Successfully Engage Others on LinkedIn with These 5 Tips

Successfully Engage Others on LinkedIn with These 5 Tips Successfully Engage Others on LinkedIn with These 5 Tips 5 Without putting in some consistent work to attract attention from those who can assist you in your job search, your LinkedIn profile may be going to waste. As Fred Coon and Susan Barens write in their new book Leveraging LinkedIn for Job Search Success 2015, “With more than 300+ million registered users- and adding two new members every second- the rate at which your network expands on LinkedIn can be truly amazing. A hundred strategic contacts could mean access to millions of people in a short amount of time. You’d have to attend dozens- or hundreds- of in-person networking events to equal the reach you can get on LinkedIn.” Here are five ways to successfully engage others- including recruiters- on LinkedIn: 1. Use keywords. According to a recent survey by Jobvite, 93 percent of recruiters use or plan to use social media in their recruiting efforts. But in order for recruiters to identify you in the sea of profiles, they need to know what you do. Using keywords in your profile can help bring your profile to recruiters’ attention for the specific professional skills that you have to offer. 2. Write strategic recommendations. Coon and Barens suggest using the “give to get” method when it comes to gathering professional recommendations for your own profile. In other words, reach out to selected contacts in your network with whom you’ve worked closely, and write recommendations for them- without requesting that they do the same for you. “You will be surprised at how many people will reciprocate,” write Coon and Barens. The authors add that this is a much better approach than sending out the generic and presumptuous “Will you endorse me?” emails through the site. 3. Activate status updates. When you want others in your professional network to know that you are looking for a new job or opportunity, you can draw their attention to your profile by activating the “status updates” feature in LinkedIn. This feature sends an alert to your network when you update your profile, letting them know you’ve made changes to it. 4. Participate in group discussions. No matter what industry you specialize in, you’ll likely be able to find others talking about it on LinkedIn. Rather than lurking quietly and reading the thoughts of your peers without offering feedback, contribute something meaningful to the discussion. This will put your name out there as an expert in your field and will help others start to recognize you. 5. Share articles. If there’s a specific influencer with whom you’d like to engage in relation to your job search, consider sending that person a relevant article via LinkedIn. Be sure to understand what types of information your contact is interested in receiving before sending a link. You might also consider sharing relevant articles with your entire network to showcase your interests and expertise in certain areas. By being proactive, you can maximize the value of your LinkedIn profile by getting others engaged and looking at your profile during a job search. Readers, are you looking to successfully engage others on LinkedIn and other social media platforms? What tips do you have to offer our readers? Share with us below!