LinkedIn Tips

Fully fill out your profile. Make it interesting for other people to read. Don’t leave out anything that is important.

Ask your friends and co-workers (both current and former co-workers that you are still in good standing with) to give you recommendations on your page. These work just like the recommendations that you send when you send your resume and cover letter to a company for a job opening.

List the things that you are passionate about. It will help someone get to know you better if you list your hobbies and extra-curricular activities. It is these things that allow others to get to know you and not just your job history.

Take advantage of the service and register yourself with all of your personal and professional e-mail addresses.

Look for, and join, any relevant groups that may help you in your networking. Start looking for groups in your desired career field, groups related to a hobby you are passionate about, groups for your fraternity or sorority, groups for your alma mater and so on.

When placing your resume on LinkedIn.com – don’t just paste it straight from your word document. You have the space to really describe the tasks and experiences, so take advantage of it!

Don’t forget to put a personal tagline on your profile. It is the first thing – after your name – that everyone will see. It is a key way to sell yourself and what you are looking for.

Explain each of your experiences (from your resume) in great detail. Take a second to describe what each company does and what your role within the company is/was. The more specific you can be, the better informed the potential employer will be.

Once you have joined the groups related to your field – stay active in the group. Ask and answer questions. This will raise your visibility and it will show others that you now what you are talking about.

Build on the connections you make. If you notice another person in your group that is very active - link with them and build a relationship with them.

Remember that the quality of the connections is far more valuable then the amount of connections you make. If you have 1000 connections and you only take advantage of 10 of them, then you have wasted your time. If you have 20 connections and you are taking advantage of all 20 then your time has been much better spent.

Watch for spammers. Some will send you e-mails that look exactly like Linked In notifications but they're really links to harmful sites. Put your mouse over the link before clicking on it. This will shows the actual url of the site.

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