JANE STEPHENSON

LINKEDIN
40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES

2
LinkedIn: 40 fast facts and fixes
1st edition
2017 Jane Stephenson & bookboon.com
ISBN 978-87-403-1917-0

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Contents

CONTENTS
About the author 6

Preface Why Linkedin? 7

1 Setting Up A Great Profile 8

1.1 Fix 1 before we begin lets keep our activity secret! 8
1.2 Fix 2 what do people see when they find you on LinkedIn? 9
1.3 Fix 3 get a great profile photo! 10
1.4 Fix 4 use all the free promotional space 10
1.5 Fix 5 your professional headline goes further than LinkedIn 11
1.6 Fix 6 think about your summary 11
1.7 Fix 7 your work experience is unique 12
1.8 Fix 8 add rich media to your profile 12
1.9 Fix 9 add a new profile section 13
1.10 Fix 10 edit your public profile. 14
1.11 Fix 11 add a profile in another language 15

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Contents

1.12 Fix 12 recommendations 15

1.13 Fix 13 request a recommendation: recommendation someone 16
1.14 Fix 14 featured skills and endorsements 17

2 Connecting and Expanding your Network 18

2.1 Fix 15 networking on LinkedIn 18
2.2 Fix 16 invitations to connect 18
2.3 Fix 17 the best way to connect 19
2.4 Fix 18 new sections mean new connections 19
2.5 Fix 19 engagement, strengthening relationships 20
2.6 Fix 20 How far does your engagement reach? 21

3 Strengthening Network Relationships 22

3.1 Fix 21 status updates 22
3.2 Fix 22 writing articles for LinkedIn 23
3.3 Fix 23 add a hashtag toyour drafted article 23
3.4 Fix 24 give the heads up to LinkedInEditors 24
3.5 Fix 25 Checking your statistics? 25
3.6 Fix 26 you dont just have to share written articles 26
3.7 Fix 27 how to find groups that work for you 27

4 Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role 28

4.1 Fix 28 How do you use LinkedIn to find a job? 28
4.2 Fix 29 use the jobs page layout to your advantage 28
4.3 Fix 30 create a Job Search Alert 29
4.4 Fix 31 viewing profiles in private mode 29
4.5 Fix 32 give a private signal to recruiters 30
4.6 Fix 33 using the search function for jobs 30
4.7 Fix 34 LinkedIns new messaging feature 31
4.8 Fix 35 structuring your people search 32
4.9 Fix 36 steps to take when you get a new job 32
4.10 Fix 37 take a premium account 33

5 More Benefits of the LInkedIn Platform 34

5.1 Fix 38 LinkedIn is not just for job seekers 34
5.2 Fix 39 LinkedIn is for small businesses too 35
5.3 Fix 40 profinder 36

6 Final Words 37

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES about the author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Stephensons career as an author started when she joined the writing team of Explorer
publishers to collaborate on the book Amsterdam the Complete Resident Guide. She
was responsible for the chapter on shopping, a subject close to her heart! Short writing gigs
followed until she partnered with Anne Galloway and began publishing with BookBoon.
com. together they have released three e-books, but this new book LinkedIn 40 fast facts
and fixes is her first solo venture on the Bookboon platform.

Jane has been explaining LinkedIn to her coaching clients and in corporate trainings and
workshops for more than 10 years, as LinkedIn has developed and evolved so have her
coaching and training techniques. She understands how LinkedIn can work for you to
establish business relationships or develop your career and wants to share this her readers.

Her expertise is supported by her own experience of running her own business Knowboundaries,
as well as twenty years of international accounting experience in corporate finance, but also by
her understanding of how people communicate and build relationships. This is underpinned
by her BSc in Psychology from the Open University in the UK and a coach/counselling
diploma from theNederlands Academie voor Psychotherapie. She is also a certified equine
assisted coach using their unique communication capabilities to show clients more effective
communication techniques.

Jane is British and lives in the Netherlands with her husband and now grown up daughter,
along with a very cheeky dog, a laid-back cat and a mind reading pony.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Preface

PREFACE WHY LINKEDIN?

Today there are many social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all
offering the chance to network. But only LinkedIn offers a purely business network where
members can find out more about your professional situation. It shouldnt be used for
sharing pictures of sweet kids and adorable puppies. Rather, LinkedIn is a great way to
make business connections online, and expand your professional network.

LinkedIn provides the perfect platform for this; letting other professionals see your talents,
skills, employment history and network. Membership has passed the 500 million mark
globally and in the Netherlands there are 4 million profiles on LinkedIn.

A recent American study of over 300 HR professionals found that 90% of them checked
the online LinkedIn profiles of potential candidates at some stage of the recruitment process.
This alone is a real reason to maintain an attractive and professional online presence.

I am a LinkedIn geek, and have been shouting about the benefits of the platform to job
seekers, executives and entrepreneurs for years. Ive run workshops for NGOs and corporates
as well as leading one on one sessions.

At the beginning of this year LinkedIn launched a redesign of its desktop platform, which
slowly (very slowly) trickled down through the global social media geographic ma. Now
users in the Benelux are noticing the changes too.

Confusing as this trickle launch was for me, I knew it would be worse for users who dip
in and out of the platform when the need arises. So I decided to collate an eBook to take
them through the LinkedIn menu and offer fast facts and fixes for developing a top class
LinkedIn profile. More importantly, Id like to show you how to make the most of LinkedIns
network for your career or your business.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

1 SETTING UP A GREAT PROFILE

First Things First Linkedins Main Menu

This shot is of the main menu of LinkedIn. And we are going to look at functions available
on each tab.

Home
My Network
Jobs
Messaging
Notifications
Me
Work

We will begin with the Tab Me.

1.1 FIX 1 BEFORE WE BEGIN LETS KEEP OUR ACTIVITY SECRET!

We are going to be making a lot of changes to your profile over the next few hours, and
we dont want your connections to see these changes yet. So we are going to turn off your
activity feed. In the top of the screen you see these icons.

Click on Account/Settings & Privacy in the dropdown menu under Me.

In your account setting under the privacy tab:

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

Make sure your Sharing profile edits is set to No

Now we are ready to make changes to your profile and nothings revealed until we are ready.

1.2 FIX 2 WHAT DO PEOPLE SEE WHEN THEY FIND YOU

ON LINKEDIN?
What is the first impression your profile makes?

When someone uses the search function in LinkedIn they get a list of members with a
short summary of their full profile. As an example we searched the name Smith in The
Netherlands in my 1st and 2nd level connections and got 112 results. You can see how little
information is shown in this first search

But we do see some important information: photo, name, headline, location and shared
connections.

Its enough to make you curious, and you can see the blue button which invites you to
connect with this person. You can also get to know the person further before you connect.
Click on the name to get more information.

Would people want to connect with you if they saw your profile? Read on to find out how
to make your profile stand out!

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

1.3 FIX 3 GET A GREAT PROFILE PHOTO!

Dont be a faceless nobody!

Adding a good profile photo guarantees your profile will get 14 times more attention than
one without. If you dont want the attention, you can choose whether the profile photo is
viewable on your public profile by adjusting your privacy settings.

But what is a good profile photo? Find a recent, professional headshot photo of yourself,
or upload a photo and crop it to make sure people can see your face. Avoid a photo where
you are wearing a hat, unless this is part of your professional persona. Sunglasses make it
impossible for people to see your eyes, and remember that a smile makes a photograph
look more inviting.

If you have a profile on several social networking sites, try to use the same profile photo
on all of them. That way you are immediately recognisable.

Finally, you may look very attractive on your holiday photos, but dont use one of those
photos for LinkedIn. People come here to work!

1.4 FIX 4 USE ALL THE FREE PROMOTIONAL SPACE

1.4.1 BACKGROUND PHOTO

LinkedIn provides you with the option to add a background photo to your profile. This is
your chance to be really be creative.

Design your own background image, adding text to the to the image you chose to tell more
about yourself, or your business. LinkedIn has a few rules for this image:

Choose the File type JPG, GIF or PNG

Ensure the file is no larger than 4MB
Recommended pixel dimensions are 1536 768px

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

When including text, make sure it fits to the left or right of the central profile image.

Dont ignore this opportunity for extra personal or business branding; and free promotional space.

1.5 FIX 5 YOUR PROFESSIONAL HEADLINE GOES FURTHER

THAN LINKEDIN
Did you know that if people google your name, your professional headline is the first thing
they see when they view the LinkedIn entry in the search results?

You have 120 characters to make the most of this part of your profile.

Put the spotlight on your professional expertise, your core business and the value you can add
to an organisation. If you dont utilise this LinkedIn will default you your current job title.

Each headline is unique, and will attract attention; it depends how you want to be found
as to whether you make it SEO friendly or witty, pithy and intriguing.

Make sure that the headline is not an exact repeat of other information in your profile but
a unique addition.

1.6 FIX 6 THINK ABOUT YOUR SUMMARY

The Summary can be an expansion of your headline.

Tell people your current situation and show which talents and skills you can bring to your
work. Explain which people and organisations use your skills, and why this is profitable for
them. Let people know what your current goals are and keep your message clear.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

In short:

what you do,

who you do it for,
why they should choose you

Your Summary does not have to be long although there is 2000 characters to play with.

NEWSFLASH the new LinkedIn format make the first two lines of your Summary very
important, as that is the snippet people see when they open your profile, on Mobile devices
this is even shorter, and only the first few words show. However this is an opportunity to
expand on your headline.

1.7 FIX 7 YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE IS UNIQUE

In the new LinkedIn interface the only job description that shows on your public profile
is the present or last job. Make sure you make impact with all your roles by:

Linking to the employers company page, so the logo is added to your profile, you
can edit the display name of the company too, to accurately reflect where you work.
Choosing job titles which let the reader know what the job entails. Try not to be
too general, for instance dont use the term Sales Manager but Sales Manager
brand leader FMCG.
Writing your job description using industry keywords.
Make your achievements concrete; think in terms of scope, budget, team members,
number of direct reports, and, if relevant, who you report to.
Remember how people use the internet and always think about phrases they will
commonly use, this makes your job description optimised for internet search engines
or SEO friendly.

1.8 FIX 8 ADD RICH MEDIA TO YOUR PROFILE

Enhance your profile by uploading rich media images, videos and presentations. Capture your
visitors attention with media that tells them more about you, your personal achievements
or your business.

These can be added to your summary, or you can make an impact in your experience and /
or projects section. Media to consider are videos, case studies or company branded material,
these increase your credibility and help to tell people more about you.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

Many types of media are supported, but if you are unsure the file you want to upload is
supported go to the LinkedIn Help Centre to check. You can find the Help Centre in the
dropdown menu under the Tab Me.

1.9 FIX 9 ADD A NEW PROFILE SECTION

This is where LinkedIn stops being a CV and starts telling people who you really are.

Check out the accomplishments section:

You can add so many other details about yourself and verify them, too.

Published works can highlight your thesis, for example, and link to the online version, or
offer a place to showcase your portfolio of published works whether fiction or non fiction.

Certifications you hold confirm your expertise, and guarantee more profile views from
people in your industry.

Courses completed show you have specific skills.

Projects participated in with colleagues are an opportunity to give more detail about your
strengths and expertise.

Honours and awards are the place to highlight industry specific achievements, and
academic awards.

Test scores if you excelled in an industry-related exam, or at an academic level; then why
not include it here?

Languages having a second (or third or fourth) language is a huge boost to your profile.

Organisations think about membership of professional bodies, and regional or national

organisations.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

1.10 FIX 10 EDIT YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE.

You can now more easily amend your public profile appearance to get more profile views. To
enable you to share simply make sure you create a unique URL for your LinkedIn profile.
This also makes it more memorable.

To do this, click on Edit your public profile, and follow the instructions to enhance your
personal brand by creating a custom URL.

Join EADS. A global leader in aerospace, defence and related services.

Let your imagination take shape.

EADS unites a leading aircraft manufacturer, the worlds largest
helicopter supplier, a global leader in space programmes and a
worldwide leader in global security solutions and systems to form
Europes largest defence and aerospace group. More than
140,000 people work at Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter,
in 90 locations globally, to deliver some of the industrys most
exciting projects.
An EADS internship offers the chance to use your theoretical
knowledge and apply it rst-hand to real situations and assignments
during your studies. Given a high level of responsibility, plenty of
learning and development opportunities, and all the support you need,
you will tackle interesting challenges on state-of-the-art products.
We take more than 5,000 interns every year across disciplines
ranging from engineering, IT, procurement and nance, to
strategy, customer support, marketing and sales. Positions are
available in France, Germany, Spain and the UK.
To nd out more and apply, visit www.jobs.eads.com. You can also
nd out more on our EADS Careers Facebook page.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

Dont forget to:

Accept the changes you make when you are finished

Add your custom URL to your CV and email as a hyperlink.

1.11 FIX 11 ADD A PROFILE IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Are you working in a new country? You can add your profile in another language.

This helps you to be found more easily by people who are not logged onto LinkedIn and
are using search engines such as Google, or local businesses who do not have English as
their first language.

1.12 FIX 12 RECOMMENDATIONS

From the beginning of time recommendations have been the key to success, and with
LinkedIn you can gather all your recommendations in one place. It would be lovely if
people just posted recommendations on your profile as a warm-hearted gesture, but it does
not often work that way. With LinkedIn you can contact your 1st level connections and
ask for a recommendation. But when is it a good time to do so?

1. It is a good idea to ask for recommendations from people at your old company
when you have just begun a new job. You are feeling confident, and they are under
no pressure to give the recommendation. Ask for recommendations the first week
you start your new job.
2. As freelancer or small business dont miss the opportunity to ask for a recommendation
when a contract has successfully ended, or when you have just finished a project
with a company.
3. Consider asking your manager for a recommendation after all, they probably
know your work and your value to the organisation the best.
4. A recommendation from a co-worker is just as valid as a one from the managing
director, and will show your collaboration skills.

You would not expect to give a recommendation about someone you did not know or had
not worked with, so keep that in mind when asking for them.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

1.13 FIX 13 REQUEST A RECOMMENDATION:

RECOMMENDATION SOMEONE
Whether you want to give a recommendation, or ask for one, you need to go the profile
of that person and click on the three dots in the top right corner of their screen.

You get a dropdown menu here, and can choose to request a recommendation, or write a
recommendation for that person, and link it to specific roles and organisations.

Its good to remember the following:

Receiving a Recommendation:

If you receive a recommendation: you can choose to display the recommendation or not.

Giving recommendations:

When you give a recommendation, you can still edit or delete it even after it is published.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Setting Up A Great Profile

1.14 FIX 14 FEATURED SKILLS AND ENDORSEMENTS

Featured skills and Endorsements have changed with the new LinkedIn version.

You can still list up to 50 of your skills and talents, but only the top three are visible on
your profile, so its important to order them to highlight those top three.

Endorsements works a bit like a Facebook like. People dont have to have worked with
you to endorse you, which is why its important to be specific when listing your skills and
expertise. You can list up to 50 skills on your profile.

Whenever you endorse someone, your photo comes on their profile as a clickable link as you
see below, people can view the list of endorsers and visit their profiles too. So endorsements
still give you the chance to get your profile seen by more people.

Note: if you are changing direction in your career and want to highlight three different skills,
then bring them to the top of your skills section, and ask five or six of your connections
to endorse you.

Choose people who could add value to your skill; someone who is known to be an expert,
or someone who has worked with you, even indirectly.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Connecting and Expanding your Network

2 CONNECTING AND EXPANDING

YOUR NETWORK
2.1 FIX 15 NETWORKING ON LINKEDIN
So far we have just discussed how to develop your profile. But once you have that in place
what more can you do on LinkedIn?

Lets talk about creating, expanding and maintaining your network on LinkedIn.

We will look at the following tabs:

Home
My Network
Work

Let us start by looking at fast fixes for growing and maintaining your network.

2.2 FIX 16 INVITATIONS TO CONNECT

Start with your existing circle of friends, family, (old) colleagues and university friends.
Find out if they have a profile on LinkedIn, then use the blue button to send an invitation.

Its possible to send an automatic invitation to all your e-mail contacts directly through
LinkedIn. Go to the tab network then add connections to do this. This can give you a
lot of instant connections, but I do not recommend it. Its more effective to go for quality
rather than quantity.

What is important is that, from today, whenever you meet anyone at a networking event,
or a training course or an exhibition you ask if they are on LinkedIn and whether you can
link with them. You never know when someone can help you get that new job or contract.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Connecting and Expanding your Network

2.3 FIX 17 THE BEST WAY TO CONNECT

If you want to connect with someone, always view their profile and use the blue button there
to make the connection. This is because then you will be prompted to add a personal note.

NEWSFLASH Connecting with people has all changed with the new LinkedIn platform.
If you want to connect with someone, you simply go to their profile and click the connect
button; then you are prompted to customise the invitation. Chose the button Add a note
to personalise the invitation, and remember, you can now also add a website link or email
address here.

This is a great way tell people about a free service or product you have; its also a great way
to grow your email list.

2.4 FIX 18 NEW SECTIONS MEAN NEW CONNECTIONS

Remember when you added new sections to your profile? This is a chance to expand your
network too.

The more detail you give on your profile about your activities and interests, the more people
within LinkedIn will be shown in the section people you may know. So you dont just have
to complete your work experience and education section: think of volunteer organisations
you have worked for and professional organizations you have joined to find other members.

Each new connection is a potential help to your career or business, whether you are actively
looking for work now, interested in developing your career further in the future, or looking
for new contracts and customers.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Connecting and Expanding your Network

2.5 FIX 19 ENGAGEMENT, STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS

This is really where the fun starts, but what do we mean by engagement? There are different
ways to engage with your network, but the simplest is to like, comment or share material
your connections have posted.

True engagement is an interaction, and you need to be generous in your giving before you
start to ask for something in return. So when you start to contribute to your network,
remember that they are looking for interesting and thought provoking material that is
relevant to them.

You can engage in several different ways,

status updates
post links to blog posts
like, comment and share relevant material
start conversations
publish on LinkedIn Pulse.

Have fun with your contributions, your content. Enjoy producing it, and receiving feedback
from your network.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Connecting and Expanding your Network

2.6 FIX 20 HOW FAR DOES YOUR ENGAGEMENT REACH?

Click on the tab Network and you see a screen with a box on the left showing the number
of connections you have these are all 1st level connections.

You also see a list of people you may know, these can be your 2nd or 3rd level connections,
you can potentially connect with thousands of people.

Whenever a 1st level connection posts something it shows up in your newsfeed, but also in
the notification tab in the menu. If you react to that post, their connections will see your
reaction, and possibly connect with you too.

here you are with your 1st

level connections

each 1st level connection

has their own connections
- your 2nd level
connections

every 2nd level connection

has their own connections,
these are your 3rd level
connections.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

3 STRENGTHENING NETWORK
RELATIONSHIPS
3.1 FIX 21 STATUS UPDATES
The power of networking is connecting and strengthening the connection. A simple way to
begin on LinkedIn is to start making status updates on your home page.

Visitors to your public profile can now see your last three activities, so whenever you make
a status update, like or share something it shows right there!

Your activity does not have to be every day, it can be less than once a week but if you read
an interesting article share it on LinkedIn. If you just completed a training course, or doing
interesting volunteer work, just finished a spell as an intern, share it with your network.
When you write a new blog, or make a new YouTube video post it here so your network
can enjoy it.

Keep it professional, but let your network see that you are an expert in your work, and
what you can offer them.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

Newsflash LinkedIn have recently added a new feature, and when you share an update you
can choose to share it to

Public anyone on or off LinkedIn

Public + Twitter anyone on or off LinkedIn and Twitter
Connections your connections on LinkedIn

This is a great move forward and to make best advantage for it you need to make sure
your privacy settings are set to everyone on LinkedIn, and your public profile is visible
to everyone.

3.2 FIX 22 WRITING ARTICLES FOR LINKEDIN

You can share all kinds of content on LinkedIn, images from Instagram, blog posts from
a website, news bulletins from your company. You can also write your own article directly
within LinkedIn pulse.

To start you simply click on write an article. and you are taken to the LinkedIn publishing
platform. You can start writing right there, or copy and paste an article you have drafted earlier.

Add a great headline, and a header image that grabs attention and you are all set to press
publish. Just before you do that add hashtags to your article. This helps people interested
in the topic to find your article.

3.3 FIX 23 ADD A HASHTAG TOYOUR DRAFTED ARTICLE

Its really simple to add the # hashtag.

1. In the publishing tool, open your drafted article.

2. ClickPublishin the top right of the page and a pop-up window will appear.
3. In the pop-up window, include content to introduce your article and relevant
hashtags within the field.

Newsflash Readers can find posts and articles relating to a hashtag in the LinkedIn mobile
app, simply by tapping a hashtag and finding other content displaying that hashtag.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

3.4 FIX 24 GIVE THE HEADS UP TO LINKEDINEDITORS

Here is an oldie but goodie! Ever wondered how to catch the eye of the LinkedIn editors?
Simply give them the heads up! Writers have been using this trick for years, but you need
to make sure you are sending your messages to the right social media account.

The LinkedIn editors are social media nuts too, so turn to another social media platform to
get a LinkedIn editors attention about your latest brilliant post. Use Twitter to tweet them at
tip @LinkedInEditors (make sure to put a singlespace between tip and @LinkedInEditors).

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

3.5 FIX 25 CHECKING YOUR STATISTICS?

Remember we said that your 1st level connection can see all your activity, but as with all
social media we want to go further than that, we want to engage with our network. How
do we engage?

Sharing something that is relevant and interesting to your network prompts engagement in
the form of liking and sharing.

you can find out just how far your social reach is by checking the statistics showing on your
activity. For example, an article I wrote got 8,047 views, and in the detailed breakdown
you can see that we know a lot more about the visitors.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

3.6 FIX 26 YOU DONT JUST HAVE TO SHARE WRITTEN ARTICLES

Go to the menu tab Work and explore a few options here.

First, go to LinkedIns Slideshare, to see how you can reach the people you want to connect
with by sharing Presentations, infographics and documents on many different topics.

You find the LinkedIn Product Slideshare when you expand the tab work.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Strengthening Network Relationships

3.7 FIX 27 HOW TO FIND GROUPS THAT WORK FOR YOU

LinkedIn groups are really online networks, you can show your expertise here, offer help to
members, learn the newest things happening in your industry and make contacts

To find groups go to the tab Work, then chose groups, and go to Discover. LinkedIn helps
you find groups which may fit your needs.

Before you join a group its useful to check the group profile so you get a better idea of the
group. You can also see which of your contacts are already members of that group.

Use a group as you would use any other networking opportunity. Take part in discussions,
start your own discussions and make contacts. Some people say that groups are no longer
useful, but I find that groups developed in local settings are still a valuable way of helping
others and showcasing your skills.

If you cannot find a local group which you can relate your expertise to, why not start your
own? It is another way to develop your sphere of influence, and build relationships.

You can be a member of up to 50 groups, but if you are active perhaps 10 to 15 is enough.
It is also very easy to leave a group and return at a later date.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

4 SEARCH LINKEDIN FOR YOUR

NEXT GREAT ROLE
4.1 FIX 28 HOW DO YOU USE LINKEDIN TO FIND A JOB?
You now have a great profile and your professional life is many contacts richer, but how
do you get a new job or contract?

The tab you need is

Jobs

And you can use the search functions to find a great company or a new job.

4.2 FIX 29 USE THE JOBS PAGE LAYOUT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

The jobs page is split into two sections:

1. Jobs you may be interested in

LinkedIn lists current jobs openings based on your profile you can adjust your preferences
here; and get a more tailored view.

2. Companies in your network

LinkedIn goes through your network, and indicates companies recruiting where you
already have a LinkedIn connection

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

4.3 FIX 30 CREATE A JOB SEARCH ALERT

When you search for a particular job you can save this search and be notified when a new
role is posted.

Create the search alert and be notified as often as you would like either by email or on the
LinkedIn job search mobile app available to download on your mobile.

4.4 FIX 31 VIEWING PROFILES IN PRIVATE MODE

Sometimes it is useful to do covert research on companies or connections for new opportunities.

In your settings you can go to Privacy and chose your profile viewing options to show:

Your name and headline

Private profile characteristics
Private mode

There are obvious advantages to viewing in private mode, but there are disadvantages too.

If you have a free account; people will not be able to find out if you have viewed their profile,
but you will also not be able to access your statistics to see who is viewing your profile.

Taking a premium account eliminates this restriction; you will have full access to all the data
relevant to your personal profile, while still viewing profiles that interest you in private mode.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

4.5 FIX 32 GIVE A PRIVATE SIGNAL TO RECRUITERS

When you want to find new opportunities, but dont want your current company to know
about it: go to your privacy and settings and privately signal to recruiters that you are open
to something new. This option is totally free to you; Recruiters subscribing to LinkedIn
Recruiter will be able to see your signal.

This is what you see when you go to the job seeking section in your privacy settings when
managing your account.

Note also there is an option here to share your full LinkedIn profile when clicking the
application button on a job you are interested in. This will give the job poster access to all
the information on your profile, as well as the information you include on the application.

4.6 FIX 33 USING THE SEARCH FUNCTION FOR JOBS

You can use the search function to find jobs in your geographical area very simply now.

Simply select Jobs, and the search field opens:

You can search for vacancies by job title, keyword or company.

You can refine your search by selecting criteria on the right-hand menu:

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

Choose from

Company
Date posted
Experience level
Industry
Job function

See a vacancy you like, maybe one of your connections works at the company. You have
the opportunity to contact your connection directly to find out more about this job, and
find out whether they can help me in any way.

You can save these search criteria, and create a Search Alert, so you are notified of new postings.

4.7 FIX 34 LINKEDINS NEW MESSAGING FEATURE

LinkedIn have made it much simpler to contact your 1st level connections directly; without
leaving the page you are on. There is now a message box in the bottom right of your screen
you can activate. Open this and search there for the connection you want to contact.

As an example: under the jobs tab, in the section companies in my network; I see I have
connection who works at Starbucks. I can send her a message in a click without leaving
the page.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

4.8 FIX 35 STRUCTURING YOUR PEOPLE SEARCH

The new LinkedIn interface allows you to add more parameters into your search terms:

You may want to find out the name of the head of department of a company, or the name
of the person responsible for recruitment. Here I have searched for people working in human
resources at Danone, and whereas there are many results; the top one shows me that we
are linked by a mutual connection.

When creating complex search terms, use to join terms with more than one word. As I
have here with Human Resources.

4.9 FIX 36 STEPS TO TAKE WHEN YOU GET A NEW JOB

There are some things it would be good to do as soon as you start working for a new
company or organisation

Reinforce your new connections on social media.

Once youre officially on the job, its important to update your title across your
own social media platforms
Start following your new company on LinkedIn and colleagues.
As you meet new people, cement the relationships by finding them on LinkedIn.
(this helps you remember all the new faces, too!)

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Search LinkedIn for your Next Great Role

Reconnect with former colleagues

Updating your profile with your new job title will prompt connections to send
messages and congratulations. Take the time to respond to these messages, start
new conversations.
The first week of a new job is the perfect time to reach out to colleagues from
your previous jobs. Reconnect with people at your old company, feel free to ask for
LinkedIn recommendations The best time to get referrals is when yourenotlooking
for a new job.

4.10 FIX 37 TAKE A PREMIUM ACCOUNT

So far all the features discussed here have been available on the free version of LinkedIn.

Now your profile reflects you and where you want to go in your career the premium career
plan is a very good option. It offers several benefits which will help your job search including:

Direct messaging to recruiters by giving you 3 Inmail credits per month

Whos Viewed Your Profile within the last 90 days
Take the option to be a Featured Applicant
Compare yourself to other Applicants
E-Learning opportunities with online video courses (check out the learning button
when you Visit more LinkedIn products under the tab work)
Instant access to salary insights.

You can take one months free trial and then pay monthly with the option to cancel at
any time.

33
LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES More Benefits of the LInkedIn Platform

5 MORE BENEFITS OF THE

LINKEDIN PLATFORM
5.1 FIX 38 LINKEDIN IS NOT JUST FOR JOB SEEKERS
There are 4 types of premium account, each plan offers enhanced features:

The business plans help you reach prospects, promote your business and allows you
to upskill with access to the LinkedIn learning platform
The sales plans help you to generate leads and provide detailed sales insights
The hiring plans allow greater access to top talent.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES More Benefits of the LInkedIn Platform

Like the premium job seekers plan, the business, sales and hiring plans are free for the first
month, so it could be worthwhile checking out the benefits.

5.2 FIX 39 LINKEDIN IS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES TOO

But they do keep it quiet.

Go to your profile and in the footer is a tab, Small Business. Click on that and a world
opens up for you as a small business owner.

They have a group of free resources giving tips (just like me) on how to get the most from
LinkedIn, and how to develop your

Business Branding
Inbound Marketing
Sales Strategies.

Theres also information on how to fill your recruitment needs.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES More Benefits of the LInkedIn Platform

5.3 FIX 40 PROFINDER

Expand the button work, visit the product Profinder the place to find freelancers to get
work done for you, and for freelancers to find contractors.

This service is presently only available in the United States, although there will be plans
to extend its reach. If your audience is in the states, however, it could be a great place to
find new business.

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LINKEDIN: 40 FAST FACTS AND FIXES Final Words

6 FINAL WORDS
LinkedIn is a powerful online network, and a great professional tool for your career and
business needs.

LinkedIn has embraced mobile technology, and recognised that in this connected world
we want to have instant access to information, as well as the ability to show our own skills
and expertise.

LinkedIn does not have to be your only source of information, but it can help you locate
the most professional sources of information much quicker.

Take these 40 LinkedIn facts and fixes and use them to develop your profile, expand your
network and strengthen your professional relationships. They will help you to harness the power
of LinkedIn and you will see the benefits as you advance your career or business interests.

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