Creating a Positive Online Presence – Using LinkedIn
With all the positive talk and equal amount of negative reviews about social media, it’s hard to tell whether or not a person should partake in these online communities. On the one hand, by creating a profile in a professional networking site, such as LinkedIn, you allow yourself simple access to hundreds of people and companies that share similar interests in your profession or industry.
At the same time, being part of an online community means your information is available for others to see, comment, or share should they choose to (but it often depends on your account’s privacy settings and of course, your decision to share certain information). Understandably, the latter can cause some feelings of reservation; after all, we’ve been brought up to steer away from strangers and to keep our personal information to ourselves. However, with that being said, the benefits of social media sites, particularly LinkedIn, are immeasurable for a professional and his/her career, and for that, I strongly encourage and advise everyone to get on board.
There are many social networking sites, but truth be told, none can compare to LinkedIn– the “world’s largest professional network” with its 300 million plus members. LinkedIn makes it easy to create a profile, or an online resume, that highlights your education, work experience, skills, affiliations, volunteer work, and so much more.
Once you have that completed, you can start to connect with people that you know, like your co-workers, Â friends and family, but more importantly, people that you don’t know that will make excellent professional connections in your line of work. You can search for people by the college they attended, company they work for, organizations they are members of, or by name, and the beauty of making a few connections is how quickly those connections can double in size, because once a connection is made, many more will follow if you and those connections share something in common.
Now you may be thinking, “How does having a LinkedIn account help my career?” The shortest and most direct way to answer this question is with the following task (and friendly reminder) – stay current in your profession. I’ve said it before and believe me, I will continue to say it again; you must remain current in your profession in order to be a highly qualified professional in your field.
LinkedIn makes it effortlessly simple to be aware of what’s going in your industry, locally, nationally, and internationally through your connections. Your home page is set up as a live feed that continues to upload and update information that gets posted throughout the day by the people you’ve connected to. So if your alma matter, for example, posts a link to an article that discusses the upcoming policy changes in your degree, you are instantly informed.
Similarly, if one of your connections posts a career webcast or a local workshop they are attending, you can sign up as well or make future plans to attend a webinar that might teach you something valuable to your line of work. Finally, if you’re looking for a new job, LinkedIn lets you search for jobs and even communicate with the right people right through the website to maximize your chances of being interviewed and hired. All of these perks are free to members, making LinkedIn a deal too good to pass.
Are you a member of LinkedIn or another social networking site? If so, has it helped you professionally? Let’s discuss!
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[Does Your Google Search Matter?]
