Social Media: LinkedIn

 

It's about time I bestow some more knowledge about another social network. I am guilty for not checking my LinkedIn daily anymore, now that I have steady paychecks every two weeks. So don't be like me. As my Human Resources professor said once, "Update your resume weekly". Weekly?? Yes, weekly. And I said this to an associate once and he replied, "Isn't that a little paranoid?" And the answer is, "No". It's practical and logical. We are not guaranteed our jobs EVER. Even when you're the boss, you can be the boss and be broke cause there is no business. ...Yes, I am speaking from experience. Overall, we do not know and will never know what is to come. My tip is, instead of updating your resume every week, at least update your LinkedIn every week.

Who to connect with? Unlike Facebook, you do not have the luxury of connecting with whoever you please. This is your character we're talking about. Who would you want to be associated with in the eyes of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies? I have a very long list of hoes and foes who I rather not be associated with. So I politely leave their request in my inbox. On the flip side, there may be people who you do not... prefer and you should connect with them on LinkedIn. Of course if this were Facebook, you'd laugh and gladly click "ignore request". Sometimes these particular hoes and foes may now be the Director of a company who may need your services one day. Or may be the hiring manager for your dream company. Or MAYBE just has a good job and can get you connected with other people who have great jobs. What matters is that you need to pay attention to these things.

BOAST! You need to have confidence in your work and in what you do. Show it off. This is the place made for that. Not Facebook, not Twitter, not You Tube, not Vimeo, not... you get the point. I'm bad at this as well. I may seem boastful to many people but I am very shy when it comes to talking about how great I am or what I am capable of. I have friends and family who do that for me. Even strangers boast for me. It's bad. But I realized that if I'm not boasting and psyched about what I'm doing, then how do I expect people to give me the time of day. Best place to do it, LinkedIn. Welllll... best place to start anyway. Then branch out to doing it at networking events, at work, and ultimately in person.

Now go get started.

*yes I proofread ;-)