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Introduction 0:03 Hello everyone. My name is Heather Livingston, and I'm a career counselor with the ������Ƶ. 0:08 Thank you for watching this presentation on how to utilize LinkedIn. 0:13 What is LinkedIn? What is LinkedIn 0:16 LinkedIn is a professional networking site designed to connect people to opportunities. 0:22 It's important to understand that LinkedIn is a professional social network, not a personal network. 0:28 For anyone who isn't very familiar with LinkedIn, it's important to realize that although it may be a form of social media, it's not the same as Facebook. 0:37 On LinkedIn, you should be professional in all of your online behaviors. 0:42 Many people think that LinkedIn is just an online version of a resume, but it's much more than that. 0:48 Professionals use LinkedIn for opportunities to connect, learn, and build their brand which are three of the most important things you can do manage your career. 0:58 Why is building and maintaining relationships important for managing your career? 1:03 The opportunity to connect with others on LinkedIn is important because in the world of work, relationships are your competitive advantage. 1:11 Every business decision, from recommending a colleague or hiring a candidate, to promoting and employee flows through people. 1:19 If you fail to build a network of support around you, you make it difficult to achieve your professional goals. 1:26 The opportunity to continuously learn is also available to you on LinkedIn. That's because your network is a valuable source of knowledge. 1:34 LinkedIn also has a learning platform Lynda.com that enables its premium members to take online courses in various topics in order to learn new skills. 1:44 Finally, LinkedIn allows you to build a strong brand by establishing a professional online presence. 1:53 LinkedIn is an ideal place to build your online brand because when you create a LinkedIn profile, you become part of the world's largest online professional network. 2:04 More than 600 million professionals around LinkedIn. These are the decision makers, the hiring authorities, and the business leaders. 2:12 Over 40 million LinkedIn members drive business decisions. They hold director-level positions and above. Nine of ten recruiters use LinkedIn to find talent and vet candidates before an interview. 2:24 They look for clues about your cultural fit, and what others have said about you through their recommendations. 2:30 Six-point-eight million LinkedIn members are C-level executives, and on LinkedIn, they're within your reach. 2:38 There are five specific strategies we recommend to build your online brand with LinkedIn. 2:44 One, create a complete profile. Two, write a compelling headline and summary. Three, follow companies and thought leaders. Four, expand your network. Five, be active. 2:57 As we go through each tip, I'll explain how each one helps you get value out of LinkedIn. 3:03 First, let's talk about how to create a complete profile and why it's important for your online brand. A complete profile, means you have all of the following. A profile photo. Create a complete profile 3:16 This should be a high quality image with a neutral background where you're dressed appropriately for your profession. 3:23 Education. Including your education, enables recruiters to find you by searching for the school you attended or the degree you earned. It also allows other alumni to find you which is great for networking purposes. 3:37 Location and industry. This information also makes it easy for recruiters to find you when they are looking for talent by region or industry expertise. 3:46 At least 50 or more connections. If you have less than 50 connections, it probably means you are not engaged in your professional life or maintaining your professional relationships. Location and industry. This information also makes it easy for recruiters to find you when they are looking for talent by region or industry expertise. 3:46 At least 50 or more connections. If you have less than 50 connections, it probably means you are not engaged in your professional life or maintaining your professional relationships. 3:58 A minimum of three skills. On your LinkedIn profile, skills act as key words because they are searchable by recruiters who are looking for people with your talent. 4:09 You need to add at least three of your top skills, but you can include up to 50. 4:14 Your current position with a description and two past positions. Having a complete profile is the easiest way to make your profile more visible so you can be found. 4:25 By having a complete profile, you are 40 times more likely to come up in recruiter searches. 4:33 The second strategy is to write a compelling headline and summary. Your headline is the information that is right under your name. This is one of the first things people notice about your profile other than your name and photo. Write a compelling headline 4:47 It's also the main thing someone sees in a search result including recruiters. You want to make sure it captures your personal brand. 4:55 By default, LinkedIn uses your most recent job title, but you should customize this to better capture your brand so you stand out among people with similar job titles. You have up to 120 characters of room to do this. 5:08 The summary is the information that is underneath your headline. Your summary should give people some insight into your personality, not just your credentials. 5:17 You've got 2,000 characters for this section, plenty of space to tell your career story. 5:23 Only the first 220 characters will be shown unless you click "see more." You should make sure that you instantly communicate who you are, and what you do. 5:34 As we see in this example, Steven Starks uses his headline to communicate that he is a board-certified counselor, a career coach, a job-search strategist, and that he specializes in helping people discover what they love. 5:48 That headline is a lot more descriptive than just career coach. As we see in the first 220 characters of his summary, he instantly communicates that he helps people discover what they love, they're good at, and that pays what they deserve. 6:03 Let's take a look at the techniques for creating an effective headline and summary. 6:09 The trick to creating an effective headline is to make it searchable. In other words, use key words that would help a recruiter find a professional like you. 6:19 The first step is to capture who you are. You don't have to use your job title but you will need some sort of title that explains the field you're in or aspire to be in. 6:30 For example, if you're an accounting student but lack work experience, you could call yourself an aspiring accountant. If you're already in a career you love, go ahead and use your current job title such as business analyst or HR generalist. 6:44 However, if you are unemployed you can just use the word professional, such as marketing professional. This way, your brand is not determined by your current job title. 6:55 The second step is to describe what you can do or what you know. Using the same example of an aspiring accountant, perhaps you've taken classes to become QuickBooks certified. This would be a strategic skill to add since it is such a common tool in accounting. 7:10 The point is to be very strategic about what you say about yourself. Do not use vague or cliché words like result-oriented, motivated, or team player. 7:20 If you were looking for an accountant who is QuickBooks certified, would you type any of those words into the search box? Of course not. 7:29 The third step is optional. You can add a statement about how you help others. A tagline. This is a brief statement about who you help and what outcome you deliver. 7:38 As you can see in these examples, it is very clear who these people are professionally and what they do. 7:47 The LinkedIn summary is the heart of your profile. This is where people will learn a bit more about what you do and perhaps why you love it. 7:56 A LinkedIn summary should never be a copy-and-pasted version of a resume summary. It's an opportunity to say something more about yourself. It should be written in your natural voice, and use small easy-to-read segments, not lengthy paragraphs. 8:12 There are three basic components to a LinkedIn summary. The first is your intro. You should start with an attention-grabbing lead to make the summary more engaging and interesting to read. 8:23 This could be a statement that captures the essence of what you do and how it benefits others, or it could be a statement about a belief or a philosophy you have that drives your career, which you then explain in the rest of your summary. 8:36 It's really up to you. Just make it clear to your audience. 8:39 The second part is the body. This is where you elaborate on what you do or aspire to do. 8:44 You may want to share career highlights such as specific achievements, past experiences, or a bit more about your purpose or passion for what you do. 8:53 The point of the body is to make sense of your career journey so it is coherent and people understand what you're good at, or where you're headed. 9:03 The last part is the conclusion. This is where you wrap things up. You can include a call to action which might be an invitation for people to connect with you or a suggestion to check out your portfolio with a link attached. 9:16 You could also share information about who you are outside of work to help the reader get a sense of your personality, or insight about your cultural fit for an organization. 9:26 This could be done with a simple statement like, "Outside of work you might find me—" and then insert a couple of hobbies or interests. 9:34 Maybe you run marathons, volunteer at a hospice program, or travel the world. Whatever you share, be strategic and reflect on how it may help show you in a positive light. 9:46 Here's an example of a summary. In this example, the candidate asks a question to engage the reader, and instantly communicate what types of problems he can solve. 9:56 We get a sense of this person's expertise in digital marketing, and web development, and a solid understanding of his core-value proposition of cutting costs while increasing website performance. Follow companies and thought leaders 10:10 The third strategy is to follow companies and thought leaders. Following company and thought leaders enables you to build up your market intelligence. Your industry expertise. 10:23 Hammer out a list of companies and industry experts to keep on your radar, and get the inside scoop on the latest news and trends. 10:30 You can follow your dream companies to stay in the know on what they're up to. You can use this technique to prepare for interviews because you'll be well-informed about the company. 10:40 You should also connect with people you admire. Search for CEOs of major corporations and industry or thought leaders. 10:47 By doing so, you can gain wisdom from their posts and insights that you could not have gained otherwise. 10:55 When you follow a company or thought leader, their posts are included in your daily feed. 11:00 If you simply spend five to ten minutes a day browsing through these posts, you can learn about important developments in the markets, or new resources and tools that can help you in your job. 11:10 In this way, LinkedIn becomes a powerful tool for learning from your network. Expand your network 11:16 Your fourth strategy, is to expand your network. It has never been easier to connect with people and maintain relationships. 11:25 At the simple click of a button, you can send invitations to connect with former colleagues, people you meet at events or current coworkers. 11:34 Start by connecting with people you already know and join groups related to your professional interests. As you interact with people in person and online, feel free to invite them to connect with you. 11:46 When you want to connect with someone, you should always personalize your invitation. 11:51 In this first example, you can see that an invitation to connect is not generic. It reads: "Hi Eve. Nice meeting you at the career-day event and touching base today. 12:02 I'd like to connect. I look forward to future conversations. Have a good week." It's that simple. Now this person is part of your network. 12:11 Another great way to expand your network is to request informational interviews. An informational interview is a conversation with someone who works in your desired industry, company, or role that you would like to get insight from. 12:26 It's never about asking for a job, but rather about gaining insight or advice. 12:32 With this type of message, you'd be surprised how many people may be willing to speak with you just to offer advice as long as you don't request too much of their time, and never ask for a job. 12:46 In this example, you can see how such a request might be made. Your network will not expand if you simply create a profile and let it sit there. 12:56 You have to actively engage people in conversation, and make an effort to build relationships. 13:02 Your fifth strategy is to add value to your network. In just five to ten minutes a day, you can position yourself as a valuable resource. Someone who is helpful, and offers valuable information to your network. Add value to your network 13:18 Adding value to your network is about supporting your network through consistent micro actions. Micro actions are things such as liking, commenting on, sharing other people's content, or endorsing other skills. 13:32 All these actions can be performed in a matter of seconds. 13:38 If you take anything away from this presentation, let it be this. Opportunity is not found, it is cultivated. Steven Starks. 13:48 Ultimately, your online brand is the net result of your behavior. You will only get value out of LinkedIn if you use it to engage in your professional world and the people in it. 14:00 This concludes the webinar for utilizing LinkedIn. Thanks for watching. I hope it was helpful to you.