You’ve probably heard of LinkedIn. That really unhip social media site that all the boring business people use. Some really overenthusiastic old person may even have been beside themselves telling you all about how you can put a digital resume up, and list your experience too.
And you probably, like me, just smiled and nodded and went back to something far more interesting. But now is the time to revisit the site with a professional mindset.
LinkedIn is a well-established platform, home to 30 million companies and advertising 20 million jobs. There’s plenty of great opportunities awaiting you.
The benefits of having a LinkedIn profile
The most obvious thing LinkedIn can do for you is get you a job. But there’s more than one way it can do this.
For starters, you can search for jobs just like you would on Seek or Jobactive. The advantage of this is the application for that job is tied to your profile, complete with all the relevant information the employer needs to know. It’s all in one place and a bit of a time saver.
It also works in reverse. Having a profile on LinkedIn puts you into the LinkedIn search engine circulation. This means you might get picked up when an employer searches for new recruits. You could be receiving personalised job offerings and not even realise it, so check in often.
And, of course, the bread and butter of LinkedIn is the professional network it creates for you.
Want to speak to someone in an industry? Considering getting a professional mentor? Need advice on something? It’s all enabled by the hopefully ever-expanding group of people you’re connected with on LinkedIn. Thank goodness for old people.
Where to start
With all that in mind, we suggest you take a little time updating your LinkedIn profile – that one you probably set up in first year and promptly forgot about – and explore the functionality of this under-appreciated website.
If you want to know more about LinkedIn, and how you can capitalise on the advice given here, we’re running an online workshop on Making the Most of LinkedIn this week.
