With over 175 million professional subscribers and still counting, LinkedIn has become the new platform for branding and selling. From individual seeking jobs to recruiters wanting them, LinkedIn is one stop shop for all. (It's like Walmart for the professional world)
There was a time when we had to get in touch with recruiters to apply for jobs, seek references from friends and family to get in touch with some of them; but with LinkedIn things have become literally opposite. Now, if recruiters find what they require in you they will catch hold of you, no matter where you are.
I personally feel Professionalism is all about marketing yourself (No matter what you do). The way you present yourself to the world reflects a lot about your character and your worth. Our Social status reflects a lot about our professional status as well. Like, I mentioned in my previous blog, that an employer didn't select a suitable candidate for the job just because he found some not so decent picture of his on facebook. (Well, this is just one example of how social worlds play an important role in portraying one's professional character.)
With LinkedIn advancing in the service it offers, there is whole lot of stuff that people are not at all aware about.
- Connect with like-minded people – This way you will not only evolve socially but professionally as well.
- Participate in Discussions – This way you know what's being spoken about in the world today in your area of interest. You also get to connect with more people. The more people you have the more credibility and authority u have in your area of expertise. Similarly, the more connections you have the more people u can get your profile in front of.
- Knowing about company – It is as important to know about them as it for them to know about you. LinkedIn helps companies to get closer to their employees and also postings are posted n the company's group. This way it becomes easier for employees as well seeing jobs in a particular company.
- Re-factor you profile - Use all the tools provided by LinkdeIn such as "SlideShare" "Blog Link" to make your profile more competent with others...and many more provided here.
I feel, LinkedIn is just one piece of the puzzle. You'll want to supplement LinkedIn with profile on faceook, in addition to some technical blogs. Also, it is important that your LinkedIn profile should be consistent with your social profile.
The best part is LinkedIn requires less upkeep, but to leverage it to the best of your benefit, you will need to invest some initial time in it.
I really enjoyed reading your blog Akshay. I think you were able to present the concept of LinkedIn well and gave some great tips for those looking to create and maintain their own. I also followed your link to the how-to site which was equally informative. I did see a couple areas for improvement however. Your blog could use a picture to add some color, visually portray your topic, and grab the reader’s attention. Also I noticed several grammatical errors: punctuation issues, incorrect capitalization, spelling such as using the word “u” instead of “you”, etc. Just proofread your blog and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Elmira for your feedback. I forgot about the image totally in this blog-post. Writing short messages one gets used to the style of writing "u" for "you". I will work on your advice and hopefully the next time you read my blog-post, there wouldn't be any such typos.
DeleteHi Akshay. I’m really happy that I get a chance to read your blog and meet someone new. I also want to say that I completely agree with you in that Linkedin provides a way for people to represent themselves professionally. However, there still are a few things to keep in mind while creating a profile, which you have provided below. I especially like the tip you gave about knowing the company. If a person has a dream company that they passionately want to work for, they should rework their profile to suit the needs of that particular business. Keep up the good work man.
ReplyDeleteThanks Romin for the comment. I feel there are still people out there who are completely ignorant about how important it is to maintain one's professional profile. I'm glad you liked it!
DeleteAkshay has really reflected his thoughts about Linkedin and Branding. I personally agree with what he has to say by means of this blog. I strongly agree with one point that he has mentioned about how the trend is changing from job seekers approaching recruiters to recruiters approaching job seekers via LinkedIn. You never know when recruiters may contact you for wonderful opportunity they have. I personally have experienced this recently. I believe it's really important that one keep his/her LinkedIn profile updated and precisely reflect who they are and what they want in future.
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