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3.1 Promoting myself on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It has approximately 700 million users in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.

There are many ways to use it to both develop and promote your personal brand. For beginners, Nations (2018) suggests the following:

  • get back in touch with old colleagues
  • use your profile as your CV or resume
  • find and apply to jobs
  • find and connect with new professionals
  • participate in relevant groups
  • blog about what you know.

You can also search for internships or work experience in the jobs section.

Joining relevant groups and regularly contributing to the conversations that take place is a great way to build your profile. Watch the video Grow your network with LinkedIn Groups [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] to find out more about how to use groups effectively.

The next activity will help you to set up a LinkedIn profile if you don’t already have one or, if you do, to enhance and update it.

Activity 3 My LinkedIn profile

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes for this activity

A key element of your LinkedIn profile is the summary section. This appears at the top of your profile and is the first thing people will read about you.

Do you already have a LinkedIn profile?

  • If yes, use this exercise to update your summary section.
  • If no, consider setting one up and then using this activity to fill in your summary section when you are ready.

A LinkedIn summary is usually no more than 2–3 paragraphs long and is an opportunity to grab people’s attention and encourage them to read on. It is a bit like a personal profile on a CV.

Compose your summary in the box below.

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Discussion

If you need some ideas, Frost (no date) has some suggestions for different templates:

  • the mission-based summary – opens with a broad description of what you do, then gets more and more specific
  • the personality summary – begins with an anecdote that demonstrates one or two key personality traits
  • the short and sweet summary – shares current role, previous positions and skills, useful for technical or conservative industries
  • the blended summary – blending the personality and mission-based approaches to create something light, fun and professional
  • the accomplishments summary – tells potential employers why you deserve the job.

Frost’s blog also includes examples of each and shares some useful ideas and suggestions. Find the link in the References section at the end of this week.