A Beginner's Guide to LinkedIn

Envision the workplace as a well-equipped playground, a place where you can meet incredible people doing similar work as you. LinkedIn has become the ideal platform to do all these. Unlike the professional social networking sites Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn is a platform intended primarily for professionals in the business community. The aim of the site is that the members who registered can apply to create or document professional circles that contain people they know personally.

A LinkedIn profile enables you to do networking with your classmates, fellow workers, instructors, or even any people you may have met in the context of a professional environment. You can utilize LinkedIn job search filters to find individuals based on location, industry, job title, and even skills.

But it goes beyond just making LinkedIn connections. It's also a valuable platform. You can use LinkedIn job search to research companies you're interested in through your LinkedIn connections and their activity.

Here are some LinkedIn tips to create your dream team of connections:

• Start with the Familiar Faces: Imagine all the great friends you've made as part of your academic or professional journey. These are your classmates, coworkers, tutors, and probably industry friends you've met. Maybe you can invite them to your LinkedIn connections, which in turn can benefit you in job search and networking.

• Seek Out Your Career Heroes: This specific company: Do you admire a given company or have a dream job title? With this function provided in your LinkedIn profile, you can find mentors or professionals who have already achieved what you are targeting. Do not be shy; send them a request to make them your LinkedIn connections with a short message about yourself and your interest in their work. 

• Join the Club!: LinkedIn Groups are internet clubs for working people who cannot be satisfied with daily routines. Search for forums that cover specific industries or topics you are interested in subscribing to. Sharing reels or posts on social media platforms affords you the chance to connect with similar people, join discussions, and, not only that, but also to exhibit your expertise by sharing some expert opinions or articles. By doing that, we can also build up a great network of people and learn a lot from people in related fields as well.

Remember: Indeed, there is no better way to foster a genuine connection than by sending a customized "connect" message. Your chances of getting a positive response become much higher when you start by acknowledging the person and maybe putting a sentence about a common interest of yours (if it's possible). Hence, you stand out from the common boring approaches to connection requests and become more likely to be accepted.

The gradual implementation of these tips will let you build a credible network on LinkedIn that can open the way for new opportunities, give you professional advice, and, finally, help you to find your confident feet in the business world!

A LinkedIn profile works as a LinkedIn resume for hiring managers and provides a first impression to lay the foundation of your job search plan. Creating a perfect LinkedIn profile is very crucial, as it helps you in landing the best job opportunities in India. Follow the below LinkedIn profile tips, like a compelling summary, keywords, and skills section optimization.

• Headline & Summary: Write a catchy summary about yourself, your goals & objectives, skills, hobbies, and experiences. There should be a memorable hook in the headline so that the recruiter remembers you.

• Experience Section: List all your experience on your LinkedIn profile to increase the pace of your fast job search process. Always use actionable language when defining experiences.

• Skills & Endorsements: Add your skills to the LinkedIn profile and encourage LinkedIn connections to endorse them to show your expertise to the potential recruiters. 

• Professional Picture & Background: When recruiters utilize LinkedIn job search to find a candidate fitting in their requirements. First they see your LinkedIn profile photo. So it should be professional and appealing. 

• Don't use Buzzwords: Avoid using jargon words in your LinkedIn resume. You can use career opportunities as resume keywords in your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters. 

• Request Recommendations: Go beyond endorsements; request personalized testimonials from connections you value.

• Showcase Your Learning: Complete LinkedIn Learning courses and course certificates on your LinkedIn profile because this fastens the LinkedIn job search process.

Share Content & Engage: Regularly post on your profile and make sure your content is relevant to your LinkedIn connections and keep networking with industry experts through the comment section.

Your LinkedIn resume can be uploaded without even creating a file. It only requires you to understand how to use LinkedIn. Follow these LinkedIn tips to upload your LinkedIn resume: 

1. Go to the "Jobs" section on LinkedIn through the search bar or navigation menu.

2. Search for your desired positions and click on the specific job title to view details.

3. Click the "Easy Apply" button and proceed with completing the required fields.

4. Look for the "Resume (optional)" section. Click on the "Upload resume" and choose your file.

5. Finalize the application details; click on the "Apply" button. Your resume will be sent to the recruiters.

LinkedIn resume builder is a valuable tool to align your LinkedIn profile with your existing resume. Because it allows you to import your resume and use that in your LinkedIn profile. You can then customize the layout, add visuals, and highlight specific sections relevant to the jobs you're applying to.

Example: Consider that you have a general resume for different marketing roles as an example. When you post for a social media marketing job, you can use the LinkedIn resume builder to put into focus your social media knowledge and adjust your experiences’ descriptions to showcase only the projects that would be deemed relevant in this position.

Unlike a regular resume, which won't be able to serve as a substitute for a comprehensive one, the LinkedIn resume builder can help you write a basic resume if you've just started your career or haven't updated something like this for a long time. This makes the process smoother and easier by giving you the instructions and prompts directly.

Here's a quick comparison to help you decide:

It can be understandable that technical specifications might not work for some job applications. So it is best to customize your LinkedIn resume with the job description and relevant resume keywords to pass the resume shortlisting software. 

Remember: Whether you re-use the same resume or write the LinkedIn profile builder, your profile content should echo the material on the resume you use. This will make it uniform.

When making a beginner's resume, you need to understand how to optimize LinkedIn using your resume. So that you can pace yourself for a fast job search journey. With the above LinkedIn tips, you can improve your job search, and with networking, you can find infinite career opportunities. Also it's equally important for job seekers to check their resume score when sending it via email. If you are not familiar with tools to check CV score, you can use our ResuScan tool to find the ATS score of your resume.