How You Can Use LinkedIn Effectively For Your Career Advancement
By Michaela Acuyado
Are you familiar with the online platform LinkedIn? If yes, then you are lucky! Why? Because this platform LinkedIn can help you advance in your career. Yes! You read it correctly. Who doesn’t want to advance in his or her career? I bet all of us are dreaming of that too. Now, thanks to LinkedIn, we can easily do that!
First. “Create your LinkedIn Profile.”
Creating your profile may take some of your time but be patient and determined to do it. Everybody nowadays wants instant happening or results but the reality is, things don’t always happen that way. So work hard on your LinkedIn profile. Nothing comes easy when we want to achieve great results.
Tips in Creating LinkedIn Profile
- Profile Picture
Upload a profile picture that shows your professional and formal side. Don’t just upload a selfie of yourself. Companies or recruiters or other people in LinkedIn are expecting someone who has this kind of mature and formal look. They prefer to connect or hire people when they see a profile picture that overviews the professionalism of that certain someone. They want someone that can be trusted. So be careful and put a proper judgment on your profile picture. They say “a picture is worth a thousand words”, so make sure in your profile picture it describes you as a great person.
- Bio
What comes in your mind when you hear or read the word “Bio”? Well, this simply means your “Biography”. It describes the things about you. So when making your bio, you have to make sure that you really are describing you. You tell a story about who you are and how wonderful you are as a person. It can also tell what your interests are in life and what you want to do in life, your values and advocacies. Or this bio could tell a summary of your achievements in life. Well, it’s up to you. But always bear in mind this describes you, so make a very nice description of yourself but be careful not to falsify it.
- Experiences
This part requires you to enter all your carer experiences or your work/job history. In doing this remember all your jobs that you have worked for, the names of the company, address, your position and your job description and the years you have worked there. You can also include the achievements or awards you have received while working in that particular company. You do a list starting from your current or current job so employers can directly see in your profile where you are now.
It really doesn’t require you to put all your job history but just an advice, make sure to put job history that you think might interest potential employers or connections to connect with you.
- Education
This part requests you to input your educational background. In inputting your education background, please make a complete details about it. The complete name of the school as well as its address and the degree you have taken there as well the years you have stayed there. You can also put all your achievements while studying and anything that you feel you are proud doing in that school.
Most employers become interested when they see a famous school so they will check more on you. The value of the school’s name can really help you.
- Licenses, Certifications, Achievements
In this area, you have to upload your licenses and certifications, if you have any. This adds more value to your LinkedIn profile. Having a portfolio of these can entice employers and connections to check more on you and connect with you. So be sure, if you can, have yourself a professional license or collect certifications and awards or any achievements. You can collect certifications by attending training, workshops and seminars. Also, you can receive certification by joining a contest or being a valuable contributor or leader in the community or in a special project or passing an exam.
“Great achievement always requires great sacrifice.” – Robin S. Sharma
- Skills & Endorsements
This part is also very important. You have to know yourself better so you can understand what you are able to do and what you can’t. This part highlights your skills, your abilities and the things that you are proud you can do.
Be sure to list all skills that you have and focus on putting the most valuable or useful skills that you have. Remember again, no false record please!
- Interests
This part shows what companies or posts you have liked and follow on LinkedIn. So basically, it shows your interests. So if most of what you are following are groups of photographers, then it can be said that you are into photography or you are interested in that thing.
Make sure to like or follow only things that
are appropriate so it wouldn’t minus your
profile and credentials.
Second. “ Connect.”
When you connect to people on LinkedIn, make sure to connect to those people you think might help you in advancing your career or those people you admire and you want to follow their footsteps.
Well, it seems hard to do because you might think “Who am I to connect to this person, I am just a nobody.He/She will not care about my request” Yeah. You are right. But there is nothing wrong if we try to connect to people. In one way or another, we can help or that person can help us. Having connections is one of the most useful tools nowadays in career advancement. So we really need to do it. We just try. There’s no harm in trying. I assure you that everyone in LinkedIn wants also to have a lot of connections so don’t be shy. You can do it and you have to do it. The more connections you have the greater the chance of career advancement.
Why? Because your connection/connections can be of help to you in doing your work/job or in a special project you are up to. They can also help you land a job or your dream job or dream company because they can recommend you.
In sending connection requests, remember to be professional and courteous and be friendly ofcourse.
“If only you can sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dreamed of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” – Fred Rogers
Third. “ Post”.
This is also very much helpful because when you make a post and share it online, you are making yourself a name in the online world and people who can read your post will know you and acknowledge your skills and abilities. They can even look up to you. Your post adds value to your credentials by the story and content you share.
Also, when you practice doing this always, you are telling the employers or your connections of your active presence and what you are able to do so. Many people advance in their career through writing and sharing posts on LinkedIn. It will help you show your personal brand.
“The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The difference between the two is the difference between living fully and just existing.” – Michael E. Gerber
