That’s a mistake.
Everyone is in transition, always. If you are at the executive level and don’t spend time on LinkedIn EVERY WEEK you are neglecting your own career. LinkedIn is part if building relationships and is not “something else to do.”
Even though you have a business to run, you have a career to manage.
You can leverage LinkedIn in as little as one hour a week. Set aside as block of time. That’s right, block out time on your calendar every week for LinkedIn and use it for nothing else. Each week, reach out to people in your network and make an effort to connect with them: comment on posts they have made; offer to connect them to someone else in your network who you think they should know; send them an article they might find interesting along with a quick note to catch up; participate in group discussions; and accept/invite new connections. Make this your weekly routine and you’re one of the minority making good use of LinkedIn – now that’s an advantage!
Once you’ve gotten the hang of being a weekly “LinkedIner” you’ll want to log in nearly every day because the LI algorithm includes login frequency, and you should check your home feed for updates and comment on anything that catches your interest. You should follow your target companies and relevant hashtags, upgrade to premium, complete the About Me, add a professional picture (not a selfie), manage your privacy settings, put a brand statement under your name.
When all of that is done and has become routine, you’re ready for the next step: start posting content. Believe it or not, despite the millions of LI users, the percentage who are posting their own content is relatively small.
If you are posting your own content, you are distinguishing yourself from the masses.
Sounds like a lot of trouble? Writing content isn’t easy! But when you do you dramatically increase your presence online. Want to be seen as a thought leader? If you are an executive, the answer is “YES!” Content is a great way to be noticed.
62% of companies have decided not to hire a candidate based on their social media profiles.
If you are actively doing these things you will be off to a great start to using LinkedIn to your advantage. LinkedIn is not the place you copy and paste your resume online! In fact, that’s not going to get you far at all. If that’s what you did, you’re actually doing your competition a favor, because even if you’re employed now, at some point, chances are you will be on the market and wishing you’d paid attention to your LinkedIn profile the last several years.
