BYC What To Do With Your LinkedIn Profile · What to do with your LinkedIn profile Page 5 • [email protected] • 773-531-3457 • Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 By clicking on

What to do with your LinkedIn profile

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Once you’ve built your LinkedIn profile, you may be wondering, “Now what?” (There’s an excellent book that answers that question: “I’m On LinkedIn, Now What?” by Jason Alba that you should check out.) Status updates and announcements from your personal network are posted to your home page. At a glance, the “Updates” section will keep you on top of what’s going on with your connections. To make the most of your interactions on LinkedIn, this is an area to check on regularly. LinkedIn will also draw in information that it thinks you may be interested in — this can include news and job postings. Strategic Tip: Liking and commenting on status updates could be discreet ways to gain the attention of people in your network who may be hard to connect with otherwise. To broadcast your own updates, input messages into the status box and click “Share” to send messages to your network. The drop-down list will allow you to select who you share the update with: “Public + Twitter,” “Public,” or “Connections” only.

What kind of information should you post in your updates? • You can share current and upcoming trends in your industry; • Insights from projects you’re working on; • Events and seminars you’ve attended; • Training courses you’re taking; • Link to articles/blogs within the industry; • Inspirational quotes The content that you share doesn’t necessarily have to be yours 100 percent of the time. It’s a great idea to share links to content from others in your industry, along with your thoughts on how this work will affect your industry. You can post several updates each day or one every few days. At a minimum, you should post a new update at least once a week.



Building Your Connections After opening an account, creating a profile, and importing personal contacts, you’re ready to build a larger network. LinkedIn works for you based on the people who you already know. People you know — and who acknowledge knowing you — are bridges to new connections. LinkedIn employs a tier-based system for organizing your relationships with other LinkedIn members. A person’s position in relation to your personal network dictates the actions you’ll have to take to add them to your network. LinkedIn’s hierarchy of connections is primarily structured in three levels. Your direct contacts are marked as “1st level,” the contacts of your first level contacts are designated as “2nd level,” and if someone is linked with a person who, in turn, is connected with one of your direct contacts, that person is tagged as a “3rd level” contact. If you have no connection, they are marked as “out of network.” Also, all of the contacts of your 1st level contacts are visible to you on LinkedIn. LinkedIn even reveals the number of shared connections you have with a person, and the identity of the shared connections. Finding People to Connect With Above the navigation toolbar is a search box. Click on the “Advanced” hyperlink.

There are four ways to look for connections once you get to the second screen. The “Find People” option will identify likely contacts.



You can also used the “Advanced People Search” function to identify contacts. You can use keywords to search by or specific job titles. You can use the variables “Not” and “Or” to define exactly what you are looking for. If you are looking for a local person, or someone who shares certain interests, these can all be specified in your search terms.

Power User Tip: Once you have your search criteria set, you can save these results. (There is a “Save Search” link in the upper right-hand corner of the results page after you run a search.) These will then be placed under the “Saved Searches” tab. You can re-run this search as often as you wish. With a basic account, you can save up to three searches, and you can even have LinkedIn run the search on a regular basis and email the results to you.



When you click “Save Search,” it will come up with a popup box that will allow you to define the search parameters, name your search, and decide how often to receive an email alert.

Power User Tip: Use LinkedIn to research your current colleagues. You can use it to learn more about your fellow employees. Conducting Company Searches You can also research companies on LinkedIn. Click on “Companies” in the drop down box above the main navigation toolbar. Then, use the search method to locate a company.



By clicking on a company name, you can view all of their details.

The company’s “Home” page will give you an overview of the company’s profile, including: • The company’s recent Updates • Company profile and contact information • How you’re connected to employees at the company • Jobs they have posted For example, this is the Company page for 1-800-PublicRelations:



Click on the “See All” link under “How You’re Connected” to view profiles of the company’s employees on LinkedIn.

You can also use the “Follow Company” feature to track prospective employers. (Click on the yellow “Follow” button in the upper right-hand corner.) When you follow a company, you’ll get notices of major changes and notifications when the company loses, gains, or promotes staff (which can be useful to see which companies have a lot of turnover).

You’ll also be able to access a list of the companies you follow from the “Interests” tab in the main navigation toolbar. (Click on “Companies” in the drop-down menu.)

On that page, you can see status updates for the companies you’re following.



Checklist for Getting the Most Out of Companies Click on the “Companies” tab to: • Search for companies directly by name, keyword, or industry; • Use the “Search Companies” tab for more advanced search options, refining your search

by location, company size, number of followers, and relationship; • Find companies to follow to stay up-to-date on conversations and business development

related to the company itself and its contacts; • Review and recommend people in your industry or area of interest that you’ve had contact

with or are interested in contacting. Using Introductions, InMails, and Invites As you come across profiles on LinkedIn, you’ll see several methods for adding the person to your network. Regardless if you’re directly on a profile page or reviewing a listing of profiles from a search, these are the options usually offered to initiate contact: • Send InMail • Get introduced through a connection • Add to your network When you are already connected to the person, you will have different options than when they are not currently part of your network. On this profile, the only connection option is InMail (because Jon Jobseeker appears as an “out of network” contact).



Using Introductions to Make Connections Facebook has “likes,” Twitter has “re-tweets,” and LinkedIn has “introductions.” It’s a roundabout way to make a connection with someone. Designed around the principle of referrals, introductions are one way to meet new people on LinkedIn. Introductions are highly regarded because they deliver built-in trust. The basic idea is that if you don’t know a person who you would like to be connected to, find someone within your personal network who will introduce you to this person. When a potential contact sees that you are linked to someone they know, it implies you are a credible person. You receive a certain number of Introductions with your account (depends on account type). (Basic accounts have five free Introductions.) To use the Introduction: • Locate the profile of the person you want to connect with. • Click the “Send InMail” button and use the drop-down option for “Get introduced.”



• If only one person can make the introduction, that person will be identified. • If more than one person can make the introduction, you may choose who you want to

make the introduction. • Enter a subject for your message. • Write a message to the person who will introduce you. Be clear about why you’re asking

for an introduction. This message may eventually been seen by the person you want to be introduced to.

• Click “Send Request.” For multiple connections, you can choose who makes the connection. Click on “Choose a shared connection” under “Who should make the introduction?” and you’ll see a list of your connections to choose from.



Introductions, however, are not the best way to reach new connections. Using InMails To Connect On the other hand, InMails are a paid feature of LinkedIn that enable you to send emails directly to a person’s LinkedIn mailbox, regardless of whether or not they’re in your network. Depending on your account level, you’ll receive a credit for a certain number of InMails. If you send an InMail but don’t get a response from a recipient after seven days, your account is credited for the InMail. Although InMails require payment — and you’re running a risk by contacting someone who doesn’t know you personally — they can be an effective way to connect with someone who you don’t know directly. Using InMails to meet a fellow LinkedIn member shows you’re serious about your job search and willing to invest to make the right connections. Making Inroads with Invites Technically, you can send a LinkedIn invite at any time. With the Invite feature, you don’t need a connection or a paid account to send one. However, it’s advised to use discretion with this method. Recipients can respond by stating they don’t know you, preventing you from ever sending another invitation. If you receive too many “I don’t know this person” responses, LinkedIn may restrict you from sending invitations altogether. Instead, you can click on the “Connect” button under “Send InMail” and you’ll be prompted to send a LinkedIn invitation to connect.



Then you can select how you know the person:

Always change the default text when inviting someone to connect. The default phrase is, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Change this to highlight a personal connection instead. (For example, “I enjoyed meeting you at the workshop yesterday. I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn to keep in touch.”)



Making Connections Through LinkedIn Groups Joining a LinkedIn Group allows you the opportunity to strengthen connections with like-minded individuals in an exclusive forum. The Groups function provides a private space to interact with LinkedIn members who share common skills, experiences, industry affiliations, and goals. You can easily find groups within your industry to join, as well as local groups. Being a member of the same group also allows you to connect with someone without using an Introduction. The Group Directory lists all groups currently affiliated with LinkedIn. To search the Group Directory, select “Groups” from the “Interests” menu on the LinkedIn navigation bar.

Because there are so many groups, LinkedIn also offers a feature “Join some groups recommended for you.” These recommendations are based on the information you provided in your profile. These are usually the groups that are related to your industry.



You can also find groups using the “Find a group” feature on the right side of the page. (See “Don’t see what you’re looking for?) Once you find a group that you would like to join, click on the “View” button. That will take you to the Group page. Some groups require approval before joining. These groups will have a padlock symbol next to the name and a “Join Group” button. Open groups have a “View” button. If you are joining a group to develop relationships with influencers, participate in the group to gain visibility before you invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. Ask questions, give advice, and be helpful to others, as this will help you become known to these folks. You can also have group notifications emailed to you. Checklist for Maximizing Your Use of Groups Click on the Groups tab to: • Review groups you’re currently a member of, if any; • Join some “Groups Recommended For You” based on primary keywords, categories,

languages, or similar groups within your profile; • “Find a Group” to research featured groups in your niche or areas of interest you might

like to join; • “Create a Group” of your own to attract followers, entering a logo, group name, type, brief

and full description, website, and email address, as well as access options, language, and location.

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BYC What To Do With Your LinkedIn Profile · What to do with your LinkedIn profile Page 5 • [email protected] • 773-531-3457 • Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 By clicking on