Hey guys! In my last post, I discussed some different ways to clean up your social media accounts in order to make sure your online self is as presentable as your resume.

Today I want to continue this theme of preparing yourself for the professional world by introducing LinkedIn.  I hadn’t really heard of it until last year and I still have a lot of unanswered questions about it.

What is LinkedIn?

How do I use it?

What will it do for me?

Who will see my information?

Hopefully this will clear things up a little bit and show you how you can use LinkedIn as a tool to promote yourself.

LinkedIn is a social networking site for working professionals.  It allows you to re-connect or stay in touch with colleagues and classmates, discover inside connections when looking for a job, and create a network of professionals in your industry to share advice and knowledge.

The first step in getting started with LinkedIn is creating a profile.  In her article, LinkedIn Profile Tips, Allison Doyle says this is important because “…your LinkedIn profile can increase your visibility online and help you build your professional brand that showcases your background to prospective employers.”

Profile Tips:

• Complete and detailed – Consider this like an online resume.  You should include your qualifications, experience and skills.
• Include a photo that is nice and professional looking
• Make your profile public – This way, people will be able to find you.  Also, customizing your URL will make your link easier to share.
• Select an industry- Recruiters use it to search
• Add any volunteer work you have done – 41% of professionals who were surveyed said they consider volunteer work equally as valuable as paid work experience when evaluating candidates. This can give you an edge!
• Take advantage of the Additional Information section of the profile – Use it to include links to your company, your blog, your website, your Twitter, etc.
• If you can, request LinkedIn recommendations from people you have worked with – This can carry a lot of weight with a potential employer. Doyle says the best way to get recommendations is to give them.  Take the time to write recommendations for others and they will most likely do the same for you.

Those are some basic suggestions when creating your profile that can really make you stand out.

I also found this article from Mashable.com on 4 Secrets for Using LinkedIn to Land a Job.  The author, Chelsea Gladden, discusses some tips that can give job seekers an upper hand when using LinkedIn.

She suggests:

• Create a keyword-heavy profile title – You want your name to come up in search results, so use words that reinforce the work you do.
• Join your college alumni groups – Start a conversation with relevant contacts to put your name out there.  You already have a built-in common ground with these people so it might be a good idea to use it as a networking method.
• Never send LinkedIn invites unedited – Gladden says you should always personalize the invite.  Remind these people where you met, what you have in common, and what you are hoping to get in touch about.
• Do “small goods” for your LinkedIn contacts – A great way to show you care and to stay up to date is congratulating your contacts on an accomplishment or commenting on things they post.  Most likely, they will do this for you in return.

Now that you have some basic tips on how you should set up your LinkedIn account, you might be asking yourself if this applies to you yet.

When is a good time to create a LinkedIn profile?

I would say anytime after your sophomore year in college.  By this time, you should have some things to write about in your profile.  You have taken enough courses in your major, you have a resume, you are beginning to apply for internships, you have some volunteer work and maybe some work experience under your belt, and you are just looking to get a head start on connecting with people in your field.

Even if it is just to check out how LinkedIn works, there’s nothing wrong with starting now.  It will only put you that much farther ahead of the game.