Maximising Linkedin for Professional Networking
Thursday 2nd March
Write up by Poppy Flatau
Reflecting on his 10 years of experience at LinkedIn, Alex Charraudeau discussed how to optimise the platform for successful networking and career progression. As a networking organisation ourselves, AWITA acknowledges the potential of LinkedIn in creating valuable connections with other professionals. Our members and collaborators are one of the most valuable assets to the association. Often social media platforms can seem like a minefield, yet Alex has condensed his wealth of knowledge into bitesize tidbits, helping you to find opportunities, information and insight through this platform, resulting in increased success and productivity.
With an excess of 900 million members, creating a valuable voice on LinkedIn is an intimidating feat. Once receiving Alex’s guidance, it became clear on how to generate value as a member on the platform, attracting connections and opportunities.
Starting off simple: when creating a profile it is important to share basic knowledge like your location and educational background. A more crucial step is having a profile picture, which not only gives you more views and interactions, but helps to establish trust when creating connections. As emphasised by Alex throughout, being more personal and genuine is important. A professional headshot is not necessary; if another image rings true to you, then utilise it to boost your personal brand. LinkedIn profiles also include a headline, an opportunity to write a reflection on what you do, and core values you present outside your job title. Being as niche as possible also has benefits, as there is always demand for industry specific expertise.- breaks ice
If actively seeking work, LinkedIn allows this to be highlighted in your profile via a #opentowork banner across your profile picture. LinkedIn does give you the option to hide this from your current employment if this is an issue.
When writing your profile summary, it is best to compare it to an elevator pitch, focusing on career accomplishments and aspirations. It provides an opportunity to highlight your passion and uniqueness; what makes you unique in your specific environment, and which possibilities you can bring to a future profession?
Another great way of spotlighting your individuality is by sharing articles on the site. As expressed by Alex, LinkedIn provides a “great opportunity to create your own thought leadership, and highlight that out to the rest of the world.” Extending your experience further than just a job title can be easily done on LinkedIn, by sharing experience and personal media to create a rich and more dynamic profile. To generate an even wider scope, LinkedIn provides the option for creator mode, which “allows you to showcase content slightly more effectively, and get access to some additional features within the platform that other members may not necessarily receive.” This can really help to build a more personal brand and to refine connections. Alex also suggested listing any volunteering or other hobbies, as a way of further demonstrating your personality, as well as providing an insight into how you operate.
References and recommendations from colleagues are also great additions to your profile, as they bring credibility to your profile and cement your ability to do certain tasks. LinkedIn also provides the option to list achievements and accomplishments, which can be further highlighted.
Linkedin extends much further than simply a job seeking platform. A vast majority of LinkedIn members come to the site for news, information and to gain an understanding of what's happening within their market space. The site therefore creates a great opportunity to be a voice within that sector and demonstrate what’s happening. Alex weighed on the best strategies for sharing information on LinkedIn; the first being updates, which are generally easy to undertake. This includes sharing articles and stories, in which images or quotes can be attached. This is a fantastic way to stay current and to cultivate a more specialised network. When sharing this kind of information, it is important to tag relevant people as interacting with fellow members is likely to be reciprocated.
A more meaningful way to share content on LinkedIn is to publish personal articles, equivalent to a blog. This cultivates your personal voice, demonstrating your expertise and interests. Posting individual status updates on LinkedIn can become part of your profile longer term, as it constantly gets shared to your network, reaching a larger audience online. A succinct headline is key, capturing attention and addressing the audiences needs. It is also important to consider length, tone of voice and desired engagement. Analytics will then show which roles and companies have viewed your content.
To gain the most worthwhile experience from LinkedIn, it is important to tailor your own newsfeed, following companies within your sector that are aspirational and interesting to you. Search filters can also be utilised to find relevant people, content and companies. By customising what you see over time by reporting and unfollowing unwanted content, LinkedIn is instructed to show what most interests you.
Alex kindly shared some additional resouces for after the discussion:
Creators page: https://members.linkedin.com/linkedin-creators-home
Rock Your Profile video: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/rock-your-linkedin-profile/connect-to-opportunity-with-linkedin?u=104
Creator Mode: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a522537
Posting and Sharing content: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a518996
Creating and deleting languages: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a541878/create-or-delete-a-profile-in-another-language