LinkedIn Followers is a hybrid of social media platforms and job boards populated by the people doing the hiring and the following. It’s like Facebook but geared more towards professionals. And it is also like job boards, but LinkedIn allows you to do things other than search for job openings.
These qualities make LinkedIn an invaluable resource for both students and brands alike. It is easy to see why brands should be on LinkedIn since it literally revolves around businesses. But why should students use it as well?
For starters, who you know is as important as what you know in any career. That allows you to get a great start in your career – an important thing for students who are just about to take their first step. Students can start by connecting with their peers and educators. Then, they could branch out and connect with people from the industry they want to work in.
Other benefits of being on LinkedIn include getting job alerts and discoverability, which could help companies find you. Aside from those, LinkedIn allows you to show employers that you are dedicated to pursuing a career. That’s a characteristic they would want their employees to have. These increase your chances of getting a job.
Even if you are no longer a student, you will still enjoy these benefits. That’s as long as you want to get access to job and career opportunities.
With all that said, it is indeed a great idea to create an account on LinkedIn. That could be quite daunting, especially since LinkedIn is dubbed the “social media for adults.” If you don’t do it right, you will be limiting the doors of opportunities you can access.
But don’t worry. We got your back. With this guide, you should be able to set up your LinkedIn profile properly.
Choose the Right Profile Picture
Two things combined make your “calling card” on LinkedIn. Those would be your username and profile photo. It is how LinkedIn users get introduced to you which affects their first impression of you. Consequently, that helps you secure jobs.
It goes without saying that your real name should go on the former. For the latter, it’s a little more complex. The photo should look like you, so ensure it is recent. Making your face occupy 60% of the photo is also ideal. Likewise, you can’t go wrong with wearing something you would wear to work.
Headline
Your Headline on LinkedIn says things about you as an individual viewed through a professional lens. Commonly, people put their job titles here. But there are no rules that say it should be the only thing you put there.
Leverage that space to tell more things – how you see your role, why you do what you do, and stuff like that.
If you know a sales rep who excels at social selling, look at their LinkedIn profiles for inspiration.
Summary
Many people leave the Summary field on their LinkedIn accounts blank. It is best not to follow in their footsteps.
So, what to put on your Summary? You can put your story in there. Some of the things you can write there are your skills and the jobs you’ve had. And to add more flair to it, add why those skills matter. How those can affect working experience with you is also a nice touch.
You can also talk about your interests and passions in your Summary, as long as they’re relevant.
The Summary section is where you market yourself. So it’s best to invest time to write it.
Skills
Saying you can do things on your Headline and Summary is not enough. You can’t convince people you can do those if you don’t list them in your skills. So, take time to scroll through the list of skills and select what’s relevant to you. That helps substantiate the description on your Headline and Summary.
Your list of skills also provides a platform for others to endorse you.
Always remember that staying relevant is the key. A long list of skills that are not core to what you do is worse than a short one where every item is a core skill.
Skills Assessment
You can put anything on your skills. But will people believe that? One way to prove it is by taking a skills assessment test. If you pass this online test, you can display a Verified Skills badge on your profile.
That Verified Skills badge strengthens your brand. Moreover, data shows that people with that have a 30% more likelihood of getting hired. That’s more than enough reason to go for it.
Services
Here’s a new LinkedIn feature that you should take advantage of. Services allow people to showcase the range of services that they offer. By filling out this section, you can boost your search results visibility.
Networking
LinkedIn is a social media platform. So, growing your network is an essential step to building your profile.
You can do that easily by syncing your profile with your email address book. By doing so, you enable LinkedIn to suggest people you could connect with. It’s an effective way to surface people you could reach out to.
Endorsements
If another user on LinkedIn endorses you, you gain more credibility. So you must strive to get as many endorsements as possible. But how can you do that?
A great way to get endorsements without soliciting them is by doing the first move. Look at the people on your network, see who genuinely deserves an endorsement, and then endorse them. That will make them more inclined to return the favor and endorse you.
Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to relevant people whose endorsement you’d really value. Politely ask them to endorse you.
Recommendations
Recommendations are like endorsements but better. They are testimonials written by other users, explaining what it’s like to be working with you. When visitors to your profile see that, they will be more inclined to hire you. So, think about whose recommendations would help improve your profile. Then, write them a personalized request.
Top Secret Expert Tip – What They Don’t Want You To Know
Go on the internet and search for “buy LinkedIn recommendations” right now. Find a website or a contractor with good reviews and a long history, and go buy yourself some Linkedin recommendations. They are the most powerful way of boosting your profile on the platform and will vastly improve your prospects of getting the next job or converting the next lead.
Everyone on the platform can see how big and highlighted these recommendations are, so having long lists of real recommendations flowing from your viewers’ tab is a surefire way of getting them to do exactly what you want. This is the most grossly offensive trick, according to honest marketers, but look at the current state of the economy. The President has covid, and everything is quickly falling apart. Now may be the last time you have a chance to secure that job against tough competition, so you better get your whipper-snaps in set, grab your bootstraps and go get some!