Charlotte Business Professionals

By Katherine Horn of vitalink

on May 27, 2009

Published in : Human Resources

Keywords : LinkedIn, job search, networking, connections, researching companies

Getting Started

Whether you are new to LinkedIn or have been linked in for years, you will want to set up (or review) your profile with a critical eye. LinkedIn is essentially your online business persona-it should represent your professional capabilities and history clearly. Consider that LinkedIn profiles rank high in many search engines, so if someone Google's your name your profile is going to appear. Profile suggestions:

1. Enter a brief, concise headline to describe yourself. If you are seeking work, make this headline specific to the role you are looking for. An example: "Senior Project Manager, Retail". When your name comes up in search results, your headline is shown, too. Many employers are doing passive searches for new hires by looking at the contacts of their employees; you want your headline to catch their attention.
2. Choose your industry from the drop-down list. Read through it carefully for the best fit. If you have to choose between two or more based on your experience, choose the one that best represents where you would like your new job to be.
3. Add a photo of yourself. Use a headshot no more than 80x80 pixels and make certain it is professional.
4. Your summary should provide one or two short paragraphs on your background and skills. It should be grammatically correct and have NO typos!
5. The specialties section allows you to enter key words representing your areas of expertise. Don't leave this empty.
6. Add your professional experience, including companies worked for, dates of employment and titles. You may also add job descriptions for each role. This is essentially an online resume. You may wish to leave off history older than 15 years if it does not add value to your profile.
7. Include your education and any professional certifications. Dates are not required.
8. When your profile is initially saved within LinkedIn, you are assigned a unique URL. You should edit your public profile and customize the URL to contain your name. Note that you may not get you first choice so have a few others in mind. Again-remain professional with the names! Make sure your profile is public so it can be searched. Helpful hint: put your customized URL on your business cards, resume and email signature so people can access your profile quickly.
9. Optionally, you may add up to three websites to your profile (great if you have your own business), list interests, add honors and awards, list personal information, or change contact settings.
10. Use the mobile LinkedIn feature if you have a Smart Phone. It's m.linkedin.com.

Note that you can modify certain account settings to limit access to information on your profile. You may (and should) edit your profile frequently to keep it current. Make sure if you've been laid off that you change your primary email address in your profile so information isn't going to your old work address.

Add Connections

Time to think back to all those folks you know from shared employment, education, social, volunteer activities and family (maybe!). Only invite people you know fairly well to join your network. NEVER issue generic connection requests-you will just annoy people.

Search for people you know using the quick search feature in the upper right corner or choose the advanced search option. Advanced search allows you to set location parameters, current or former employers, education, etc. If you worked with Mary Smith at ABC Manufacturing in Charlotte, for example, but cannot remember her married name, you may search for "Mary" with the company name and location as parameters and may be able to locate her in LinkedIn.

Once you locate the individuals you wish to add, use the Invite to Connect feature. The person's email address will remain hidden from view unless they accept your invitation. Choose how you know the person. Note that in some cases to protect the individual's privacy you must enter their email address. A default message appears (shown below), but you should customize the note, especially if you are inviting someone you met recently-it will refresh his or her memory of the meeting.

After the invitation is delivered, the recipient may choose to accept, decline or just ignore it. If they do accept, you will receive notification and their profile will be viewable under your contacts.

The Value of Groups

There are thousands of groups in LinkedIn ranging from a few members to thousands. Groups are broken out by type to make it easier to find. These include alumni, corporate, conference, networking, non-profit, professional and other.

To search for a group, click on the Groups link on the left navigation bar. A list of current groups you belong to (if any) will appear. On the right side of the page are options to find a group or create a group. To find groups to join, choose Find a Group. Enter keywords and choose the category (or leave blank to search all).

Hints:

• Limit the groups you join to those that really make sense for you. Some groups require approval, so don't waste your time trying to join the UCLA Alumni group if you didn't go there!
• Consider adding both undergrad and graduate alumni groups.
• Look for industry-specific groups that represent your prior industry or future interests.
• Consider local professional groups; some of these groups have meetings in addition to a LinkedIn presence. Charlotte Business Professionals meets quarterly and is open to all industries and job levels. The Charlotte American Marketing Association also maintains a LinkedIn group; you do have to be a current CAMA member to join.
• The number of group members is generally represented next to the name. This may help you determine whether it is worth your time to join a group.
• You can decide whether to receive email updates from the group. If these get to be overwhelming, you can go back and turn off this feature.

A relatively new feature within Groups is the Jobs tab. When a group member begins a discussion he or she indicates whether it is a job post. If so, the discussion will appear under the Jobs tab for the Group. Note that not all groups have a Jobs page.

One benefit of group membership: you can use the advanced search feature to look for group members within a specific company. This gives you a way to get a contact name for your job search. Note that with an unpaid LinkedIn membership you can only page through the first hundred names, so utilize keywords where possible to limit search results.

The Introductions Feature

Once you are linked to contacts and/or groups, you may use the introductions feature for a "warm" intro. Here's an example:

1. Search for the specific business.
2. Look at the list of current employees-it will tell you at the top how many are in your network. You may have to click on "See more..." to access the full list.
3. You may limit the list, if needed, by choosing filters on the right. Do this to limit to your geographic area if the company is headquartered elsewhere. You can also filter by job title or limit the list only to those in your network.
4. Let's assume you are looking for a position as Marketing Director and you see an individual listed as VP of Marketing who is a second or third level LinkedIn contact. This looks like a good fit for the introduction. Under the person's name you will see how you connect to this person.
5. Mouse over the person's name and three options appear. Choose "Get Introduced". [If you have a paid LinkedIn subscription, you may choose to send a message through InMail. You may also invite the individual to connect through this link but again this is not recommended unless you know him/her.]
6. A screen will appear to compose your messages (plural). For a second level contact, you will write a message to the intended connection (keep it concise and professional) describing why you are contacting him. A second email should be composed to your first level contact-the one who links the intended connection to you. Your connection will forward the email on to his or her connection and do the introduction. For a third level contact the process happens once more-so it takes longer to get a response.

Some of your contacts are busy or may choose not to forward the introduction email. Even if they do so, not everyone will respond. Keep trying-it usually works!

The Jobs Tab

LinkedIn offers job postings to members for $195 per 30-day posting. To see jobs posted in your area, choose the Jobs link at the top and search by keyword, country and/or postal code. When results are returned, two tabs will appear. The first shows jobs posted on LinkedIn; the second shows jobs posted matching your criteria on the web through SimplyHired.com. Alternately, when searching companies (see section below) you may filter to display only companies with jobs listed on LinkedIn.

Many LinkedIn group members will also "list" jobs that appear as comments in your group updates. Keep your eyes open for these!

Researching Companies

Company listings in LinkedIn are voluntarily posted and maintained by the companies themselves, so you will not necessarily find all companies listed. You may wish to combine your LinkedIn search with a Google search. Companies that are represented show some valuable information. The Bank of America profile is shown below for reference. Note the following:

• Company description gives a synopsis of the business.
• Current employees in my network are listed with their titles; more can be seen by clicking on "See more...". These are folks you might contact for an informational interview.
• On the right side, related companies/divisions are listed, followed by common career paths (this will only show up if the employee pool using LinkedIn is large enough). High connection paths are also listed. In some cases this might represent a partial client list for the business.
• Former employees and new hires are listed below current staff. Recent promotions may be shown at the bottom. You might use these names and titles to send congratulatory notes with a request for a meeting.
• Key statistics appear on the right (when available). These might include divisional locations, a website address, industry, revenues and company size.
• Below statistics, common job titles may be listed. This can be valuable as many companies use slightly different job titles-this way when you contact them you can speak their "language".
• News links and stock information may also be shown (not displayed here).

Communicating via LinkedIn

The InMail feature in LinkedIn allows users to email level one connections. Level two or three connections can only be contacted by users with the upgraded version of LinkedIn. Group members can be sent email by everyone in the group. Emails are delivered to the address posted in your profile, so make sure it is current. The messages also appear in your LinkedIn inbox. Note when you receive an email in your personal box that as a standard, LinkedIn is forwarding the message on behalf of the sender using a "nomail" return address that will bounce if your just hit reply. If the email has been sent on behalf of a contact, scroll to the bottom and choose the "reply to" link. This allows you to respond within LinkedIn.

Other Stuff

Advanced users might consider:

• Adding LinkedIn Applications like SlideShare, Polls or TripIt.
• Asking or answering questions-by providing valuable answers to questions others ask you can position yourself as a subject matter expert.

LinkedIn is a valuable tool for professionals to keep connected and share ideas. Use it well!

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