Even if you are not currently searching for a new role, it is important to visit your LinkedIn profile every once in a while to make sure that it contains current information about your career and your interests. It's also a good idea to be active on the site, to share news about your company and your profession with your network by occasionally reviewing your newsfeed and the discussions of groups of which you are a member.
By doing so, you will learn about the moves and interests of your connections, current and former colleagues and managers, as well as what's happening at the companies that you follow. All of this can help you advance in your career.
Manage your brand. Treat your LinkedIn profile as your brand – an advertisement for both yourself and your employer. Your profile is not just an avenue for how you look for your next job or how potential future employees find you (though it certainly helps facilitate that as well) – it is an advertisement that is continually viewed by your colleagues, by new hires within your company, and by clients.
Even if you are in a high-demand profession and aren’t as concerned about attracting job offers, it’s still important to keep your brand current to help you maintain an image you are proud of, both internally (co-workers) and externally (clients or customers.) This includes not only your resume posted on LinkedIn but also the types of recommendations you receive (seek them out; don’t just wait for them); the groups you participate in; the publications or articles you write or share; the types of people you are networked with and having active participation in conversations. Users should always be looking at ways to improve their brand.
Monitor your company's brand. If you are a manager of employees, look at the profiles of your team members as an extension of your brand as well as your company’s brand. With your company’s name listed as ‘current’ for an employee, they become a representative for your company to the outside world. The content an employee posts, the picture they share and the completeness of their profiles all have an impact on that brand. The impact can be positive if your employees are participating in relevant conversations, contributing to groups or communities, representing their background in a positive light, or advertising the company in an effective summary paragraph. Just as easily, an employee’s profile can be a negative reflection on your company. Don't let that happen.
Take the time to review the profiles of your employees and provide suggestions on ways they can further enhance their own brand and the company’s. And most important, lead by example!
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