How To Use Your LinkedIn Profile To Your Advantage And Make The Right Connections
Most of us have a LinkedIn profile. We use it to connect with our industry peers, find new jobs, and update our portfolios. But how can we utilize LinkedIn to its full potential? With 57% of the web’s job traffic coming from LinkedIn, it can be a game-changer for your career — if you know how to navigate it. Unsure where to start? Keep reading.
Create the right profile
It sounds simple, but building a LinkedIn profile takes time. “Start with a great photo, remember that LinkedIn is a social media network, but it’s a professional network first.” Andrew McCaskell, a career expert, said in a TheGrio Politics interview.
He also recommends using relevant keywords in your summary. “The words you should be using are words that talk about your skills and your experience. Also, take a look at the jobs that you’re really interested in and use some of the key words in that job description.”
The art of posting
With so much content on LinkedIn, it’s important to stand out from the crowd. “Posting pearls of wisdom, posting smart comments on other people’s posts, and posting your own professional triumphs all help to put you center stage as active and seen in your line of work,” Botzen says.
Abi Hill, a founder of Just Starting Out told POCIT she believes that content is currency. “Posting consistently (even short, reflective updates) signals authority and keeps you top-of-mind. Posts with authentic storytelling (wins, lessons learned, even setbacks) outperform generic corporate updates.”
Building connections
Unlike other social platforms, success on LinkedIn isn’t about numbers. Hill stresses the importance of being intentional: “Quality over quantity: connect with people in your ecosystem who align with your goals. Then nurture those connections with personalised messages rather than transactional requests.”
Connections can be powerful. LinkedIn members are four times more likely to land a job at a company where they already have a connection. Yet nearly 45% of Black professionals wish they had better tools to assess how their skills align with roles, according to Out.com.
McCaskill stresses the power of networks and technology in navigating this landscape. “Your network, your skills, and using technology are going to be the pathways for people — especially from marginalized groups — not just to survive this moment but to thrive,” McCaskell says.
Boosting credibility
Gregory Rouvelin, Marketing Director at employers.io, recommends focusing on credibility within your network: build connections inside target companies and request recommendations from colleagues who can speak to your skills.
“Endorsements for key competencies add social proof,” he says, “so prioritize gathering them alongside recommendations. Focus on both visibility and credibility to ensure recruiters view you as a strong candidate.”
Image: freepik
