Everyone knows LinkedIn is the best resource for professional networking, with approximately 450 million users. It is an incredibly powerful tool to get yourself in front of potential employers and showcase your professional accomplishments when job searching. But as well known as LinkedIn is, people still have questions about how to effectively leverage LinkedIn for networking — whether it’s for a job search or professional development opportunities.
[See: 16 Things You’re Doing All Wrong on LinkedIn.]
If you already have a job that you love, does that mean your LinkedIn profile is irrelevant? Not at all. LinkedIn is still a great tool to expand your network, build your professional brand and make a name for yourself in your industry. Here are four ways you can use LinkedIn to help you network more effectively.
Write short articles or opinion pieces. This doesn’t mean you have to become a professional writer. Your posts can be short and to the point. This is an effective way for your network on LinkedIn to get to know you and to stand out in your industry as a thought leader. Share your insights on trends in your industry or career advice to help those looking to get a job in a similar line of work. Your posts don’t have to be lengthy, but they should be concise and worth reading. To get ideas, see what other people in your industry are writing about. Ask yourself what you could share that could be of interest to your network. It could be a small anecdote about job searching, a piece of advice you received from a mentor, something that motivates you or a way you effectively handle a problem that you know is common to professionals in your field.
[See: 8 Things That Are More Productive Than Staring at a Job Board.]
Leverage LinkedIn to alleviate the awkwardness of in-person networking. Networking events can feel strange to many professionals, especially those who are more introverted. We don’t like walking into a room full of strangers and having to talk about ourselves. But when you have a detailed LinkedIn profile that you can leverage later, you can relax more and get to know people at in-person networking events with less pressure to sell yourself to potential clients or contacts. While you will want to have an elevator pitch and a few topics to chat with people about, remember what Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Try to remember this when you have the opportunity to meet someone in person. Make a solid connection, enjoy the conversation and get their information to invite them to connect on LinkedIn afterwards. You can connect with them first and they can see your professional accomplishments later. This can take some of the pressure off that first meeting.
Build your relationships using other features on LinkedIn. Like Facebook, LinkedIn wants to help you build a stronger network, but sometimes we don’t tend to that network as much as we should. To help strengthen your relationships with your professional network, you can quickly like posts, comment on new jobs or anniversaries or write quick notes to your connections. These all help you stay in front of them and build the relationship. Take a moment to write a recommendation for someone when you have a few extra minutes, right after a job well done. Be thoughtful and write something meaningful. This pays it forward and also helps you to nurture that relationship.
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Join groups. The LinkedIn community loves to ask for and share advice, so make yourself available to help your network. Find groups to join that are active, seem interesting to you and that you could really provide valuable information to. Be selective, don’t join just any group. Choose a few and make a commitment to participate in those groups. Pay attention to who is active in them and reply to their comments. At some point once you’ve built a rapport, they could be someone you turn to for advice or assistance and vice versa.
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4 Ways LinkedIn Can Help You Take the Pressure off Networking originally appeared on usnews.com
