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LinkedIn: 1. How LinkedIn Really Works 2. Account 3. Profile 4. Positions 5. Networking 6. Emails Main Menu |
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LinkedIn Tips and Traps - Step 1 - Understand how LinkedIn really works
This information is based on experimentation and research --
plus extensive online discussions and private communications
with HPAA members. Trap: Be sure that your LinkedIn profile shows the correct company for each position.
Summary:
Even if not currently looking
for a job, you need to be on LinkedIn:
- People you are dealing with inside and outside your
current company will look you up -- and expect to find at
least a minimal profile of anyone in high-tech.
- LinkedIn helps you reconnect
with people who know you and your work -- especially
powerful for mature workers.
- Recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn to find
"passive candidates" -- people who aren't currently looking.
- Some companies are searching their current employees on
LinkedIn to find candidates for new positions elsewhere in
the company.
LinkedIn works differently than you might think:
- The most common advice about LinkedIn is
counterproductive.
Unless you change the defaults, LinkedIn exposes too much to
identity thieves, spammers, and competitors.
(And don't fall for a LinkedIn trick.)
- You need to be found by recruiters, clerks, and robots who often,
understandably, know nothing about technology or the industry.
Profile
- Many have found that Hewlett-Packard positions from years ago were
changed to Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Recruiters watch for fake
positions.
Positions
- You need to avoid letting promoters, scammers, and fakes use your
network.
Networking
- LinkedIn sends you emails you don't want -- and doesn't send you
emails you do want.
Emails
Why LinkedIn?
"Got a call from a recruiter who found me on LinkedIn. Led
to a job with higher pay and rewards. My current job
description had the primary skill my new employer was
looking for. If I didn't have a profile, they wouldn't have
found me."
"Before
I meet with someone for the first time, I view their profile
for common interests and potential conversation topics.
After I've met someone, I connect on LinkedIn."
"I'm
diligent about keeping my profile updated -- it attracts
inquiries about my consulting work. This often leads to a
great contract."
"We're all
in business today. There's very little job security -- and
we have to keep up with the network of people we know."
LinkedIn is very powerful -- but works differently than you might think: - As with every free online service, you are not the customer -- you are the product. Recruiters pay $9,000 per recruiter per year to search for candidates -- they have full access regardless of your privacy settings. You need to carefully manage your LinkedIn activities and your LinkedIn profile. Recruiters can search in three ways: Search demo for recruiters. - The searching works both ways. You can search LinkedIn to reconnect with people who know you and your work -- or to find ex-HPers where you would like to work. Very powerful for job-hunting. See LinkedIn's article on how to search for people, jobs, and companies.
- LinkedIn
keeps your email address private. Each
message you send via LinkedIn -- and
each message sent to you by a colleague
or recruiter. -- uses a LinkedIn email
address based on a random message number
unique to that message.
- Much of the advice about using LinkedIn is for those seeking sales
leads or promoting a business -- instead of for those looking for a job
or building their career. Common advice about flooding LinkedIn with
posts to promote your "personal brand" can get you in trouble with
LinkedIn -- and will turn off recruiters and hiring managers.
- LinkedIn is a very powerful tool -- but you have to put some effort
into it.
The quickest way to strengthen your LinkedIn presence is to follow
these steps in order:
1. Check critical
LinkedIn account settings so that you receive job leads and requests
to connect, have some privacy, and don't drown in emails.
2. Optimize your
LinkedIn profile so that recruiters and hiring managers can find
you.
3. Optimize your
positions so that your profile displays your experience but doesn't
look fake -- and so you can be found.
4. Use LinkedIn's
networking features to find former co-workers who know you and your
work.
5. Get the emails you
want LinkedIn sends you emails you don't want -- and doesn't send
you emails you do want.
Next step -- Account Settings:
Check your critical
LinkedIn account settings
Questions or comments to:
info@hpalumni.org
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