LinkedIn is THE online platform for professional networking. It’s never too early in your career to join.
If you’re just starting out in your career or new to working a desk job, let this be your beginner’s guide to making the most of the platform.
We’ll show you how to use the platform to your best advantage and guide you through setting up your profile, the etiquette of networking, and how to present yourself in the best light to your connections.
Key takeaways
- Start by setting up the basic elements of your profile and add more as you go
- Anyone interested in professional networking belongs on LinkedIn
- Take your time building your network
- Try to focus on a few key areas when you post your content
- Include a personal message when you send connection requests
- Spend some time crafting the summary section on your profile
Why is LinkedIn so popular?
According to its own published data, LinkedIn has over 950 million users, and over 150 million people log onto the platform every day. It’s available in 26 different languages and users live in over 200 different countries and regions around the world. People use it to post and apply for jobs, keep up with industry news, learn new skills, and build a professional network.
Think of LinkedIn as the global office water cooler. It’s where people gather to say hi to people they know, share personal news, and discuss what’s happening.
Think of LinkedIn as the global office water cooler.
Why joining LinkedIn is good for your career
Being active on LinkedIn can be beneficial to your career in many ways. Using LinkedIn can help you:
- Strengthen professional relationships with people you already know
- Interact with people working in your field
- Search for job postings
- Connect with recruiters
- Learn more about companies and organizations that interest you
Not only can LinkedIn be good for your career, NOT being on means you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities.
How to build your profile on LinkedIn
Getting started on LinkedIn is a little different compared to other social media platforms. The biggest difference is the profile, and it’s an important difference. When someone wants to connect with you or you reach out to them, the first thing they’ll check is your profile.
There are many different elements you can include in your profile. You don’t have to fill in all of them right away. For now, we’ll go over the basics to get you up and running.
Introduction
This includes your name, pronouns, location, and contact information. It also includes your headline, which is where you can put your current role, your aspired role, or skills you want to highlight.
Photos
There’s a place for your photo and a background photo or graphic. For your photo, go with business casual clothing. You don’t need to hire a pro, but be sure your photo is in focus, has headshot-sized proportions (no selfies), and shows your smile! You can set the background photo to the LinkedIn default—plenty of people do. Otherwise, a photo or graphic specific to you is a nice touch.
“Open to”
Here you indicate the types of opportunities you are open to. You can set this to recruiters only or a public setting.
About/summary
This section gives you the chance to tell the LinkedIn community who you are and what you have to offer.
Experience
Include your work experience, including dates and a brief synopsis of your roles and responsibilities. Include paid work experiences, internships, volunteering, and military service. You can pull language directly from your resume, if you have one.
Education
Include schools and any degrees earned.
Other sections include licenses, skills where other people can endorse you, recommendations, and a space to share portfolio examples, interests, and causes.
For further information on building your LinkedIn profile, refer to LinkedIn’s Help article.
How to build your network on LinkedIn
There’s inherent pressure with any social media to “prove” your worth by having lots of connections. Try to resist that pressure on LinkedIn. In the beginning, be selective about adding people as a connection.
Here’s a slow and steady approach to building your new network.
- Start with people you know professionally. Include bosses, professors, and co-workers that you respect.
- Be judicious with people you know socially. Not everyone in your social group is going to align with your career goals. Some can reflect poorly on you and inhibit your progress.
- Hold off on reaching out to people you don’t know yet. Start off as an observer on the platform.
Once you have your profile and a general idea of how the platform works, you’re ready to grow your network beyond people you already know.
Who should you connect with on LinkedIn?
The kind of network you build on LinkedIn should align significantly with your career goals.
When you start connecting on the platform, look for people:
- In your industry
- With similar roles but in other industries
- Whose content you’ve enjoyed
- Who are where you want to be in 5 or 10 years
- Connected with people you know and admire
Play around with the platform, look at people’s profiles, and see what resonates for you. Like any social media platform, there are scammers. If someone says they have an opportunity that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
The kind of network you build on LinkedIn should align significantly with your career goals.
Connecting with people you don’t know: the etiquette of LinkedIn
Our best piece of advice here is to send a personal message with your connection request. Something simple and friendly like this is very effective:
“Hi, (First Name)! I saw your post today and really liked what you said about (X). We work in the same field, so I thought I’d reach out and see if you’d like to connect.” You’d be amazed how often this leads to a phone or Zoom call.
What kinds of content should you post on LinkedIn?
People early in their careers often feel intimidated by LinkedIn. There are very accomplished people on the platform—C-Suite executives, founders, and industry leaders—so you might wonder, “Who am I to speak up here?”
Let us reassure you, if you’re a person who works, or wants to work in the future, you belong on LinkedIn. We all have something unique to share with the community—our ideas, our perspectives, our life experiences. That’s enough, even if you’re just starting out.
The content you share is one of the main ways that people who don’t know you can get to know you.
You can find hundreds of prompts to help you come up with content ideas for posting on LinkedIn.
To get the most out of the platform, be strategic in how you use it. In other words, have a game plan for how you want to present yourself.
What do you want people to know about you? Take some time thinking about that. Make a list of 7-10 things you want your LinkedIn persona to represent. Then narrow it down to 2 or 3.
Say you’re starting out in sales and you have a talent for organizing presentations. Your posts can center around sales in general, sales in your particular field, and the successes and challenges of preparing presentations for a professional audience.
In another example, maybe you work at a non-profit that creates community gardens in urban settings. Share content about working in the non-profit sector, gardening, and building strong communities. Then you become known as the non-profit, community-building person who knows about gardening.
Final thoughts
LinkedIn is an amazing place to meet interesting people professionally. Opportunities abound on the platform, so if you haven’t joined yet, get to it! You’ll be glad you did.
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