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LinkedIn made easy

LinkedIn Revealed: The professional network your career can't afford to ignore & the 15 steps for optimizing your LinkedIn profile, by Jonathan Kidder and Brian Patrick

I DOUBT anyone would argue with the notion that today, more than ever, it is up to you to look after your career.

Joining a company soon after graduation and being able to stay there until retirement is unusual. Loyalty to the company so deep that you would not move for a much better opportunity is similarly unusual. There are many forces now that make a lifetime commitment unreasonable, both for the employer and employed.

This is certainly the age when it is nothing short of irresponsible not to take charge of one’s own career. LinkedIn Revealed focuses on one aspect of career development: developing your professional network.

LinkedIn is the foremost and largest online social network for career professionals. It was founded by a former PayPal executive, Reid Hoffman. LinkedIn has over 200 million members worldwide, with about half in the US. By the time you finish reading this sentence, at least 10 people will have created their profile on LinkedIn.

Networking with intent can be an indispensable part of ensuring that you remain professionally relevant. While there is no substitute for in-person networking, Web 2.0 can be helpful in fostering those in-person interactions and relationships. LinkedIn is also the ultimate platform for connecting to your industry and to your profession.

Use its features properly and it will make developing your professional online network efficient and effective.

This book provides the information you will need to derive significant value from LinkedIn. It is a step-by-step guide to configuring Linkedin to support your career ambitions.

“We’ve assembled this book for those 90% of LinkedIn users who’ve yet to unleash the true power behind this professional network,” write the authors. Most users will never need more than the features covered in this e-book, and all are available without a paid subscription.

The authors cover all the basics from navigating the platform to understanding the specific terminology. They provide guidance for creating an optimised profile so you can take advantage of all the networking features available.

They also clarify expectations. The users on LinkedIn did not join to share pictures of their families or rave about their vacation. That is for Facebook. People understand that Facebook is the social network for personal use and engage with the network for that purpose.

LinkedIn has its own etiquette and it is crucial that users approach this platform with an understanding of how their online, professional presence can be enhanced. It requires a altogether different approach to that of the Facebook type social networks.

LinkedIn should be thought of as a continual networking event in itself. A barren and unattended LinkedIn account can be costly to your career because of the impression it projects. It is the equivalent of going to a networking event and sitting mournfully in the corner.

Some write an inspiring, attention-grabbing headline, but leave out keywords that are most likely to be used in searches.

There is a fundamental difference between a vast network and a valuable network. Of course, it is possible to have a vast network that is also valuable, and there is no downside to size. However, there is always the temptation to building a vast network for the sake of building a vast network.

LinkedIn encourages building large networks and tries to get users to send invitations to all of their contacts. This is more for their agenda than for the users. LinkedIn is a business, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and they need to grow their own platform.

Your agenda is to build and curate a useful professional network that will add value to your career and, where you can, add value to others.

Buy this book and work through it with LinkedIn open in front of you. I did, and derived immense value.

Readability:    Light -+--- Serious
Insights:        High ----+ Low
Practical:        High +---- Low

 - Fin24

* Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy. Views expressed are his own.

 
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