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LinkedIn: ProfilesWhat is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social networking website with the largest online professional network in the world!

Over 170 different industries and 187 million people from more than 200 countries use LinkedIn. As of 2012, approximately 1 in 6 Canadians are on this social media platform. Students and recent graduates from colleges and universities are the fastest growing sector of users.

There are many businesses, influencers, and key decision-makers on the website today, including executives from every Fortune 500 company! Eighty-five of the Fortune 100 companies have been known to use LinkedIn as a hiring resource.

Will LinkedIn get you a job?No.

Just having a LinkedIn account will not guarantee you a job. However, it can provide you with the resources to access various professional networks, key decision-makers, and opportunities that will help your search for meaningful work.

How can you create an effective profile?

Your profile is the main way to connect yourself to LinkedIn’s world of opportunities. Members with a 100% complete and up-to-date profile are about 40x more likely to receive opportunities!

General tips:

• Your online profile should represent your “personal brand”- identify key skills and areas of expertise that make you stand out

• Use industry keywords and skills throughout your profile so that it is easily searchable• Reposition the different sections of your profile so that your most important information

hits the eye first• Change your privacy settins to accept InMail - a contact method often used by recruiters• Change your privacy settings to “Public” so that your profile shows up in search results

• LinkedInprofilesareoftenthefirsttoappearforGooglesearches!

There are 8 components to a 100% profile:

1. The Photo

• Upload a professional-looking photo of yourself. A head shot is recommended.

• Having a photograph puts a “face” to your profile and makes your profile 7x more likely to be viewed.

• Use the same professional-looking photo on your Twitter account - especially if you are using it to job search and you plan to link relevant status updates to LinkedIn




2. Industry and Postal Code

• When editing your profile, indicate your industry and postal code under “Basic Information”.• LinkedIn can give you more relevant search results after you put these in.

3. Summary

• Provide an overview of who you are as a professional here. You can write this section in first person if you’d like.

• The summary is supposed to encourage others to continue reading your profile, so decide on an industry and highlight your relevant experiences, interests, and goals/career aspirations.

• Include keywords, skills, and qualifications related to your industry to make yourself more searchable.

• State your “Specialties” - indicate core skills and strengths that set you apart, and demonstrate your potential value.

4. Current Position and Description

• In this section, you indicate your present position and also highlight your demonstrated skills, experience and accomplishments associated with this role.

• If you don’t currently have a job, you can indicate that you are “Open to opportunities”.

5. Two Previous Positions

• List at least two past positions and make your profile 12x more likely to be reviewed by hiring managers.

• Ensure that the dates of employment, titles, and any additional details match the ones on your resume.

• Don’t forget to provide details on the skills, experience, and accomplishments associated with your roles as well.




6. Five or More Skills

• Use industry keywords and skills to increase your likelihood of appearing in the search results of recruiters.

• Include both hard and soft skills that are relevant to your industry.

• You can add up to 50 skills.

7. Education

• List all of your post-secondary education here.

8. Fifty Connections

• LinkedIn requires you to have at least 50 connections for a complete profile; however, the more connections you develop the better!

What can you do to further enhance your profile?

Customize additional sections of your profile to “spice it up” and reinforce your personal brand.

Your Headline:

Listing your current job title is a standard headline. However, try to be creative and add industry keywords to your headline to demonstrate your abilities and create your “personal brand”.

Status Updates:

Updates can help support your personal brand and can indicate your availability, career goals, new training/qualifications, etc. Apply the 80/20 rule when sharing information - 80% of your updates should help others while 20% can be self-promotional. Keeping your network informed about your job search is a good thing, but avoid over posting.




Public Profile URL:

You can change the default profile URL to a customized URL that includes your first and last name, or a close variant if the original is already taken. Share your URL through your email signature, resume, business card, and Twitter account if you’re using Twitter for job search.

Add Sections:

If you have limited work experience in your professional field, custom sections are a great way to showcase your skills, experiences, and accomplishments as a student. Think about the things you’ve done as a student, and consider adding the following sections:

• Projects • HonoursandAwards • Organizations • TestScores • Courses

Remember to highlight post-secondary achievements that would be relevant to a prospective employer!

Twitter:

If you use Twitter to share professional interests, ideas, and topics, consider syncing your account to your LinkedIn profile. To share updates from LinkedIn to Twitter, compse your update, tick the box with the Twitter icon and hit “Share”. As of June 2012, you can no longer direct tweets to appear on LinkedIn.

Website Link:

You can include links to your personal blog or website that are related to your field of interest. Relevant self-authored websites give potential employers and other profile viewers more information about your knowledge, skills, and accomplishments.

Endorsements:

Getyour1stdegreeconnectionstoendorseskillslistedunderyour“Skills and Expertise” section (i.e. contacts who agree that you have a certain skill). Each endorsement increases the number count listed to the left-hand side of a skill and provides a quick snapshot of your recognized expertise.




Recommendations:

Recommendations emphasize your strengths and value, and allow potential employers to read references in advance. Try to get at least one recommendations for each job listed on your LinkedIn profile. You can get them from former employers, professors, colleagues, key classmates, subordinates, and more! Did you know that people with recommendations are 3x more likely to be contacted?

Groups:

Join LinkedIn groups related to your target industry, become an active participant in discussions, and stand out for your knowledge and expertise. A useful feature to keep in mind is that members in the same group can message each other directly, without being connected.

Users can join a maximum of 50 groups. Consider joining the following types of groups:

• Alumni(post-secondary) • Companies • Professionaldisciplines • Industries • Largenetworkinggroups

Contact Preferences:

Adjustyoursettingstochoosethetypesofmessagesthatcanbesenttoyou.Goto“Change Contact Preferences” and select “I’ll accept introductions and InMail”. This setting is recommended as recruiters often use InMail to contact potential job candidates.

linkedin: profiles - ryerson · pdf filelinkedin: profiles what is linkedin? linkedin is a...

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