Known as the “social media of professionals,” LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for professional networking. However, LinkedIn is often mistaken as a site only for job seekers and job providers. The truth is every person in any professional field needs a LinkedIn account from the very beginning of their career. Whether starting for university degrees or placing the foundations of startups, LinkedIn can be a useful tool. Once you come under the eye of your dream company’s HR department, you get one step ahead of all of your peers.
Easier said than done, right? There are about 675 million LinkedIn users, and about 172,800 new users coming in daily. To be noticed here is like the needle trying to differentiate itself from the hay of the haystack. After all, their vision is to “create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”
To increase your footprint and shine bright to grab the attention of industry leaders and recruiters, here are the top 8 hacks you should try.
Update your profile regularly
Regular updating of the profile keeps you on the newsfeed always and showcases your current activities.
Write articles or post questions
Write articles about industry trends or insights or tips about things you are good at. You can also showcase your skills or talk about an industry event that you were part of. It could even be a convention, seminar, or workshop. Post intriguing open-ended questions that will spark a discussion in your comments section, turning the post into trending ones.
Write an exciting headline
Below your LinkedIn name doesn’t just put your position as the headline. That’s what everyone does. To stand out, try to creatively explain what value you offer through your job or what your passion is. An HR executive headline reads, “Matching professionals with opportunities.”
Give Kudos, the virtual high-fives
Focus on sharing useful articles of your peers, giving them kudos for their achievement, or even wishing them well on their new job. It shows that you are a good team player and can maintain good employee-to-employee relations.
Add hashtags
It might look like a “How to become an Instagram influencer” blog post by now but trust me, it works. Adding hashtags increases your chances of being spotted by industry leaders following those hashtags through LinkedIn.
Showcase your skills through work
Posting the credentials of your newly acquired skills is not enough. Work on a project or do something creative and useful simultaneously with that skill’s help to showcase it. For example, if you’ve recently learned Excel, try to make a dashboard about any recent event with it. You can even create infographics or how-to videos, simplifying textbook theories. These show that you are capable of using that skill as well.
Add links to courses while posting
While posting about your course completion, try to add the link from where you did the course. It shows that you like to encourage people and aren’t competitive. Also, it increases your number of followers as your juniors want to follow you more.
Inspire others
Try sharing something about your interests apart from these. You can post about a book you’ve read, your book list, a photo of your painting, or motivational quotes. These show you are more than a professional. Simply sharing something you find useful like an article from CNN, BBC, Forbes, or the Financial Express also increases your engagement.
To increase your visibility, consider LinkedIn as any other social media platform. The more relevant posts you make, and the more active you are, the more attention you will get.
