Use LinkedIn to boost your job search

LinkedIn was created as an online social networking platform for professionals. You should use it to connect and forge productive and successful working relationships worldwide with professionals in your field. However, there are a number of elements where you can fail to follow the codes of conduct expected of a professional network which can damage your reputation and the brands you represent.

You shouldn’t be surprised to find out that employers and recruitment specialist also use LinkedIn when selecting prospective candidates so it is essential that you use the platform properly. Make sure you avoid the major pitfalls of using LinkedIn. We share some of the common mistakes below.

Is your LinkedIn profile picture professional?

Profile pictures including holiday snaps with children, pets and bikini-clad members have all found their way on to this social networking site and are never well received. Remember, prospective new connections or clients are interested in the benefits of forging a working relationship with you, not seeing one of your holiday snaps. Present yourself as a professional with a simple head and shoulders profile picture.

Remember, never comment on someone else’s profile picture – this is a professional network, not Facebook!

Are you connecting with the right people?

Connecting with others in your field of expertise or industry is the whole point of LinkedIn existing. Connecting with everyone and anyone only clogs your news feed with articles that aren’t relevant to the work you do but also give others the impression that you don’t really have a professional identity and don’t really know what you’re doing.

Check out LinkedIn’s InMaps tool to see how your connections span, are you focusing on just a few categories or are you too spread out?

Trading recommendations

This is a big LinkedIn no-no. We all like to receive recommendations from connections, but if you’ve never worked with or even met this person then it is unethical to receive

recommendations from them.

Although you cannot stop this happening, the connection that gave you the recommendation in the first place is hoping that you will reciprocate and do the same for them – regardless if you’ve worked together or not.

The best way to deal with this situation is to send a polite InMail message asking them if you have ever done business before, and if not, ask if they would cease giving you recommendations as you aren’t willing to do the same for them.

Not using your full name

We’ve all come across members who do not use their full name on their profile. Whatever their reasons for doing so, this violates the LinkedIn user agreement and sets alarm bells ringing when members receive invites from profiles without full names.

This is typically a trick used by spammers, therefore you must always use your full name when setting up your profile.

Harassing members

Sending an invite to connect is fine, as is an InMail message – but if a member fails to respond within a reasonable time it usually means that they’re not prepared to connect with you at this stage, especially if you have never met and have no connections in common.

Instead of sending further invites and Inmail’s that might seem like your harassing them, work on building up connections that you may have in common or take another look at your profile and add any elements that give you something in common.

Generally, a good rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t say it at a face-to-face networking event or write it on your CV, then it’s probably not suitable for LinkedIn.

Contact our team for more information and support about presenting the right Social Media footprint. Or why not sign up for our LinkedIn workshop.