Although 2020 has brought so many changes, LinkedIn continues to be the largest online business networking platform and a top influencer in how we leverage and advance our careers. Learning how to negotiate the ins and outs of this powerful social media tool is to everyone’s advantage. Here’s 9 Top Strategies for Diving Deep into LinkedIn:
Create a profile with a professional photo and pertinent details. It might seem obvious, but attention to detail is important when looking to network and make significant career connections. Be succinct in your accomplishments and don’t forget to include your efforts at volunteerism. The goal is a well-rounded profile, just as when you’re applying for a new position. Think of LinkedIn as your online resume.
Make meaningful connections. The first connections are the obvious ones, but then what? Browse your connections’ connections to see if there are any that may be an acquaintance, and think about adding those. Don’t send blind connection requests—include a brief message of how you have a mutual connection, etc. As you start to build your network, requests will organically come to you. You’ll be surprised how it grows!
Post regularly. Creating meaningful content that is of interest to others (that they in turn may share) is key to broadening your LinkedIn presence. Also, be sure to share articles you find interesting. This is another method of organically growing your network.
Ask some colleagues for recommendations. Having a balanced number (not one or two, but not necessarily dozens, either) of well-written recommendations are a plus to those looking at your profile. They can often lead to new opportunities when making connections.
Always keep an eye on career trends and available positions. You may be perfectly happy on your career trajectory, but don’t underestimate the power of keeping an eye on that Job section of LinkedIn. Why? Because it allows you to keep up with industry trends, see who’s hiring and how they may be expanding positions in their organization, and keeps you up to date with the key words, phrases, and HR terminology that’s in the forefront.
If you are unemployed, it is especially important to look on LinkedIn as much as you would any other source for potential jobs. The advantage here is that LinkedIn is built on people and connections, rather than sending a blind resume to an email box of the HR Department. Be sure your profile is ultra professional, and you may choose to tactfully state that you are looking for an opportunity in your field. Let a few key connections know you are searching for that next opportunity as they may know of a possibility or be able to introduce you to some of their key connections or a great recruiter.
Use Company Profiles to your advantage. Read about companies you are interested in and/or are highly regarded in your field. You can also search to see if you have any connections at a particular company. Continuous learning will pay off, if not immediately, but in the future. You never know when an opportunity will present itself, and having knowledge of your desired company is always beneficial.
Follow influencers in your field and join LinkedIn groups of like-minded individuals. We know that many experts and those at the top of their field do not accept invites for connection; you may wonder how you can form a relationship despite this brick wall. Mutual connections are of course important, but so is joining groups that those people may have started or are actively involved in. Just keep connecting, and even though the connection that was your goal may not transpire, you’ll be sure to meet many interesting and influential people along the way.
If you’re recruiting for a position, check out Recruiter and Recruiter Lite. It’s an excellent option to make connections and meet new prospective candidates and there are free trial versions. The search capability is excellent, and again, you’ll meet people who may keep you in mind for the future.
If you are unemployed (or as I like to say “between successes”), it is especially important to look on LinkedIn as much as you would any other source for potential jobs. As with anything else, you’ll get out of LinkedIn what you put into it. Remember that networking in a professional atmosphere is as key as in a more personal, social arena. Spend some time on this network, and you’ll be certain to reap the rewards!
I wish you a very prosperous 2021! As always, I’m available to assist you in your journey. For more information on my coaching services, visit my website at www.mbrownassociates.com.
Entering the last month of 2020, we have a great deal to reflect back on, particularly when it comes to our careers. The changes in how we successfully navigate the workplace have been vast, and for now, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive end to our new way of working. That said, we still need to consider developing our career amongst these unique circumstances. Today we’ll discuss some ways we can accomplish that, despite the current climate.
Even though we’ve been caught up in the seemingly endless virtual meetings, we need to take time to evaluate not just how we’re working, but look at our current performance and future goals. It may seem counterintuitive at the present time when some days it may seem all we can do to accomplish our norm, but the time is right to do a lot of introspection. How has working from home affected your performance? Did you acquire new leadership skills or become more self-reliant in your home office? No longer surrounded by the office noise, have you discovered that you really love what you do—or discovered that it’s time to change directions? It’s just you working away solo now—you can be honest with yourself. Express your feelings by journaling or whatever notetaking system works best for you.
Self-study
Once you’ve laid your thoughts out, it’s time to formulate a plan which includes the necessary education and certifications. To that end, you may not be aware of how many free or low-cost opportunities are at your disposal. Let’s take a look at some resources:
Certifications You Can Obtain for Free! From AES Certification to Project Management, check out these great ideas: https://www.jobscan.co/blog/5-certifications-add-resume-free/
Recent College Graduate? Check out Handshake, a job portal that has become a leading community for those early in their career: https://joinhandshake.com/
Continue to Build Your Tribe: Take advantage of the virtual meetings to introduce yourself with a brief “elevator speech” if you will, and actively engage with other meeting/event participants. Pay special attention to opportunities to share contact information. Check out some of these great apps to make your virtual business card:
HiHello: https://www.hihello.me/
Haystack: https://thehaystackapp.com/
Inigo: https://inigoapp.com/
Managing Your Mind: The very habit of practicing mindfulness is a deliberate action, and one that can not only help us through current career challenges, but in our personal development as well. Here’s a mindfulness quiz that can help you evaluate where you are in the mindfulness sphere. After your score is tabulated, a list of valuable recommendations are given. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/mindfulness
Learn, grow, and document: Be proactive and go a step above and beyond (perhaps use that time was formerly spent commuting). Use tools like Google Drive, Evernote, etc. to document what you have done in the way of continued development so they are easily accessible for future reference. In the event you’re asked to perform a self-evaluation, you’ll have this information at hand. As far as sourcing the courses, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and other major players. Here’s some interesting alternatives:
A Collection from The Muse – 41 Free Classes from Various Sources: https://www.themuse.com/advice/43-classes-you-can-take-right-now-to-advance-your-career-and-theyre-free
Free Professional Development Courses: https://www.futurelearn.com/subjects/business-and-management-courses/professional-development
500 Free Learning Resources for Nonprofit Professionals: https://www.nonprofitready.org/
Performance Assessments
Another method that can be utilized is the 360-degree Performance Review, which can be adapted to the remote office situation. This is where the employee, managers, subordinates, and a cross-section of peers perform a review, as well as extending this to outside sources such as vendors, associated companies in different cities, etc. In the remote situation, this is a great tool to assess communication, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills. Communication can be a bit off kilter in our virtual world, and this assessment reinforces its importance. There are a variety of tools that can be utilized including Doodle or Survey Monkey polls, or even the poll feature in Zoom. Managers can take the existing performance evaluations and with some creativity adapt them to the remote learning environment. With continuous improvement in mind, this exercise is extremely valuable.
Continuous Improvement of Soft Skills
Now more than ever, we need to master our soft skills so that we can communicate effectively from a distance. Problem solving is paramount, and being able to devise adaptable solutions allows the team to flourish. Strong flexibility and adaptability skills will serve us well during the pandemic and going forward in our careers. We had to switch gears so fast with the onset of the pandemic that we just did whatever we needed to do to get our work done; now we can refine processes such as responding to new challenges, continuous learning, and even some novel improvisation when things in our virtual world don’t go as planned. By encouraging employees to stretch their creativity and step outside their comfort zone, you may find a plethora of great ideas to strengthen the sense of community while accomplishing goals.
There is so much to be learned from the times we are faced with in regard to continuous career development. If you’d like to speak with Marshall about coaching services, please contact him at 202-669-2065. Visit the website for more information, and follow us on our social channels. www.mbrownassociates.com.
Wishing you a healthy, safe and successful new year!
COVID-19 has interrupted our lives for months now. We’ve had to pivot our careers a bit and employ some changes in how we carry out our daily work. However, one common denominator still exists—we need to network and continue to build professional connections.
Gone were the days of those in-person events; the socials, networking breakfasts, lunch and learn—all of it needed to be accomplished in a new way. The good news is, it’s still possible to network, and maybe even be more productive in doing so.
Korn Ferry reports this sobering stat: until COVID-19, event planners were putting together more than 5,200 meetings a day, each with more than 10 attendees. COVID-19 brought that to a grinding halt.
Where is the good news in all of this, you ask? Finding positive aspects to our seemingly defunct networking life allows us to realize there’s one big savings, and that is time. The time you used sitting in traffic, looking for a parking space, driving from one spot to another can be worked more effectively into our day, thanks to modern technology.
We are of course talking about all the internet platforms we’ve become so familiar with in the last months. Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, and the like. We were familiar with them before, but now as we become seasoned users, we need to make them work for us the same as any other tool in our career—not for convenience sake, but to actually help expand our network and strengthen those valuable connections we’ve already built. Here are some ideas to utilize our home/remote office space and those in-person conferencing tools into a valuable resource for networking:
Use the video chat feature, not just the audio. Striving to make a great first impression still applies, even from our home office. Have a good background/divider or suitable green screen, dress in your normal business attire, and be ready to meet existing and potential new colleagues with a smile and air of professionalism, just as you would in person. Considering all the stress COVID-19 has brought about, we need to keep our meetings positive and make good connections that will serve us in the future—not connections fraught with despair because we’ve recently lost a job or are frustrated dealing with the pandemic upheaval. Keeping a spirit of true collaboration and offering to help others is essential.
Join in on career fairs and preorganized networking opportunities. Hosts of these events are getting creative, including having a “map” of booths or presenters that you can click on, which will take you to Zoom or a similar platform. Roll with the creative ideas and put them into practice. Some have found that partaking in a “virtual coffee break” is even beneficial. Gather together some colleagues who have commonalities and see if there’s a chance to forge more connections within your network.
Utilize the obvious built-in icebreaker—COVID-19. Taking genuine interest in how people are doing and pivoting their work life is both a chance for them to share their experience, and you may even learn some great tips, too. Most importantly, it affords us the opportunity to share human experience.
Focus on your connection. After brief introductions, pivot the conversation to your new contact and learn about them. They will remember this, and you never know when an opportunity may come along that they would consider you a good fit for.
Be patient and remember everyone’s life has been upended. A colleague may not return a call or email as quickly as they normally would. Maybe it’s difficult to find a good time to meet. Be mindful that they are enduring challenges themselves. Give them a reasonable time to respond before giving a gentle nudge.
Polish up your professional and personal online presence. It’s all about putting your best foot forward professionally. Think about it – what do we do when we want more information? We look a person or organization up online. Make your profiles ones you’d want others to be pleased to see.
The most important takeaway is that we keep an open mind and turn the challenges of COVID-19 into new possibilities. One constant that will always remain is the need to network and develop relationships—we just need to engage in new strategies to accomplish this.
For more information on connecting with Marshall Brown, please email info@mbrownassociates.com and visit our website at www.mbrownassociates.com