Get started on LinkedIn in one afternoon

Earlier this week one of my many unemployed friends asked me to help him get started with LinkedIn. I joined LinkedIn years ago and have gradually built out my profile, contacts, and groups over time so had to take a step back and think through where to start.

After some online research, I found that… well… there are a lot of ideas about how to get the most out of LinkedIn, and endless laundry lists of tasks that would take months to complete.

So for him and other neophytes out there, here’s Phase One:

1. Fill out your profile to explain your competence and unique skills, not as though you’re applying for a job with the FBI. If a company has changed names or been acquired, show both the name as it was when you worked there but lead with the current name. When you’re describing the roles you’ve had at various companies use descriptive terms and not necessarily titles. Focus more on what you learned and accomplished than what your specific responsibilities were.
2. Import vCards and contacts from your email app to start your base of connections. This should get you in to a reasonable number of contacts rather fast.
3. Start sifting through the hundreds of fellow alumni from your colleges and previous jobs to find friends and former coworkers. Be diligent about adding new contacts all the time… but only people you know well enough to be professionally linked.
4. Immediately add your personal LinkedIn URL to your personal business cards as well as your personal email signature.
5. Make sure to set LinkedIn to send all messages through to your standard email inbox.
6. Join industry and alumni groups. But monitor to see which are truly valuable.
7. Begin requesting recommendations from your former managers and colleagues, and start writing for them too. If you’re in a customer facing role, don’t hesitate to ask for references from former clients.
8. Update your status often to keep your network informed. Start with ‘I’ve joined LinkedIn and am becoming reacquainted with so many former colleagues.”
   

Watch for Phase 2 next week… and good luck getting started!