Why You Need a LinkedIn Profile
With so many graduates entering the market, it’s crucial that you stand out from the crowd and build a strong network. Fortunately for us, we live in the digital world and have a lot of tools at our disposal to help us with that. One such fantastic tool is Linkedin, a social network for professionals that provides you with an amazing platform to connect with people belonging to different industries. By showcasing your qualifications, skills, and experience on Linkedin, you can open up doors to fantastic career opportunities. In this blog post, I’m going to share the three main reasons why you need to build your LinkedIn profile, especially if you are a fresh graduate looking for a job. Let’s get started!
You Can Get Noticed By the Top Recruiters.
LinkedIn is one of the primary channels used by recruiters around the world to seek and contact potential job candidates. So, having a decent optimised Linkedin profile can significantly increase your chances of being approached.
You Can Connect with Professionals in Your Industry.
The primary purpose of LinkedIn is to help people build their professional networks online. You can easily connect with professionals in your industry while sitting at home and get a platform to interact with and learn from them.
You Can Build Your Personal Brand.
Another major benefit of LinkedIn is that it allows you to build your personal brand. In a market that is overflowing with fresh graduates, a person with an appealing image will always steal the attention of recruiters.
LinkedIn is a blessing for both job-seekers and recruiters but, surprisingly, a lot of people still take it for granted. This social network has so much to offer to professionals – we just need to make the best use of it. So, set up a profile today and spend some time optimising it to get the best results. Best of luck!
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ARE YOU USING YOUR NETWORKS FOR JOB SEARCHING?
If I ask you to name at least 10 people that you know from different industries, you’d waste no time in listing the names of your uncles and your aunts. But if I ask you to name people from outside your family, you’d probably take your sweet time.
As someone smart once said, “The opposite of NETWORKING is NOT WORKING.”
So, if you feel that your networking skills aren’t strong enough, I suggest you take things up a notch and start getting into the radars of different professionals.
Why is Networking So Important?
According to the findings of a survey conducted in the years 2015-2016 by Lou Adler, 85% of jobs were filled with the help of networking. So, the first step towards beginning your job hunt is to let the world know that you exist. With thousands upon thousands of graduates competing for the same job as yourself, just emailing your resume and applying on online job portals doesn’t cut it.
And even after you land a decent job, there might come a time where you’d want to switch it for a better one.
To stand out from the crowd, you need to build a strong network. An exchange of cards, an email, a connection on LinkedIn, etc. – anything can open the doors to golden career opportunities and increase your chances of being referred.
How to Network
At first, the idea of interacting with strangers to exchange information might sound a bit terrifying (especially if you are an introvert) but, at the end of the day, it pays off well and you’ll eventually start to enjoy it. Here are some tips on building a strong professional network:
- Make a list of the most important connections you have and stay in touch with them on a regular basis.
- Make a profile on LinkedIn and start connecting with people in your industry.
(BONUS TIP: Introduce yourself with a brief introduction and ask them to introduce themselves.)
- Be on the lookout for any networking events happening in your city and try to attend them.
- If you have some experience and a particular skill, then make sure to keep a few business cards in your wallet which you can instantly exchange in public.
- Don’t be boring; give the other person a reason to give you their time.
- Last but not least, be confident!
Follow these tips and make yourself known or book a FREE 15 minute Career Consultation
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