LinkedIn: are you connected?

By HGB , Sep 21 2017

It’s the professional person’s networking site, ideal for making connections, highlighting your experience, and showcasing the power of your organisation’s brand. So… are you on LinkedIn?

Here in the HGB office, we’ve been reminiscing about our first CVs. Downloaded templates, carefully typed descriptions about our experience, and a list of interests and hobbies that would make us stand out from the crowd.

Sarah was applying for the police force, Ann wanted a summer job making airline food, Kylie applied to an advertising agency – and got the job, while Jacqui used her fourth form CV template to pick up a range of retail jobs throughout her university years.

It’s fair to say, those first CVs were a while ago for most of us here – though how long ago we won’t say. One thing we will say is they were before the advent of LinkedIn.

We’ve moved with the times and our CVs are now online, also known as our LinkedIn profiles. They’re an important part of our professional persona and one we recommend all our clients have. Why? Because there are a number of benefits to having an active LinkedIn profile. Here are our top five.

Top 5 benefits of LinkedIn

1. Showcase your achievements: LinkedIn allows you to showcase your professional achievements to a wider audience, not just your friends and family. And those who view your achievements are genuinely interested. Connections who work in the same field, or are looking to implement or adopt a practice you’ve initiated, will be interested to know not just what you’ve achieved, but how you’ve achieved it.

• Take a look at Jacqui’s profile on LinkedIn where she’s included her Hubspot Certification achievements.

2. Great for business growth: Having an active LinkedIn profile (which means regularly posting status updates, sharing interesting articles and keeping your profile current) will ensure you are visible to your connections. This will keep you at the front of their minds, so when opportunities for work arise, it could be you they contact.

3. Widen your audience: Do you or your company have a blog? LinkedIn is a great way to disseminate any shareable content you’re producing, whether it’s the latest blog post, this month’s eNewsletter or a highlight reel of client work. But remember, while LinkedIn is a great place to publish your work, take the time to look at what others have published too.

• Keep up to date with our latest blog posts on our HGB page

4. Share and receive industry knowledge: LinkedIn isn’t just a site with millions of profiles on; it’s also home to thousands of professional groups. These groups enable you to share your industry knowledge with other likeminded professionals. Not only does this boost your profile as an expert, it gives you the opportunity to learn and get involved with other industry professionals.

5. Connections and reconnections: The secret to LinkedIn success is the connections, and there are lots to be made. But don’t just focus on making new connections, reconnect with former work colleagues too.

• Kylie’s reconnected with her first boss, Stephen Ballantyne on LinkedIn.

Getting started on LinkedIn

So, what do you need on your LinkedIn profile? It’s not as daunting as it may seem. We’ve been working with a client, helping them to set up their personal LinkedIn profiles, and this is what we’ve advised.

Step one: Start by entering the easy details: name, current position, organisation you work for, and a brief description of what your role entails.

Step two: Then it’s time to start populating your profile, listing the different jobs you’ve had throughout your professional career. Be sure to include mention of the different roles within an organisation as well, as this will illustrate how you’ve progressed in the company.

Step three: You’ll need to include a brief description about each role and this is the time to list any achievements. Perhaps you secured a major sponsorship deal for a client, or maybe you implemented a new software system that improved your organisation’s finance processes.

Step four: Include a record of any qualifications you have achieved, any professional courses you have been on, and any accreditations you have to your name. Also make mention of professional associations you are a member of and any voluntary work you may undertake.

Step five: Start connecting.