How I Used LinkedIn
By Larry French
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| My LinkedIn Profile page |
I began this series to share what I had learned using
LinkedIn as a part of my job search strategy. If you’ve arrived late to these
articles, check the archive for topics on LinkedIn that we’ve already covered. If
you are consistently using the tools provided to you in LinkedIn things will
start happening. I know because of my own LinkedIn experience. That is why I
need to pause now for some reflection and update. You should do a regular
evaluation of your own LinkedIn Profile routinely to determine its
effectiveness in your job search.
Profiles Should be Tailor Made
Since we’ve gone through the basics of establishing a
Profile on LinkedIn let’s do some recap. How you use LinkedIn in your own job
search will vary or may be completely different from someone else. That’s
because your Profile is a reflection of you and your particularly unique
talents and core competencies. In the beginning of this series I mentioned that
everything I am sharing is based upon my personal experience. That’s important
to reiterate because we all may not be going about using the tools of LinkedIn
in the same way to achieve our individual goals. True, we are seeking jobs but
those jobs and how we go about landing them is likely to be as different as
each individual.
Take my job search strategy for example. After being a
cubicle rat doing editorial work for over 20 years, I was set in my ways. Like
some of you, I suddenly found myself having to rethink how and what work I was
now going to do. I strongly believe you can achieve anything if you set your
mind to it, and that you should grow where you’re planted. Keeping that in
mind, it was tough trying to find the same kind of work without moving somewhere
else. Instead, I decided to embark on a new pursuit and seriously become an
established author. Writing was something I had done continuously all of my
life and my former editorial profession now seemed like a stepping stone.
That’s the point in my journey where reality also had to seriously come into
play. As many of you are probably aware, the publishing industry has changed
almost as drastically as the job market.
Make Yourself Informed
If I wanted to be a successful writer and author, I had to
first understand the current trends and the market. The explosion of electronic
media not only opened new opportunities for job seeking but it also created a
whole new venue for publishing. People no longer had to go through the
painstakingly arduous task to find a literary agent to land a publisher; they
could skip that process and go straight to electronic publication via any
number of Self-Publishers, Independent Publishers, and do-it-yourself
platforms. Devices like the Kindle and the Nook made this fast lane to
publication very inviting but some old traditions die hard, like the printed
book. That’s where I am. I was determined to go the Traditional Publishing
route to establish for myself a platform as a nationally recognized author.
Since that goal is almost akin to becoming an athletic rock star, some serious work
had to be done. Work is what we’re all looking for, right? The question was how
do I work and write at the same time?
If I could become a freelance writer or contract editor to
pay my bills, then I could also keep writing and seek a publisher for my novels.
So, like every serious job seeker should do, I did some research on my goal. Some
supplemental reading helped get me started. I read the books, How to Get Happily Published by Judith
Appelbaum and My So-Called Freelance
Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by
Michelle Goodman. These two sources informed me of ways to reach my goal.
Blending
them together in a job search strategy was where the Pro-Net
Professionals group and LinkedIn helped me.
Plan Your Own Work Search Strategy
You see, most of you probably are simply looking to find a
job. I, on the other hand, had chosen a bit more complicated plan. I wanted to
continue writing and seeking a publisher for my novels but at the same time
needed to have a job. When I became aware of the features available with
LinkedIn my own work search strategy began to come together.
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| Article reference from Poets & Writers |
A year ago, I started out building a LinkedIn Profile that
presented to the www my skills as an editor and writer. Using as many of the features
as possible to go beyond the confining design of resumes, I worked to establish
both a means to find freelance and contract work and networking. I’ve been
seeking networking with other writers, authors, and eventually publishers. To
do this I had to use the Jobs, Company, Contacts, and other LinkedIn features
to establish contacts and associations that could be beneficial in furthering
my eventual goals. I also found information sources outside of LinkedIn that
looked at LinkedIn from my own particular writing perspective for effective use,
http://www.pw.org/content/network_how_to_use_linkedin_to_connect_with_your_community_0
That’s why sometimes when I illustrate a
particular LinkedIn page image, to display a function, in some of these
articles the content viewed doesn’t always relate to what most job seekers may
be looking for. If the example helps demonstrates to you how working a job
search strategy using LinkedIn can work for you, then it’s been effective.
Find Your Dreams at Last
At the beginning of this article I said that effective use
of LinkedIn will produce results for you. I’ve been doing freelance editing. I
now have a couple of production houses considering my contract services for
future projects. My Profile has been getting pulled up in the Keyword searches
of recruiters. In just the past four weeks, I have been contacted by four
separate recruiters who are trying to match up my skills with employers they
are working to find employees for.
I’ve been asked to share what I have learned about using
LinkedIn. This Friday, I will be giving a presentation at the Daytona Beach
CBE One-Stop on How to Make a LinkedIn Profile and Use LinkedIn. This may be my last presentation and
article. Next Monday, I begin fulltime temporary work as the result of one of
my LinkedIn Contacts. All of the activity and my new job can be attributed to effective
use of LinkedIn. LinkedIn can gain you attention too. It may not be the exact
way that LinkedIn helped me but it’s certainly a tool you should seriously
consider in your own work search strategy. Best to you!
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