“We have to create professional online images of ourselves to self-promote in a cut-throat employment market”
“Here’s what the birth of my first child taught me about sales and private equity”.
We’ve all seen the memes about how LinkedIn users shamelessly self-promote. It can feel overwhelming to even open the app, as one is bombarded with ChatGPT-esque miniature essays about the achievements of another. You may be wondering where to begin with LinkedIn and if it’s even necessary in today’s society.
In this article I’m going to break down what the app can be used for, how to approach it and how you can become a LinkedIn final boss.
Do not underestimate the power of LinkedIn. Just this week, I attended a careers service panel discussion in DCU in which the graphic designer Eimear McMahon disclosed that she acquired several of her full-time jobs in established companies by seeing the jobs advertised on LinkedIn by employers. I have found that the success rate of applying for jobs on LinkedIn is much higher than on other sites like Indeed or Jobs.ie
LinkedIn can be the hub for meeting people with your desired career path, giving you advice on how to achieve your goals. Through searching through their past jobs, you can see with ease how they found their current role, as compared to having to find out personally. Its possible to look at the enterprises they worked at and even send them a message on the app. A useful resource is the ability to message people on LinkedIn directly, which can lead to meeting them in person and future career opportunities. The infamous “coffee date” is vital for yourself to have the opportunity to ask what someone’s job is like and what their role entails, as well as to pitch yourself to employers.
LinkedIn can serve as a portfolio of your work, which I find especially helpful for people who work on projects and may honestly lose track of what they have done. Having all my work in one easily accessible place makes it simple to take a tour through my career, and might I say, it looks pretty impressive.
My last nugget of insight into LinkedIn is one that is little known. They offer a full range of online courses that provide you with a credible certificate, which can be shown on your LinkedIn profile. These range from social media marketing to coding and everything in between. While these are mostly only accessible through LinkedIn Premium, they do offer a free trial, which, if you’re speedy enough, can result in the completion of several short courses.
Now’s your opportunity to face the LinkedIn corporate bosses and show them that you’re just as qualified as they are to exist on the app. My advice would be to set up a profile and add all your experience, literally, if you’re just beginning, because you never know what might be attractive to someone. Connect with people in your course, community and your school of education to build up a network of like-minded individuals. That way, when you finally post about the birth of your first child, you’ll have an audience to see it.