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Effective communication in the workplace
Effective communication in the workplace

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2 Growing my profile

Logos of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Figure 1 Social media platforms.

In Week 4, you looked briefly at the craft of writing social media posts, but there is one social media platform that has particular relevance to communication in the world of work and is likely to remain a key resource in the future.

LinkedIn can bring a range of work-related benefits. Rycraft (2018) outlines the following:

  1. Gain exposure to hiring managers and recruiters – 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn to research and recruit candidates.
  2. Demonstrate your knowledge, credibility and leadership expertise – having a LinkedIn profile helps build trust with employers and recruiters as they can see your recommendations and connections and evidence of where you have added value.
  3. LinkedIn has a great job board – you can directly apply for roles, save job searches, and flag to recruiters that you are open to hearing about opportunities.
  4. You can gain social proof for your skills and talents – through recommendations and endorsements from others. Anyone who sees your profile can see these and it shows you have other experts backing up your claims to have certain skills. This is very powerful in making connections.
  5. Join LinkedIn Groups – meet people with similar professional interests and expand your network from other graduates to professionals already working in your industry. Groups allow you to take part in discussions and start conversations with key people in key organisations.

All of these points involve communication, whether communicating your skills and experience to potential recruiters or building relationships with interesting and potentially useful professionals in your industry.

Activity 2 My LinkedIn profile

Timing: Allow 20 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 activity to review and 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.
  • If you have no interest in setting one up at the moment, this activity will still be useful for future job applications. You could also use it to review or add to the ‘elevator pitch’ content that you came up with in Week 4.

A LinkedIn summary is usually no more than 2–3 paragraphs long. It gives information on your skills and experience and is an opportunity grab people’s attention and encourage them to read on.

Compose your summary in the box below. If you need some inspiration, use Google to search for examples of LinkedIn profile summaries. Articles such as 5 templates that’ll make writing the perfect LinkedIn summary a total breeze [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] could be helpful.

To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

Discussion

When writing a profile summary, Grainger (no date) suggests the following:

  • Target the audience you want – think about who you want to read it and what you want from them. This will help you find your core message.
  • Be authentic, honest and concise.
  • Let your personality shine through – show recruiters who you are.
  • Explain what you do (briefly) – condense the details into a manageable paragraph that gives a taste of your expertise and previous roles.
  • Show off your talents – demonstrate your knowledge.
  • Master the art of a ‘closer’ line – work out what impression you want to leave the reader with in your closing sentence.

Raising your online profile allows you to expand your network and communicate with a wider range of individuals. This could certainly be useful to your career development but might also bring insight into particular issues that you and your team face in your current workplace, or opportunities for collaboration.