Are you leveraging the networking power of LinkedIn, or is the “world’s largest professional network” still a mystery?  We hope the reasons to make a LinkedIn profile we’ve outlined below help you to better understand the benefit!

If you want to increase your visibility among people who can contribute to the success of your career in any number of ways, LinkedIn is where you need to be.

We were amazed to discover that during the 1-month period prior to publishing this article, close to 50% of our résumé clients did not have an active LinkedIn account.  They seemed uniterested, skeptical, even intimidated.  Yet many of the clients with an active account seemed fully aware of its potential, and excited to integrate elements of their new résumé onto their profile.

Consider the experience of a financial compliance analyst who recently hired us to build him a new résumé:

“Wow. Soon after posting my new résumé to LinkedIn a recruiter reached out! Besides scheduling me for an interview at a company I’m interested in, he specifically said my résumé is ‘solid, really easy to read, and to the point.’ Thank you, Content Pro! Thought you’d like to know.”

This article won’t present a step-by-step guide to creating a LinkedIn profile.  There are great resources out there to help you get started, like this one.

If you’re already convinced you need a profile but want professional help, contact us.  While you’re on our site, feel free to send us your résumé for a free review!

If you’re still skeptical, consider these easily-executable reasons to make a LinkedIn profile.  They’ll also help you succeed in this post-pandemic job market.

LinkedIn Increases Your Visibility

Your coworkers probably already have a LinkedIn profile.  More importantly, your job-seeking competition probably already has a LinkedIn Profile – applicants who will compete with you for a position posted on another site like Indeed.

Increasing your visibility on Linkedin requires minimal time spent, and instantly raises awareness of your presence.  After creating your profile, take these actions right away:

1. “Like” and “comment” on interesting posts that begin populating your feed.  Make it a simple goal: aim for 5 likes and 3 comments your first day on the site.
2. Join a couple Groups that are of relevance to you.  Maybe it’s a Group comprised of experts in your field.  Or a Group for job-seekers in your metro area.
3. Start searching for people from your past and send Connection requests!  LinkedIn can become your digital Rolodex.  Search for coworkers, classmates, acquaintances from local social events, etc.

LinkedIn Helps You Apply to Jobs

At any time you want, you can toggle your LinkedIn profile between being “active” to recruiters or not.  When active, it lets recruiters know you’re looking for a job!  LinkedIn turns your profile into a digital résumé.

When you’re ready to be more proactive, click the “briefcase” icon in the main menu bar to begin a job search.  You can save job search parameters and also save specific job postings.  Some employers utilize a feature called “LinkedIn Easy Apply,”  which lets you apply to the position with only 1 or 2 clicks and very minimal fields to fill out.

LinkedIn is Leveraged Extensively by Recruiters & Hiring Managers

As was referenced above, recruiters and hiring managers not only post job openings to LinkedIn, but they actively recruit folks to apply.  Without a LinkedIn profile, you’re missing out on a significant portion of modern recruitment practices.

This statistic from a Jobvite report says it all:

“87% of recruiters find LinkedIn most effective when vetting candidates during the hiring process.”

LinkedIn Helps You Research Potential Employers & Coworkers

If there’s a company you want to work for, follow their LinkedIn page.  You’ll get a great glimpse into what things are top-of-mind to them just by the nature of what they post. Plus, they’ll probably post about open positions.

Posts from the company will give you a taste of their culture and what they value in their employees.  This information becomes invaluable in cover letter formation and throughout the interview process.

Did we miss anything?  Share your LinkedIn success story in the comments and let others know good reasons to make a LinkedIn profile!