Edited by Jasmine Ryu Won Kang
Has opening LinkedIn ever overwhelmed you? Did scrolling through countless success stories make you wonder why your profile doesn’t stand out? Within the increasingly competitive job market, getting noticed for your skills is challenging. Social media has come to play an important role right now – learning to leverage it will be a hidden gem to your job hunt.
Here are four ways to improve your professional branding.
1. Complete your LinkedIn profile
Having a complete and updated profile is one of the best ways to stand out. It shows recruiters you are paying attention to how you present yourself and are keeping track of your growth. The LinkedIn internal algorithm only finds profiles that are complete. Use the profile strength tracker and add all sections necessary.
One of the easiest ways to stand out is by using a professional photo. Members with a good photo get higher profile views as it increases credibility. Adding a strong summary highlighting your areas of expertise showcases the efforts you’ve put into researching the field and the skills needed. Additionally, adding current work and education experience is key to keeping your profile updated.
2. Add achievements and personal projects
Often, university students feel their achievements and projects only have a small contribution and diminish their significance. This may be the result of self-comparison on social media and the alarming increase of imposter syndrome (nearly 70% of people experience this at least once!).
Whatever you do matters, no matter how small you think it is. Companies value effective communication of ideas, plans, and technical skills more than experience, especially since companies frequently place people in teams and assign projects to a group – in these settings, team communication can make or break the project’s future.
Posting your achievements, projects, and thoughts on others’ projects will improve your communication skills and exposure. So take that leap of faith and view it as a learning opportunity.
3. Talk to others
LinkedIn works in a tiered system. You have your first connections – people who are in your network. Then you have second and third connections – people who know people in your network. This helps you meet more people and opens up plenty of opportunities to network.
Find people who have similar interests as you and send them a personalized invite to connect. Talk about a project you saw on their profile or a course they took and ask them questions about it, or give your thoughts on it and ask if they wish to connect. LinkedIn is scary – not everyone might be willing to connect. But you can never know how much a single connection can change your life.
If your university has LinkedIn groups with alumni, join them! Groups are a low-pressure setting to connect with people and show your technical expertise. Who knows if a recruiter is lurking in the shadows looking for a potential hire?
4. Go to networking events
This a goldmine of opportunities. Everyone is here to network and learn more about each other. Usually, these would be in person with you moving around a room talking to people. Now with everything going online, it can be harder to network over video calls.
Turn your video on for these events. Letting people see your face makes them more likely to remember and recognize you. Keep a clean and simple background if you can use a virtual one. Be sure to introduce yourself and plug your LinkedIn profile link in the chat if it’s allowed. Don’t be shy about asking questions. It shows you took the time to look up the companies and people who will attend. If they give you their LinkedIn profiles, send them a personalized invite. Thank them for their time at the event and add something you had in common or bonded over. Once they accept your connection, talk to them! They want to learn more about you too.
At the end of the day, professional branding and networking are scary for everyone. But once you learn to overcome the fear, the positive impacts they may have on your career will be worth it.
Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/112133 https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/linkedin.htm https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannecroteau/2019/04/04/imposter-syndrome-why-its-harder-today-than-ever/