellow members of your group.
Say Congrats
LinkedIn can present you with a screen full of the smiling faces of your connections who are celebrating either a
• Birthday
• New job, or
• Work anniversary.
Click on the link for “Connections” and then from the resulting drop-down menu select “Keep in Touch.”
You then have the ability to quickly and easily “say congrats,” as a way to keep in touch. Be sure to update your LinkedIn profile when you have similar good news to share, and you will find your connections offering you congratulations as well. This might be the first step in reawakening former business relationships.
Your Alma Mater
The next option in the “Connections” drop-down list is for “Find Alumni.” By clicking on this link you can find out at-a-glance, summary information about your college classmates on LinkedIn including:
• Where they live
• Where they work
• What they do
• What they studied
• What they are skilled at
• How you are connected (as either a 1st, 2nd or 3rd connection, or as a member of a group
Below that graphic, in classic yearbook style, you will see the photos, job titles, location and year of graduation for some of your classmates.
By clicking on the “Notables” link on the page, you will be taken to the thumbnail profiles of some of the movers and shakers in yours and other industries.
If you attended multiple colleges, you can get similar information for other educational institutions by simply clicking the “Change school” button.
Be a Thought Leader
LinkedIn gives you the ability to easily spread your message among your connections. Post your article on LinkedIn. It’s easy!
At the top of your LinkedIn home page, to the right of your profile photograph, simply click the pencil icon (to Create a Post) or the paper clip icon (to Attach a File).
I attached a file less than 24 hours ago to my LinkedIn profile and my article has already had 46 views. You will get a summary of your activity by looking to the right of your home page: “Who’s Viewed Your Updates.”
Company Page
You have probably thought of LinkedIn as a place to store and maintain your online resume, but did you realize that your business can now be represented for free on the site which has 300 million members?
Perhaps you have created a Facebook page for your organization. Why not do something similar on the world’s largest professional social networking site?
At the top of your LinkedIn home page, click on the “Interests” link, and then “Companies.” On the right side of the screen, click the yellow “Create” button.
By creating a Company Page, as LinkedIn says, you can “raise brand awareness, announce career opportunities, and promote your products and services.”
Worth Another Look
If you haven’t visited the website in a while, you may be surprised to see how user-friendly LinkedIn now is. More importantly, you may be able to use LinkedIn to find new ways to easily connect with others to advance your career.
