How Important Is It To Have A LinkedIn Account?

LinkedIn:  Do you have an account?  Should you join? According to the LinkedIn website:

• LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 332 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
• Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second.
• In Q3 2014, 75% of new members came to LinkedIn from outside the United States.
• There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn. They are LinkedIn’s fastest-growing demographic

It has become the “go to” platform for professionals to network across the globe.

This recent survey by JobVite puts it into perspective:  LinkedIn has become the primary way for businesses to source candidates.

How do you take advantage of this powerful, FREE tool?  Here are a few tips to help you to successfully create your professional profile:

1. Build your headline carefully. Say in a few words what you want to convey.  Use powerful, descriptive language.
2. Add a photo: no selfie please!  Don’t use a cropped photo.  What does your photo say about you?  Make sure it makes a positive, professional impression.

Your Headline and your Photo are the only things people see without clicking for more information.  Make sure they are positive and compelling.

Once you have your photo and your headline, begin to build your profile.  Pull out your resume.  This is a great place to pull content.  Before you start to edit your profile, manage your profile settings.  You can control who sees each portion of your profile.  Don’t make it public before it is complete.  Search LinkedIn help for more information on managing your settings.

Start with your education and your experience.  Add links to website for each organization.  Include a photo to give interest.   Make sure you talk about accomplishments using facts and figures.  Don’t just list job duties.  Remember, you have to sell yourself like a pro!

Once you have the basics, then expand your profile with entries under categories such as:

• Volunteer Work
• Certifications
• Projects
• Courses
• Languages

The more work you put into your profile, the more potential connections you can make.  Building or enhancing your profile is just the beginning, but we all have to start somewhere.  Why not get started today?  Take a few minutes to review what your profile online states about you!

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