If you want to get a toe up on the career ladder as a young professional, LinkedIn is the perfect place to begin. LinkedIn is the top social media business professional’s website online with more than 100 million professional members worldwide as of March 2011, according to the official website.With that being said, LinkedIn provides young professionals with the perfect opportunity to virtually rub elbows with top contenders in their industry. This is your chance to make valuable connections, find out about new job opportunities before they are posted, and potentially expand your sphere of influence in your career.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
• Start conversations. When it comes to professionally networking in social media, you simply cannot hang back and be a wallflower. It’s important that you get out there, start conversations, ask questions, and provide valuable information.
This is one of the best ways to get to know people and make business connections on a social networking website like LinkedIn.
• Establish yourself as an expert. So what if you don’t have a PhD or have 20+ years of experience in your job? LinkedIn has a diverse group area where you can join discussions and provide answers to other users asking questions.
This is your chance to show that you know your stuff. Start answering questions, providing valuable information, and joining in discussions. Then you will be able to watch interested colleagues as they are attracted to you and want to find out more about the business that you represent.
• Pimp out your profile. It’s important to put as much effort as possible into your LinkedIn profile since it will represent you in the social media marketplace. On top of that, make sure to include valuable keywords in your profile since it will be easier for people to find you in the search engines.
When you include keywords related to your industry on your profile, businesses that are headhunting will be able to quickly access your information to contact you about potential job leads or opportunities.
• Quality over quantity. The entire purpose of LinkedIn is to make business connections, but you don’t necessarily need hundreds of connections to improve your reputation. When it comes to social media, quality over quantity always rules.
Take the time to start conversations, answer questions, and get to know people before making them a contact on LinkedIn. This way, you will know that your contact list is full of valuable colleagues and connections that can boost your career in the future!
This post was written by Bethany Ramos. Bethany is an expert at Internet and social media marketing, and she also co-owns her own e-commerce website, The Coffee Bump.
(Photo by Nan Palmero)
