Are you using LinkedIn to support your online visibility and personal brand?
If not, get active on LinkedIn by updating your profile (people should know who you are), sharing relevant posts, publishing your own articles, interacting with others, participating in groups and much more.
There are 225 million users on LinkedIn, but how many of us are aware about the common mistakes we make that might hamper our success?
I’ve listed down some LinkedIn Etiquette that you should take care of:
- Check for typos or grammatical errors in your profile. These wear down your credibility.
- Don’t forget to add a good, professional profile photo. But make sure it is not a selfie or an old pic of you with someone else.
- Make sure your Headline highlights your selling points and attracts profile visitors.
- There is a Personal URL for every account on LinkedIn (Have you ever noticed a long web address)? It’s time to customise this URL to a more personal one – your own name or business name. You can then use it in your business card/resume.
- Do you know that the Summary is the most crucial part in the profile? LinkedIn has given you an opportunity to write about yourself in 2000 characters. LinkedIn Summary is the first thing employers look for once they glance through the photo and headline.
- Use Sections for filling up your Work Experience, Education, Certification, Publications, Volunteering etc. Doing this can help the recruiter to read your specific section and not the entire profile.
- You can select your Skills from the drop-down list of most common matching terms that LinkedIn recognises. But if it is something which is not a frequent search item, LinkedIn can’t help.
- Please don’t lie on your LinkedIn Profile or plagiarise the LinkedIn Profile, be genuine. You can be caught easily. I have seen profiles where people have just copy pasted the content from another profile.
- Send LinkedIn invite (a personalised one) to only those people who you know. If you are sending an invite to someone you don’t know, be polite and let them know the reason you would like to connect.
- Last but not the least, make sure that the profile is 100% complete. This is the only way to get the full benefit of the network. If your profile is not complete, recruiters will find it hard to find you on LinkedIn.
Make sure you put your best feet forward, by paying attention to these basic points. Therefore, get the best out of LinkedIn and stand out in a crowded marketplace!
