Have you already joined LinkedIn? If you answer was yes, nice move! However, if you answered was no, I can give you good reasons to join it ASAP. Let’s talk about how interesting this professional network is, and how you can benefit from it.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with 722+ million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide who can interact with professional partners and other users who are on a similar professional path. The platform is a social network that focuses on professional relationships. People and companies use Linkedin for many different purposes: post open positions, look for jobs, start partnerships, share knowledge, take online courses, prospect business, among others.
The company has a significant global performance, making its interface available in more than 24 languages. So if you want to make connections and take advantage of opportunities all around the world, you should start thinking strategically about your Linkedin profile.
The platform is very user friendly so it is very easy to fill out an all-star profile, find people and groups with the same professional interests or become an active member of the network. As LinkedIn reaches any type of career, there is also the possibility to focus on building your brand as a professional or a freelancer, market your skills and talents and build a network of contacts that work/do business in your area of expertise.
Now that you know what LinkedIn is, let’s focus on different ways of using the professional network to boost your career opportunities. Let’s talk about some of them:
• Networking: creating and strengthening a good network of professional contacts is one of LinkedIn’s best features. Invest in building good connections and contacts is essential to pave your way to success and professional networks are a perfect space for that. You can share relevant market trends, recommend coworkers, congratulate friends on promotions or celebrate company anniversary and meet new people online.
• Online portfolio: your profile is a bright and creative way to have an online resume marketed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can also act as your work portfolio. The interface is very dynamic, gives you the option to add your entire career in a timeline and efficiently organize your projects, courses and qualifications.
• Personal Branding: being active on Linkedin is a great way to create and strengthen a positive professional image as long as you use the social network correctly and consistently. By sharing interesting post, interacting in discussions and gently promoting your professional achievements you can start build a valuable reputation in the job or business market.
• Job Hunting: currently most recruiters start the search for a good candidate by looking at Linkedin pages. So if you are looking for a new opportunity in the market you should be part of this social network and have an updated profile – do not forget your contact information. Besides that, companies use LinkedIn to advertise vacancies and attract candidates, so you should check possibilities on a regular basis by browsing the “Jobs” icon found on the landing page.
• Prospecting clients: LinkedIn is the perfect environment for any professional to advertise their services to connections and interest groups. It is a very effective marketing tool for freelancers, start-ups and consultants.
• Learning exchange: the platform is a great place to exchange knowledge, learn different skills and keep updated about the new job market trends. Through discussions, content sharing and other interactions, the social network stimulates interesting debates, presents different perspectives on the same subject and give out thought provoking insights.
• Professional recommendations: my favorite feature of LinkedIn is the opportunity to leave a recommendation about someone else’s skill, talents and professional behavior. Users can write a testimonial about their experience with co-workers or connections with whom they have had the opportunity to interact at a professional level and recognize expertise, commitment and good performance. LinkedIn recommendations can make a positive difference to your online reputation and have a positive impact on your prospects as a job candidate. When used strategically, such recommendations can help you boost credibility and signal the good relationships you have built throughout your career.
Now that you understand better the world of opportunities you can find on LinkedIn, just start using the social network for professional purposes. It is important to keep in mind that the platform connects people and companies in a professional environment, so your approach has to be way different from other social networks, but we are going to talk about it in detail next week.
And if you were still not convinced about using Linkedin to boost your career I can talk about my personal experience: I was travelling to facilitate training and had a Sunday brunch at a Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, I had the best service of my entire life. It was an amazing experience! After leaving the restaurant I decided I wanted to work with the company. I was living in Rio de Janeiro and there were no Four Seasons Hotels in Brazil. What have I done? Just kept looking for open positions with Four Seasons worldwide. Guess where I found the fascinating opportunity to come and work in a paradise like Anguilla? LinkedIn! It has changed my life. Try it and change yours.
Lorena Lobo is a Learning and Development professional with +12 years of experience managing talents and developing new leaders. She has an MBA in Human Resources Management and a Life & Career Coaching Certification. She is Brazilian and after working for different hotel chains in Latin America, joined Four Seasons Anguilla in 2019.
