10 Steps to Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform that can be used to enhance job searches and stand out as a candidate. The podcast offers 10 tips to help beginners navigate LinkedIn. It is important to create a profile with accurate information and a professional photo. Building a network by connecting with colleagues, classmates, friends, and family is crucial. Joining relevant LinkedIn groups can also expand the network. Optimizing the profile with relevant keywords increases discoverability. Lastly, requesting recommendations from colleagues and supervisors adds credibility to the profile. So we've all heard about LinkedIn, but what exactly is LinkedIn and how can you use it to amplify your job search, make you stand out as a candidate, and where does one even start if you're not familiar with LinkedIn at all? In today's episode, I've got 10 quick little tips that will help get you started. It's kind of like a step-by-step guide that is going to help you start your LinkedIn journey, so that way you can actually utilize LinkedIn for your job search. So enjoy today's episode all about utilizing LinkedIn. Hey there, you professional, ambitious, working mama. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Do you want to achieve remarkable success and experience unwavering faith in your professional journey? Do you find yourself up late at night searching for answers on how to make more money, maintain a positive work-life balance, and achieve exponential career growth? Do you wake up with big ambitious goals only to feel overwhelmed and uncertain when faced with setbacks, frustrations, and unexpected challenges? Well, you're in the right place. I'm Susan Edwards and on this podcast, we tackle those exact concerns head-on. We dive deep into strategies to propel your income, accelerate your career growth, and help you align your work with your faith. So if you're tired of feeling stuck and you're ready to embrace extraordinary success, unwavering faith, and a purposeful life, then join me on the Christian Career Coach Podcast. Together, we'll navigate the obstacles, find clarity amidst chaos, and unlock your true potential. Get ready for inspiration, actionable advice, and powerful insights that will empower you to conquer your fears and create the fulfilling career you've always dreamed of. Let's walk this transformative journey together. Welcome to the Christian Career Coach Podcast, where ambition meets faith and your dreams find their wings. Hey, amazing listeners. I want to share an exciting opportunity that can help you thrive in your career while aligning with your Christian values. As a devoted Christian Career Coach, I offer personalized one-on-one coaching sessions designed to empower you to achieve remarkable career growth, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and increase your salary. 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I can't wait to connect with you and guide you towards the abundant career you deserve. Visit www.ForwardsCareerServices.com today and take the leap towards a fulfilling and prosperous professional life. Hello, hello friends. Welcome to today's episode all about LinkedIn, using LinkedIn, and making the most of it so that way we can make the most of your job search. So that way you can land a job faster and utilize all these great features and functions that LinkedIn has built all for you. Okay, so I have created kind of a step-by-step guide that is going to help you get started in using LinkedIn, especially for those that are new to LinkedIn or have never used it, never heard of it before. So LinkedIn is an app, it's also a website, and it is the number one resource that employers are using to search for leadership positions and above. So think executives, managers, supervisors, c-suite, LinkedIn is the go-to job platform for that. Not only that, it's technically classified as a social media site, and if you enjoy expanding your brain and reading about things and learning new things in terms of non-political things, so things that are relevant to you, things that you enjoy doing and reading and seeing, it is a great social media app to get your news that way. It's actually reading stories from companies that are either doing layoffs or they've created this new product or, you know, there's something going on with this company that, you know, they'll release an article about it. And so you can actually read it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Okay, so without further ado, let's jump in. Number one is to create a LinkedIn profile. So you want to go up to the LinkedIn website and you want to sign up for an account. It's totally free. You don't have to pay. There are obviously some paid options, but today all we're talking about is your free LinkedIn account. So it's much easier to do this if you're on a computer, on a desktop, or on a laptop, and you actually go to LinkedIn.com and then click sign up for an account. Make sure to complete your profile with accurate and up-to-date information. You definitely want to include a professional photo, a compelling headline, a summary that showcases your skills and interests, and detailed work experience. This may take some time, but don't try to skip through this part and move to the next steps that I have for you. Number one is the most important. You want to set your profile up for success. In order to do that, you need all of these pieces to look professional and to highlight and showcase your skills and your background to the best of your ability. Now, if you do not have a professional photo, a selfie is perfectly fine. Just make sure that you have a clean background. It's not a busy background and you look professional in your photo. Okay, so now that you've got your LinkedIn profile created, you set up your account. You've got all your basics there, your skills, your interests, your work experience. You've got a great photo. You've got a good headline. Now you need to start building your network. Okay, you need to connect with people that you know first and foremost, such as colleagues that you work with, maybe classmates because you're still in college, or recent graduates. Any friends that you have that are on LinkedIn, go ahead and connect with them, and of course your family. You can't leave your family out. Personal connections can really be valuable when it comes to your job search, so do make sure that you connect with those people that you know first and foremost. Then you want to join LinkedIn groups that are related to your industry or your interests so that you can expand your network even further. Okay, so send those connection requests over to people that you know already, your colleagues and classmates, friends and family, and then start to join some groups, your LinkedIn groups. Just click on the groups tab, scroll through, and any of them that you see that are related to your industry or any interest that you have, request to join those groups. It's much easier if they're public groups. You can easily join those. There's no questionnaire that you have to fill out or any additional information that you have to give, so public groups I would recommend first. If you don't know how to find if it's public or private, don't even worry about that part. Just go ahead and start to join some LinkedIn groups. This is all going to create your feed, so when you open up your LinkedIn app and you start to scroll, these are the things that you're going to see. You're going to see your network of people and the groups that you're in with whatever posts they've been making. Okay, so you'll start to see whatever they're posting. Okay, step number three is to optimize your profile for search. This is the SEO piece. You want to use relevant keywords in your headline, in your summary, and in your experience sections. This is going to make your profile more discoverable to recruiters and hiring managers, so make sure that you highlight your key skills and accomplishments, but use those relevant keywords in your headline. Use them again in your summary, and then use them again in your experience section. That all helps the SEO. That's optimizing your profile. Okay, next, moving on to step number four. Let's add some recommendations. Request recommendations from colleagues or supervisors who can vouch for your skills and your work ethic. Recommendations help provide credibility to your profile, so if you scroll to the bottom of your profile, you'll see a section that says recommendation, and then you'll be able to request recommendations. If you have past supervisors that you are still close with, if you have that open line of communication still with them, I would highly recommend you request a recommendation from those supervisors or even colleagues, somebody that you weren't close with, maybe your best friends now, but you actually met at a job. It is perfectly okay to ask them to write a recommendation for you. I mean, that's essentially how the relationship got started, right, through your work, so if you've worked with somebody and you have that level of trust, don't be ashamed. Go ahead and ask for the recommendation. Okay, step number five is to follow different companies that you're interested in working for. This is going to keep you updated on their activities and the job postings that they have, so when you think about different companies, maybe it's a hospital close by that you want to work for, or maybe it's a school close by that you want to work for, maybe it's a completely, you know, remote Google type job and you want to work for Meta or Google or X or Tesla or Apple, you can always follow those companies. You just type in the company name in a search bar in that top left search bar, and then open up that company page, and you'll see a button that says follow, and just follow it. That's how you stay updated on what activities they have going on, and the news articles, and any job postings that they put up there. You'll actually be able to see that early when they post it, when they originally post it. Okay, step number six is to use the job search feature. Using the job search feature will help you find relevant job openings. This is just like Monster and Career Builder, and indeed, it does allow you to filter jobs based on location, industry, and all sorts of other criteria, and it also allows you to save jobs that you're interested in, and you can set up job alerts for specific keywords. So, the job search feature within LinkedIn is the thecareerbuilder.com that is within this entire platform of LinkedIn. So, be sure to check out the job search feature. It's on the main menu at the top towards the right, and moving on to step number seven, engage. Engage with different content. I cannot stress this enough. If you just get in here and create your profile, and then do all of these steps, and then don't do anything else, your profile is just going to get pushed down to the bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom, all the way down to the bottom, and no one's going to see you. No one's going to know you're there. You've got to engage with content. You've got to log in to LinkedIn on a regular, weekly basis. If you can do it daily for five minutes just to start the habit, especially if you're in your job search, if you are searching for a job or potentially searching for a job within the next few months, you need to be in LinkedIn every single day for a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes every single day. If you want to take Sundays off, go ahead, but I would recommend the other six days of the week you spend at least 15 minutes in LinkedIn every single day. Even if you don't apply for jobs, even if you don't send any new connection requests, it's important that you're engaged with other content. If you like a post, if you comment on a post, maybe you share posts from your network, something that you found was inspiring to you and you decide to share it. Engaging with content helps you stay visible and it builds your professional presence. This is key if you are job searching right now. I cannot stress this enough. LinkedIn will be your best friend if you befriend it first. Okay, so engage with content. Okay, moving on now. Step number, step number eight is to create and share your own content. Now, you don't necessarily have to spend hours writing an article or creating this huge, you know, flyer type inspiration thing in Canva. You literally can share articles or insights or any updates that are related to your field, your industry. This can position you as an industry expert and attracts the attention of recruiters. There's nothing better than being known as the expert in your field and the more you engage, the more you share, the more you comment on others' posts, the more you can put out there, the more you will be seen and heard from the audience. So, you don't have to be the original author of articles. If you read a really cool news article, all you have to do is click share, find a LinkedIn icon, and then add your thoughts to it. Found this article, thought it was really useful. If you're into X, Y, Z, take the next three minutes and enjoy. You know, it's basically just introducing the article to your connections on LinkedIn. That's step number eight, create and share your own content. Step number nine is to utilize the open to work feature. And I know this is not comfortable for everybody, especially if you're secretly job searching or if you're passively job searching, you may not want to put this open to work banner on your picture. But if you're okay with it, then use that open to work feature. This signals to recruiters that you are actively seeking new opportunities. You've seen pictures on LinkedIn, I'm sure, with the green banner that says open to work. That means that someone is actively seeking new job opportunities. So, recruiters will definitely reach out to you if you have that open to work feature on your profile picture. Okay, and then my final step is for you to attend virtual events. You can participate in virtual events, webinars, even conferences that align with your industry. This is a great way to network and learn about job opportunities. Now, I know that you may not have time to do this 10th one. However, if you are not working and your work is to find a new job, so that means if you're unemployed and you're actually actively seeking new employment, then I would recommend you attend some virtual events. They could be small events. They could be big events. You never know who you're going to meet at an online virtual event. And even if it's just a quick five minute introduction that you end up having with somebody, it could open doors 10 years down the road from now. You never know. So, this is a lot of information, but this is good information that will help you get yourself out there on LinkedIn, especially since it's the number one board for the job search and for your careers. It is a wonderful tool to use and to utilize to your advantage. Now, everything I've mentioned today is free. You can do all of this for free. So, there's no reason why you shouldn't be doing all 10 of these steps, especially if you're about to come up on a job search, if you think that you're not happy in your current role or your current company and it's time for a change. So, bookmark this episode and come back to it when you're sitting at your computer and you have the time to go through step by step and get your LinkedIn profile, your whole LinkedIn experience in alignment with what your needs are. A couple of other key things that I do want to mention is when you do send connection requests, either to people that you know or people that you don't know. Now, obviously, if it's your family, you can disregard. Your family knows you. However, friends, co-workers, colleagues, anytime you send a connection request, you want to personalize it. You want to include a message that is personalized and explain why you want to connect. This is obviously going to increase the likelihood that they're going to accept your request. But specifically, with those that may not have known you as personally as your close friends, maybe it was a distant colleague or maybe it's a complete stranger, but they work at a company that you're really interested in, so you want to connect with them. Or maybe it's somebody that is friends with somebody that you know. Feel free to add that in your connection request. So, if you can personalize it, it's more likely to get accepted. And then, most importantly, is to keep your profile updated. You need to regularly update your profile. You're learning new skills, you're having new experiences, and you're gaining new accomplishments regularly. So, anytime something new like that happens, you want to make sure that you update your profile with that information. This ensures that your profile accurately reflects your professional growth. Consistency is key. Actively engage with the platform. Build meaningful connections and stay persistent in your job search efforts. I think that if you take all of this into consideration, you will have much luck in your job search. And I will be praying for you and wishing you the best. And I'd love to hear if any of this was new information to you. Drop a comment. Let me know. I want to hear from you. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. If you learned something new from today's episode, tell me about that too. Or, if you've never been on LinkedIn before and you're ready to start now and you've listened to this episode and this gave you the confidence to get your own LinkedIn profile created, let me know that too. I want to hear from you. So, I hope you have a wonderful blessed week and best of luck in your job search. And I will see you in the next one. Hey there, Ambitious Mama. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Christian Career Coach Podcast. If it resonated with you and provided valuable insights, I'd love for you to take just 30 seconds and share this episode with a fellow Christian professional who may benefit from the career advice and inspiration. Together, we can uplift and empower more women on their professional journeys. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Oh, and one more thing that would mean the world to me. Could you leave a review? Your feedback and support light me up and let me know that this podcast is making a positive impact in your life. As we continue this journey together, remember that you're not alone. I understand the joys and challenges of being an Ambitious Mama and I'm here to cheer you on every step of the way. So, march your calendar because I'll meet you back here next Tuesday for another episode filled with valuable insights and practical tips. Until then, keep chasing your dreams, balancing your roles with grace, and shining brightly in your career and family life.