If 86 per cent of those recruiting talent using social media do so on LinkedIn, then it’s a good idea to make your profile as attractive as possible – particularly if you’re looking for media jobs.
Of all of the social networks out there, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most crucial when it comes to enhancing your career or growing your business, as it allows businesspeople to connect to, and network with their peers and people who can help them achieve their career goals.
Simply having a presence on LinkedIn and participating in groups can attract recruiters and freelance clients, so imagine what can be achieved if you explore LinkedIn’s functionality in more depth. By polishing your profile you can make yourself instantly more appealing to potential employers, but that’s a bit of a given. Delve a bit deeper and you can harness the power of groups to communicate with like-minded individuals – you can even speak to people you’re not directly connected to without the need for an introduction and you can use the myriad of integrated apps to pull in information from across the web to keep your posts and profile as up-to-date and relevant as possible.
Profile Power!
Your profile acts as a window to your world and it’s the first thing that recruiters, former colleagues and potential clients will see when they conduct their searches, therefore it’s vital that it looks as good as it can, and functions as well as it can.
By personalising your URL and use the LinkedIn resume builder to make sure your personal information is collated properly and that you are easy to find, is a great way to start; and by making sure your summary is keyword rich; featuring words and phrases that are commonly searched for by recruiters in your sector, you are already on your way to becoming a high-profile candidate.
App Attack!
By utilising the many plug-ins available on LinkedIn you can really begin to make yourself attractive to employers. The Tweets app can pull your Twitter feed into your LinkedIn profile and you can even specify to have only tweets featuring the #in hashtag show up on your profile page. This can help you filter the professional from the non-professional tweets.
The WordPress tool allows you to pull in your own blogs and websites, which again, will give recruiters an idea of what you’re about as well as a feel for your personality. GitHub can help you show off your coding work, while Box.net allows you to share white papers and eBooks with your network, while the Creative Portfolio Display enables members to showcase visual work such as videos, in an easy-to-navigate portfolio.
Go for Groups
The value of groups on LinkedIn cannot be underestimated. They can be used to connect to a myriad of businesspeople and are invaluable for networking and freelancing opportunities. For job hunters, groups – particularly those that are industry specific, can be a veritable goldmine of opportunities as, if other members know you’re on the lookout, you’ll get to know about openings much more quickly than if you were scouring the job boards and by using these spaces to hunt for jobs, recruiters will see you know what you’re doing.
By actively participating in group discussions and connecting with those that are well-connected themselves, your credibility will creep up and you’ll find yourself generating opportunities and developing ideas. By being well connected, by following the right companies and by keeping in touch with your network, you’ll allow yourself to be found, and when you’ve been found, your profile then has to do the work for you…