How to Show Up as Your Authentic Self on LinkedIn

Many people tend not to prioritize their LinkedIn profile, or set it aside as an afterthought, when looking for jobs. However, LinkedIn is a great tool to connect with others, find jobs, show relevance, and keep track of businesses and events. Showing up as your authentic self on LinkedIn can even help you stand out to job recruiters and hiring managers.

Why Authenticity is Important

Your LinkedIn profile builds trust and credibility with peers and colleagues, as well as job recruiters and hiring managers. Every time a recruiter contacts you or you get a request for a new connection on LinkedIn, you can be sure that they’ve either checked your profile or want to learn more about you.

LinkedIn is a platform where people want to relate and connect with your story and journey, as well as find similarities and make connections.

So make sure to include details about your professional experience on your LinkedIn profile instead of just copying and pasting from your resume. You can also choose to include personal details that might relate to your current career, whether it is volunteering in the community or taking on additional training outside of your work hours. The more professional experience you share on LinkedIn, the easier it will be for recruiters to understand if you are a good fit for a specific job opening.

Connect With Your Space

The first thing you want to do on LinkedIn is identify your space. Is there a particular industry you want to follow or learn more about? Are you curious to learn more about leadership and C-Suite positions? Maybe you’re looking to change career paths and branch into a new industry entirely. Connecting with the right people and following certain topics of conversation can help you not only learn more about an industry or profession that interests you, but help you connect with potential job opportunities. Also make sure to follow hashtags as they can lead to interesting articles and people.

Make the Most out of Networking

A great way to make sure that you are following up with your LinkedIn connections is to set a monthly goal of how many people you want to reach out to. Keep in mind that your connections will have their own network and they can introduce you to even more people. You can also use LinkedIn as a digital contact list and add interesting people you meet at events or hear about through others.

Another way to stand out on LinkedIn is to post about your accomplishments, not your responsibilities. Share about your passions outside of work because you never know who else might be interested in that same thing. You can also talk about your story and advocate for yourself on LinkedIn. These are all important pieces to your personal brand and can help you come across as authentic to peers, recruiters, and hiring managers. Networking on LinkedIn also includes endorsing your colleagues’ skills and asking them to do the same for you, as well as making sure to keep your skills up to date and relevant.

Overall, LinkedIn is a great tool to use and can help you find your dream job. The more you use LinkedIn, the better it is for your career!

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