Getting Started on LinkedInHow to develop your

professional online presenceSue Beckingham

Sheffield Hallam University

Why would you want to use LinkedIn?

The key professional networking tool

the corporate office

the water cooler

the staff canteen

the bar

LinkedIn is in the Top 20 most visited websites in the world

Nearly 5.7 billion people searches on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Demographics

300 million members worldwide students and recent graduates - fastest

growing demographic 15m+ members in the UK professionals are signing up to LinkedIn at a

rate of approx. 2 new members per second.

Company presence 3m companies have a page

LinkedIn Groups 2.1 million

LinkedIn Demographics

39,000,000 are students and recent graduates

There were 5.7 billion professionally-oriented searches undertaken by LinkedIn members on the platform in 2012 alone

Understanding the value of

Your digital rolodex

Take note…. an unprofessional profile can be more damaging than not having one at all.

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/global!will find

you!

Be mindful of how people search for information

LinkedIn ranks highly!

Who will look at your online profile? What do people want to know about you? Where will they use this information? Why is your profile important? When and how often do you update it? How will you use your profile to your advantage?

Questions to consider

Developing your professional online profile

#1Check the

privacy settings and

optionsWhilst developing your profile you can opt to make it private until you are ready to share it

Think about the keywords you would use in a search and include relevant ones within your profile so that

people searching for your expertise can find you.

Include in your headline, current and past work experiences, summary and specialities

#2Use

keywords

Aim for

NOT this

#3Complete

your profile

People want to connect with you as an individual, so avoid displaying an avatar or worse leaving the default image

#4Include a

photo

Add to your email signature, blog, business cards

#5Customise your public

URL

Consider the keywords users might use to search for expertise

#6Add your

skills

Your skills can

be endorsed

#7Give and ask for

recommendations

Add links to publications#8

Add projects and

publications

Add links to projects#9Add projects

Professional networking on

Your initial steps will include completing the sections on your profile and making connections, however will need to be revisited

from time to time

is an iterative process

#10Be a

Gardener

A minimalistic approach to your profile might be fine for

Mark Zuckerberg but potential employers want to know

about you!

Better to take a leaf out of Reid Hoffman’s book

Exploring LinkedIn beyond your profile page

Developing new contacts

People search

A good way to find the head of any company

People search

Search for Companies

http://www.linkedin.com/directory/groups/

Follow Companies

Groups search

The LinkedIn Apply Button

https://developer.linkedin.com/apply

Companies can add this to their job page on the company website

Applicants are asked to submit a link to their LinkedIn profile

http://go.shu.ac.uk/socialmedia

Creating guidance for students

Getting Started with Twitter

Sue Beckingham | @suebecksSheffield Hallam University