In the first part I covered your Linkedin profile, its importance and how to build your network. In this post we will take it to the next step – groups, endorsements, influencers and what not.
Join the right groups
In the first part I covered your Linkedin profile, its importance and how to build your network. In this post we will take it to the next step – groups, endorsements, influencers and what not.
Join the right groups
Groups are like taking your network connections to the next level. LinkedIn defines it as a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content, post jobs, events and more. There are currently 1675241 groups in the directory. Does that sound overwhelming? Checkout the groups your connections are part of as a starting point, or you can search specific terms on the groups directory on LinkedIn. for example searching for life science yielded 1165 results. The good thing is that for each search result, LinkedIn will show you whom from your network are part of this group, so this can help you gauge better which groups might be worth joining.
Now, you shouldn’t do it just for the sake of joining a group. The good groups have large number of members (and you can view the statistics of it on the right side of the screen) and are active content wise. And by that I mean – a variety of users are sharing content and not just recruiters are posting jobs once in a blue moon.
Some groups are “locked”, which only means you need to submit a request to the group manager to become a member. This usually might be more “worthy” groups as presumably they don’t let anyone joins.
Now, the thing with groups is, what probably prompted Jon Stewart to say about LinkedIn: “I thought it was an email inbox flooding service”. To avoid this problem – go to your settings and under the “Groups, Companies and Applications” you’ll be able to change the frequency of the emails (daily, weekly or no email), the order in which they appear on your profile and more. One thing you may also consider to change is which groups are visible on your profile. For example, if you don’t know people to know that you’re interested in Consulting because you joined the “PhD to Consulting” group, make sure it’s invisible on your profile.
Didn’t find something that fits your interest? You can just create your own group and grow it from there.
Follow companies of interest
Whether you’re in the process of job searching or you like to use LinkedIn to stay on top of what Genentech is up to – following companies is the way to do it (assuming the company is doing a good job maintaining their company page on LinkedIn).
From a job search perspective –you can learn about job opportunities and apply via LinkedIn to the job. Another benefit is that LinkedIn will show you, how you are connected to the company: if someone in your network in working there or is connected to the HR manager who posted it or even, the 2nd degree connections and how you may reach them through your network. This can of course help a lot with boosting your application. Alternatively, it’s also a good way to find people to do an informational interview with within company and/ or job of interests and learn more. Then, when you’re invited to an interview, you will be well prepared and it can come through they you “did your homework”. In sum, following companies is an easy way to know the latest company updates (including the company’s competitors as well).
A little word about settings when job searching…
Often people miss the fact that LinkedIn, like any other social network, has privacy settings. I hope by now people already figured it out that when you’re actively searching for a job, other people, including your boss and colleagues, see that you updated your profile, connected with a bunch of new people, started following lots of companies etc. So, if you don’t want other to see the increase in your activity, just go to the privacy settings, there’re the first thing on the dropdown under your name and turn off your activity broadcast.
Using your LinkedIn status
While most of you probably use Facebook and Twitter to tell all your friends what you’ve been up to, many people neglect to use their LinkedIn status (which can by the way be broadcasted to your Twitter account as well). I’m absolutely not suggesting that you post the same stuff on LinkedIn as you do on Facebook, but feel free to use it – when your Nature paper was published or you got an award or there’s just an interesting article or a blog post on something relevant for your research, such as vaccines or the 60th anniversary to Watson and Creek DNA discovery. Therefore, don’t overlook the LinkedIn status update as you can leverage it to build a professional name for yourself.
Recommendations
I haven’t seen this much on graduate students or post-docs profiles but rather more on people with “real jobs” But getting a public recommendation from your boss, collaborator or colleague can be a pretty nice confidence boost. You may ask for one, or even just write an unsolicited one for your colleague and they might pay it forward. When someone writes a recommendation for you, you have the ability to approve it and then it will show on your profile. So before you approve it, make sure it’s well written and would actually add to your profile.
Endorsements
Endorsements are kind of the lazy version of recommendations. When it came out, and I started getting those emails that X endorsed me for Y and so on, it almost felt like “endorsement” is the new “Like”. Similar to recommendations, showing you were endorsed for a skill by your connection(s) is pending your approval. The “pay it forward” principal can be applied well in this case. Of note, make sure you endorse people for skills that you actually know they are good at or know they have real experience and reciprocally, only accept endorsements for skills you already have on your profile.
LinkedIn keep adding more and more features that are more than I can cover. However, I hope you find these two posts useful and as a great starting point to make the most out of LinkedIn. I know that y’all are good at research to feel free to continue exploring. Just remember – that LinkedIn is your PROFESSIONAL network, it’s like the formal cocktail party, hence, keep it professional, and think of it as a reflection of your personal brand. You wouldn’t want people to get the wrong message about you.
Lastly, if you have some more LinkedIn tips, please share it with the other readers and always feel free to ping me with questions.
