LinkedIn has exploded in scope, and more than 600 million people from around the world – and about every third Dane – are on LinkedIn (as of 2019). And they use it for everything. Some has just created a profile, while others use it daily to gather and share knowledge, maintain networks, look for jobs and stay up to date. Some even use it as their only social media.
The diverse crowd on LinkedIn makes it a huge resource in many respects – a resource you should use.
LinkedIn is network-based. This means that neither you nor the others on LinkedIn benefit from LinkedIn without the others.
Therefore, it is important that you both think about how you can get something from your network and to an even greater extent how you can give something to your network.
It does not have to be lengthy articles, but if you have insight into a particular (professional) field, by all means, share your knowledge. It is also an excellent way to make yourself noticed; if you are visible in a constructive, competent and helpful way, people are likely to remember it.
Be authentic.
You need to be comfortable and authentic in your use of LinkedIn. You are not obligated to do anything specific when signing up, and maybe you do not feel that you can or want to contribute much to the public discussions (yet). It is generally good advice when it comes to networking that you should feel comfortable with it – of course, pushing your own limits a bit can be necessary.
LinkedIn is all about sharing and engaging.
Unlike Facebook, on LinkedIn you do not have a personal "wall" where you can make status updates. On LinkedIn, your posts should share your knowledge, start a discussion, or reach out for other people’s knowledge. Therefore, LinkedIn asks you: "What would you like to talk about?" – as opposed to Facebook's question: "What’s on your mind?"
In this way, LinkedIn would like to encourage us all to not only share what we are thinking about right now, but to make submissions to our network, which suggests that people should respond to the post and not just give it a "like" or similar.
Challenge yourself but don't share just to share.
This is also why there are many different ways to network – some love to meet as many new people as possible, while others are a bit more hesitant and maybe stick to the people they know. Find your way of doing it. Challenge yourself on a few parameters occasionally. Start a conversation if you usually do not do that, or share an article on LinkedIn if you usually do not do that. Just remember, the reason for doing it is that it makes sense to you and/or others.
Conversely, it also means that you do not just have to share knowledge or contact people for the sake of sharing or contact. Therefore, when you share something, you should leave a comment on why you are sharing. What have you noticed, or what kind of debate would you like to start?
It's not just people who are on LinkedIn. Companies, universities and all sorts of other institutions and organisations are also on LinkedIn. Their presence allows you to gain insight into the organisation and see when something new is happening. And it is a great platform for them when hiring or branding their company.
Many companies use LinkedIn for recruitment. This also means that if you search for a company through LinkedIn, the company will see your profile. That is why it is important that you keep your profile updated and that the content is well thought out. Chances are that your potential future employer will look at your profile, especially because Google is also looking into LinkedIn's databases. This means that if you "google" your name (what many employers do during the recruitment) your LinkedIn profile will appear.
A good way to start using LinkedIn is to pick up on the experiences you have.
Often, people have not written too many applications or CVs when they start at – or graduate from – the university and it can therefore seem like a big task to map out what you have actually done.
Here, LinkedIn can be a great tool.
Fill in your profile with your education, your projects, volunteering experience and adding skills. Take it step by step, and when you're done, you'll have a good foundation to build upon when you need to use the resume and application information later.
You also need to reflect on how you can best communicate what you have done and the competencies you have gained from your experiences so that whoever sees it understands it. Communicating your professional profile is something that requires practice – and through LinkedIn you can monitor how many views your profile has had. Not that the number of people who have viewed your profile is necessarily a stamp of approval it may be an indicator of the “relevance” of your content.
LinkedIn is not #hashtag and #lookatmemom
We sometimes hear that students are a little tired of hearing about LinkedIn. Our experience is that it is a platform that makes sense to use actively.
There will always be some people who, in the eyes of others, take up a lot of figurative real estate in a negative fashion, and those people are also on LinkedIn. Do not be intimidated by them. You decide who you want to follow and how you want to use LinkedIn. You can always stop following specific people or even block them from your network and feed if you want.
Use the profile text as a reading guide.
Once you've figured out what story you'd like your overall profile to tell, you can use the profile text to set the scene. Your profile text can be used to frame how viewers read your profile.
It is partly about getting other people to understand and be curious about your profile and partly about getting the machine (LinkedIn algorithm) to understand it. So, to some extent, you should think about "search engine optimizing" your profile – both the profile text and the rest of the profile.
Just as you need to target your CV and application so that the recipients get the information you would like them to get, customize your LinkedIn profile. You may not need to list all of your experiences. It all depends on what you want to tell. If your listed experience and the descriptions fit your narrative, then it is relevant to include. Your narrative might come pretty naturally if you have specialized within a narrower field of work and studies, but if you are more generalist or have experience in several different work fields it can be a bit more tricky to choose between the narratives that could be shown. And there are no right or wrong narratives – it all depends of the context.
Fill in all the blanks.
There are many different parts of a LinkedIn profile, and it is a good idea to do the things that require some extra work.
Everything is publicly available on LinkedIn.
You have to think about what you comment on and how – just like any other place.
Your network and your network's network will be able to see what you write. It's a good thing, because it allows your professional and sharp messages to spread like a wildfire. It also means that a potential future employer can see it – so what you write and do on LinkedIn should ideally support your profile narrative.
And just like on all other media, don't post anything here that you can't stand by if you face a person in real life.
Use LinkedIn actively as a network.
Join the debate to show your curiosity and professional skills. The more you take part, the more you typically gain from using the platform. Don't be afraid to get in touch or ask questions. People who are on LinkedIn are there just to network. If they didn't want anyone to contact them, they wouldn't have a profile.
Find and follow professionals, alumni and companies that match your profile.
Think about your “story” and which profile you have – or would like to build. Who are the leading people and companies in your field? Follow them if they have a profile on LinkedIn – then you will gain new knowledge and inspiration in the area, and it can help underpin your profile's "story".
What does it mean to be networking? Do I have a network? And how can I improve my network so that it is beneficial both to me and to my network?
What can I do, exactly? Which competencies do I posses, and how do I differentiate between professional and personal competences?
What if I don't know what I want? What am I passionate about? How do I move on? And how do I reach my goals?
