People generally use LinkedIn to search for a new job. The social media site has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the best places to go to find a new job.
However, you don’t need to be actively searching for a new job to get some use out of LinkedIn. And in this article we list the reasons to use LinkedIn beyond job searching.
1. Use LinkedIn to Build Your Reputation as an Expert
If you play your cards right you’ll find a great company to work for. A lot of us are searching for a long-term job that pays the bills and makes us feel good. If the stars align, your dream employer will want you to stay with them for a long time, too.
However, just because you’re currently employed does not mean that you should suddenly stop learning, or that you should no longer seek to gain new experience. One thing LinkedIn is great for is building up your reputation as an expert. You do this by updating your profile with new milestones that you’ve reached at work, or a blog post or two celebrating your achievements.
This accumulation of knowledge is beneficial for you and your company. It shows others that your employers hire the best of the best. It also acts as a safety net for yourself in case layoffs happen and you have to start looking elsewhere.
2. Use LinkedIn to Study New Skills
If you have a premium account, another thing you can use LinkedIn for is the LinkedIn Learning feature. This is where you can brush up on your hard skills related to your industry, ranging from Photoshop tips and tricks to project management software.
As a core feature of LinkedIn’s paid features, you gain access to specialized content to help you advance your career. New tutorials for existing software are added all the time.
This sort of continued learning—especially when going back to college is impractical—is especially useful if you’re working in a tech-adjacent field where the tools of the trade (and the best practices for them) change often. You need to keep up with those trends in order to stay competitive at your job.
3. Use LinkedIn for Market Research
Another cool feature of LinkedIn is your ability to access company-specific data on your industry-specific competitors. This data ranges from the average length of employment for a company’s employees, to the skills required for a particular job.
These tools are invaluable if you’re an HR worker involved in the management of staff. It allows you to help your company stay competitive with new hires, who will be looking at these details, too.
Even if you don’t have a Premium account, you can still do some cursory market research. You can click on a company’s LinkedIn Profile, see how many employees work there, and look for any recent announcements they may have posted.
If you’re curious to see who has viewed you, here’s how to see who has viewed your LinkedIn Profile.
4. Use LinkedIn to Network for a Rainy Day
Networking does not end once you get that dream job. Nor is it something you should dread.
It’s a skill that you constantly have to hone for a variety of reasons, ranging from simple pleasure—talking to like-minded people can stimulate ideas—to the fact that networking can increase profits for you and your company. It might open up previously unknown opportunities that were not advertised to the public.
Networking can also come in handy for a rainy day. We all want those good jobs to last forever, but sometimes there are layoffs, or you have to move. Health issues can prevent you from continuing, as well.
In situations like these, it’s best to have a reputation for being professional and approachable with others. When you do need your network’s help, they’re more likely to have your back if this is the case.
LinkedIn provides the perfect platform for this, where people are more likely to recommend you based on your approachability online. Here are the dos and don’ts of professional networking on social media to help you adopt the right mindset.
5. Use LinkedIn to Keep Track of Industry Trends
LinkedIn is a great way to keep track of industry-specific trends. This is not the same thing as honing your skills or doing market research on your competitors. Instead, you’re looking for the general ways in which the winds are blowing to take advantage of those topics.
You can do this by following companies and professionals in your industry who publish business-specific posts letting people know about their insights. These insights can include time periods where you can expect downturns or upturns in profits, or specific advancements in technology or research.
If you follow the right companies and influencers on LinkedIn, you can cultivate a news feed that allows you to catch up on daily, weekly, or monthly news specific to your industry. Essentially, you’re taking the same steps as you would to curate your feed on Facebook or Twitter.
The big difference here? Instead of having to sift through posts from the general public or your family, all of this info is specific to your career. Which means you can cut through the background noise much quicker.
Here are some amazing LinkedIn Influencers you should follow.
6. Run a LinkedIn Blog
Lastly, you can contribute to LinkedIn being a great resource by running a LinkedIn blog.
You can publish posts relating to your thoughts on your career, give general advice, and position yourself as an expert through your writing. This is especially handy if writing is your main field: these skills help to showcase your work and position you as an expert.
If you’re looking for more information, here’s how to boost your career by publishing on LinkedIn.
How to Use LinkedIn to Its Full Potential
When it comes down to it, LinkedIn is just another social media site that can help you gain visibility. If your career is something you gain enjoyment out of—and you want to advance it—then it can be a great tool for getting the word out and keeping you up to date on your field.
Are you looking for more ways that you can position yourself as an expert? The you should check out our article detailing how to create an amazing LinkedIn profile.
Read the full article: 6 Reasons to Use LinkedIn Beyond Searching for Jobs
Read Full Article
No comments:
Post a Comment