How Not to Use LinkedIn

Whether you’re a recent graduate or are still slogging away on your degree, the sooner you establish a professional presence on LinkedIn, the better off your career will be. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for connecting with other professionals in your desired field.

However, IT SHOULD NOT BE MISTAKEN FOR FACEBOOK or any other personal networking medium. The rules are very different. Here’s what NOT to do on LinkedIn.

Creating a LinkedIn is step one towards entering the 21st century of job searching and personal branding, step two is making it an outstanding profile. Most marketing companies offer LinkedIn consulting and developing services to make your profile the best it can be, so you should definitely take it seriously. Below are the top five mistakes college students make on LinkedIn:

• Using an unprofessional picture — Think of your LinkedIn picture as a second senior portrait — dress professionally and keep the picture to just you — so no dogs, no t-shirts, and especially no alcohol.
• Including unprofessional language — Like I said, think of this as your online resume on steroids — be a professional about it.
• Only connecting to people you know — “Don’t think of this as your normal ‘friending’ process; instead, connect with anyone that could be beneficial in your job hunt and future career,” says Kaitlin Keeler, Director of Marketing for Miyan Media and social media consultant. “You should have at least one thing in common with a potential connection: school, organization, skills, groups, or connections. Do not try to connect to dozens of random users in hopes that by having a huge network you will somehow be a more important candidate. Quality connections matter more than quantity, so being strategically connected to a few key people in an organization you’re interested in is more important than being connected to 500+ strangers.”
• Keeping your profile private — Unlike Facebook, which you should keep on lock down when looking for jobs or even just hiding from relatives and ex girlfriends, you need to make your LinkedIn profile public. Employers can’t hire you if they can’t find you.
• Leaving your profile alone after making it — Hoping that an employer will somehow stumble across your profile and call you the next day offering you a dream job will get you nowhere.  Look for professional groups to join, post content related to your field and look for ways to be constantly engaged with your network and others.

Are you ready for some suggestions on what you should do on LinkedIn? Follow this link to the original article on HackCollege.com.