Why Should I Be Active on LinkedIn?
From a job search standpoint, the notion that LinkedIn is THE place to see and get seen is grounded in fact. According to a 2015 Ad Week article, 92% of recruiters reported using social media to find high-quality candidates – and 87% use LinkedIn to research talent.
From a networking standpoint, by engaging on LinkedIn regularly, your network gets to hear from you. It stands to reason, then, that the more you engage, the more you appear in the feeds of your connections – and the greater the chances of staying top of mind with your network.
My 2 cents: If you want to increase job leads and keep your name front and center in people’s minds, using LinkedIn is a logically great place to start.
How Active Should I Be?
The answer is it depends. If you are in full job search mode, shoot for 2 updates daily during the work week. If your job search is more passive, however, then once a day should suffice.
This too is grounded in fact. According to coschedule.com, posting once a day helps you reach 60% of your followers on LinkedIn. Career Sherpa Founder Hannah Morgan takes it one step further, stating that with just one status update you can reach 20% of your followers.
Perhaps even more compelling is Author and Career Expert Nicole William’s report that job seekers who updated weekly were 10X more likely to be contacted by recruiters than those with stagnant profiles.
Activity can include posts you write, share, like or comment on. Aside from writing a post, this effort requires no more than 10 minutes of your time invested daily.
My 2 cents: From personal experience, I can attest that the ROI on this level of activity has been a no-brainer – as a full one-third of my clients find me through the site.
What Should I Share?
As a job seeker, I recommend avoiding posts where you discuss your desire to land a new role. Instead, consider sharing industry insights, company news, or even information about products and services related to your industry.
Other meaningful ways to engage include asking questions. While I’d stay clear of questions related to job seeking per se, posts requesting input on an industry event or a new technology being used are perfectly acceptable.
My 2 cents: Think about your target audience – be it a company, industry or role. Use this to guide the content you collect and share.
Stumped for Content?
Monitor industry news, and find things to share, by setting up Google Alerts or even subscribing to a free content aggregator like Scoop.It! or Flipboard.
For one-stop shopping, you can conduct a search by content on LinkedIn, or choose to follow frequent (and often famous) contributors of interest – from CEO founders to big-time entrepreneurs and influencers like Jack Welch and Richard Branson, to name just a few.
LinkedIn groups are another rich source of newsworthy tidbits and opportunities for dialogue. An added perk? Anything you share in a group appears in your activity feed.
If the idea of daily sharing is overwhelming from a time or organization standpoint, consider opening a free account with a social media content sharing site like Buffer or Hootsuite. These sites allow you to schedule a certain amount of posts per week ahead of time. If you would like to share more than the allotted amount, you’ll have to bump up to the paid version.
When low on content, it’s OK to go for professional funny. The web is rich with funny GIFs, Meme’s and jokes that when sprinkled throughout the month can go a long way toward showing people your sense of humor and lightening the mood.
My 2 cents: Consider getting in the habit of getting on LinkedIn first thing in the morning, and last thing before you wrap up your day. Spending just 5 minutes each time may be all you need to maintain a consistent online presence.
The Case for Getting Active on LinkedIn
If you prefer to stay off LinkedIn for privacy concerns, or because you flat out despise social media – I get it. But if you are looking to have the shortest job search possible, and get your name out to as many people as possible, staying active on the site may prove to be a differentiator.
Previously appeared on IvyExec.com
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