LinkedIn is a network founded in 2002 with a focus on career development, job advancement, and professional networking. It’s power of influence is supported by the $26.2 billion price tag Microsoft paid for it in 2016. Unlike Facebook, Instagram or other social networks, Linked is an “employment-related social network” offering members professional profiles, supported by job postings, job applications, company profiles, and networking.
Data is powerful. And LinkedIn’s 2020 data is impressive: 660+ million members including executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies. It’s one of the two most used recruitment sources (the other being Indeed.com) and continues to grow in membership and reach.
With free account profiles, every savvy Project Manager, Agile Practitioner, Business Analyst, or really, any professional should be on LinkedIn.
There are lots of resources for LinkedIn profile tips out there, and it is an easy process. If you already have a profile, make sure that you can log in to it, and make plans to update it. At the most basic level, your profile should include a professional photo, headline, current job, and education. To kick start your profile set up, here are two resources:
With a profile in place, now the network part comes into play. In career workshops, I’m often asked, “How many connections do I need to have?” There is not a perfect number, but if you have less than 50 it is clear you are newer to the platform or not actively engaged. Have a strategy so that you can grow your network: set a target number, determine focus of networking, create template connect request message, set time to find people on the site. Here are ways to get names within LinkedIn for sending Connect requests to others:
No matter how you find the person with which to connect, include a custom message when you send the connection request.
The feed is the professional information, posts, shares, etc. that make up the content on the site. Learn more about the Feed from LinkedIn, then get to enhancing yours to increase the use of the site in your professional life.
An active feed keeps your name on other people’s mind. It shows you are engaged in the professional community and an active part of the professional network.
LinkedIn is an employment-related social network, so cute though the new puppy may be, try and keep your posts around professional topics. That said, it is a network, and posting about issues, trends, events, and professional themes can be appropriate if within a business context.
Above all, use the platform as part of your professional brand. Consider what would be of interest or value to others in your field, and what you may want a future employer to see. Ideas for posts include but are not limited to:
Posts should be professional, but more personal than a resume. LinkedIn allows your personality to come through in the context of information you would feel comfortable sharing with any co-worker. And with 660+ million members, know it is not a place for anything confidential.
Project Managers, Business Analyst, Scrum Master, Agile Coach – no matter what your primary skill or career passion, LinkedIn can help. In addition to a professional network, it is also a massive research tool due to the breadth and depth of its global membership. Consider these ways to use LinkedIn for your career:
Your Project Team likely has many people on LinkedIn. With information that they publicly share, like schools or past jobs, you may find you have more in common than you thought. And before you go into that new interview, research the hiring manager and company, because I assure you that they are looking at your LinkedIn Profile.
The lack of a LinkedIn profile can be seen as a lack of engagement with the larger professional world and/or your industry and peer network. It is easy to set up a profile and to get connected. Start enhancing your profile with these easy steps:
Project Managers can by their very task-driven nature, not see the value of LinkedIn. However, if you look at Project Management as a profession, not just a job title, then it is important to be linked to others, to have a professional network, and to use all available information to support your career.