How to Use LinkedIn for Maximum Results

Everyone is on social media these days, switching from one social media platform to another, largely as a mode of communication. Nonetheless, there are other important uses of social media like educating yourself, finding jobs, building relationships, increasing visibility and the most popular these days - sharing your expertise with the world.

Did you ever think that people would be “afraid” of a social media tool? Or at least in our part of the world - Africa?

Yes! Around 260 million people are active monthly users of LinkedIn, and only 40% of those access it on a daily basis and 1% post content daily. This proves that people feel uneasy posting on LinkedIn compared to other social media platforms. This is due to so many reasons such as anxiety, the feeling of inadequacy from seeing other people’s posts, worried about what others might think of your content or possibly not even knowing where to start.

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Where to start on LinkedIn.

Why don’t you start with creating a profile like every other social media platform. LinkedIn is not so scary, the only difference is the professionalism associated with it. Therefore, with LinkedIn, upload a professional picture for your profile photo. Your bio should also be a summary of your accomplishments and who you are.

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to also type in where you worked and your work experiences. This gives people who visit your profile a comprehensive CV. Since this is a professional website, ensure that you are precise with your descriptions, be sure to give actual examples of your work experiences. It’s important to update your current position, as it helps keep your profile visible.

Connect to other people on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn gives you the platform to establish connections with professionals from around the world, hence you need to take advantage of it. This is also a great way to find role models and be abreast with the current happenings in your preferred industry. Just like other social media platforms, the number of connections you have increases your visibility on the algorithm.

The good thing about LinkedIn connections is that connecting with one person also opens you up to the connections of that person too. This turns out to be a great networking opportunity, as you can now invite those people to connect with you too.

Give and receive endorsements on LinkedIn.

In the professional world, recommendations go farther than a good CV. Thus, LinkedIn provides the platform for your connections to write recommendations on the different places you have worked at, your experiences and endorsements for your skillset.

Recommendations and endorsements are like personal testimonials, that allow people visiting your profile know that you are authentic and emphasizes on your professional capabilities.

So go the extra mile and ask those you have worked with to write a recommendation and endorsement on your profile, especially highlighting on specific achievements they were impressed with whilst working with them. Understand that this is another way LinkedIn ensures that your profile is visible when people use the search button.

Time to post on LinkedIn.

All that we did above was preliminary foundational work for a good post, now, its time for the real deal. It is important to do complete your profile before posting, because as soon as you post, you will increase the number of profile visits. Posting on LinkedIn is not that scary, its just because you know it is a professional site, it requires you to properly plan and think through your post, instead of instagram where you can create a finsta and post anything and everything.

That being said, your caption should be formally written with relatable jargons relevant to your professional network. Also, use pictures to capture attention, it is not wise to post with a long caption without a picture to give people something to engage with. Lastly, don’t limit yourself, you can post videos or pictures or stories, once it is informative and relevant to your professional connections, you are good to go.

Like, Comment, Message on LinkedIn.

On LinkedIn, everyone ‘is’ supportive of each other’s careers and the different strides they are making – at least they do a good job at making it look like they are. So, don’t be shy to like a post you like, or comment and congratulate someone for a good achievement, or even go the extra mile to message your career role model. LinkedIn takes the hustle from you by suggesting keywords and phrases when commenting or messaging someone, so you do not have to bother about saying the “right” thing.

Also, interacting with people’s posts, gives those people a virtual pat on the back and helps them build their confidence in sharing on LinkedIn. Be rest assured that those same people will also have your back once you also post, to let you know that they see you and support you. Truly, LinkedIn is a community, and very soon you will become a LinkedIn expert!

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

Lao Tzu

You can use LinkedIn to get a job, through its “Jobs” tab. You can personalize your search and find jobs that are suitable for you. LinkedIn goes the extra step to allow you to apply through their portal.

You can also make good use of LinkedIn Learning. This tool acts like an online course that allows you to improve on your skills through learning videos and tests. The good part is once you pass, LinkedIn adds this to your profile which increases your professional value on the site.

This is a good start in building your professional brand and ranking with your Google search. This way when your name is searched, your LinkedIn profile would be the first that would come up.

You can research on companies that you would like to work at via LinkedIn, as well as even finding being able to network with employees who work at those companies before you work there.

LinkedIn can generally help you with honing your professional etiquette and make your work life a bit better.

As usual, here’s some motivation as your progress in your professional journey - small small, we go make am (Little, by little, we will make it).