Ten ways to make the most of LinkedIn

It’s no exaggeration to say that social media has faced a storm of criticism in recent months.

While it undoubtedly achieves positive outcomes in terms of communication and information sharing, it’s slowly sinking into an abyss of fake news, bias, trolling and inconsequentiality.

There are increasingly compelling links between internet usage and mental health disorders ranging from insomnia and anxiety to depression and self-harm.

However, LinkedIn has always managed to retain a higher calibre of debate and formality, thanks to its status as a professional services platform.

While boastfulness and exaggeration are still de rigueur, there’s a self-policing nature to a platform populated by colleagues, managers, clients and service providers.

This is not a place to wage culture wars or indulge in petty point-scoring. Your next boss or HR manager could be watching – as might your current ones.

In truth, many people ignore LinkedIn’s potential, despite frittering away hours every week on far less productive or educational platforms like TikTok and Snapchat.

It’s important to redress this imbalance, and knowing how to make the most of LinkedIn will encourage you to redirect social media energies to a site with a surprisingly broad reach.

The platform has 42 million registered users in the United Kingdom, and over a billion users worldwide. The vast majority of working-age adults are already registered.

Here are ten ways to make the most of LinkedIn, starting with something so obvious many of us overlook it entirely…

1. Refresh your profile page.

As the first port of call for prospective employers, customers and business partners, create a good impression by ensuring your qualifications and experience are accurate and up to date.

2. Log on daily.

LinkedIn rewards regular visitors with a higher presence in other people’s timelines. Only 16 per cent of users log on daily, so spend a few minutes each day liking/commenting on posts.

3. Use it for job hunting.

There are numerous recruitment platforms in the UK, but six people are hired on LinkedIn every minute of every day. Update your CV and add skills tags to bolster your credentials.

4. Generate original content.

Like other social platforms, LinkedIn responds better to new content than regurgitated data. Pulse blogs will raise your profile; post links to new externally published content, as well.

5. Make that content visual.

Content with images achieve twice the engagement as text-only posts – worth remembering if you want to attract attention. Videos do better still, but live-streaming is best for engagement.

6. Engage with people you already know.

LinkedIn is designed for contact between people you know, yet many users spam unknown contacts. Maximise activity on-site by communicating with colleagues and old acquaintances.

7. Burnish your summary.

The summary is the only part of your profile many people will read. Create a one-paragraph overview of your experience – areas of expertise, key skills, awards and achievements.

8. Avoid cliches.

These are too numerous to mention, but examples include: photos of you with pets, preferred pronouns, empty buzzwords like “passionate” or “focused”, proud-parent stories.

9. Personalise connection requests.

People you know (or don’t) are far more likely to accept new connection requests if you send out personalised messages when seeking useful new contacts.

10. Follow companies as well as people.

Company pages might include job postings or partnership adverts, whereas key employees may be focused on promoting their own activities. There are no limits on who you follow.