You’re a generation that’s grown up with social media. You’ve definitely spent more hours on Snapchat, YouTube shorts and TikTok than I ever will, but do you know how LinkedIn can help you further your career?
From my experience of recently teaching higher education students, the answer to this question is typically no. LinkedIn isn’t as exciting or entertaining as the aforementioned platforms I agree, BUT, if you’re ambitious and looking ahead to a successful career, adding LinkedIn to your repertoire of knowledge and skills is definitely going to help you get there.
Here I’ll share how getting to grips with this platform could really help you, and five important things for you to check you should be doing as a priority to showcase your young professional self.
Why Should Young Professionals Be On LinkedIn?
If you didn’t know, LinkedIn is the only social network which solely focusses on business networking and career discussions. It’s vastly different from other networks you may choose to spend your recreational time looking at such as Insta and TikTok, and should be treated with utmost respect when it comes to your professional image.
Let’s talk numbers briefly. Microsoft reports that there are over 985 million* LinkedIn members at the time of writing this, and these people come to the platform to talk about work and career. According to Hootsuite, 60% of LinkedIn users are aged between 25 to 34 – people in the prime years of their career. This is you essentially, in a few years’ time!
The best way to describe this platform is like a business networking event, and whilst at this point in your career you may not have attended one of these you can probably imagine what they’re like.
LinkedIn Provides You With A Business Networking Opportunity
So what should you be doing on the platform? Being present and active on LinkedIn is about being brave and having polite and friendly professional conversations, at the very least with people you already know (the real gold can come when it’s with people you don’t know).
It’s not about shouting about your weekend partying antics or your latest fashion purchase (unless of course fashion is an industry you aspire to work in…then it would be!)
LinkedIn also hosts over 60m Company Pages. So your future employers are also very likely to be here too! It’s now common practice for HR departments to check LinkedIn profiles (yes, really). Make sure you show up when they look for you, and even better, make sure you really stand out for the right reasons.
Francesca Long, Head of Training and Talent Development at the Faraday Institution recently shared her thoughts on supporting her PhD researchers with LinkedIn skills…
“It can be a leap for the younger generations to use a platform they view as unfamiliar and business orientated, but taking small steps to build an online presence will undoubtedly be richly rewarded. When recruiting, even for junior graduate roles, I will always explore what content applicants have created online. What better way to make a good impression and make an application stand out than to have aced this aspect.”
I couldn’t have worded it better myself!
So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the five things you need to be doing on this platform –
Five Things Gen Z Should Know About And Be Doing On LinkedIn
- Ensure you have a professional profile image in place. No this doesn’t mean a cropped holiday image or you in sunglasses and a hat. It means an image of your head and shoulders looking directly at the camera and smiling. It needs to be recent, not several years old, and it needs to reflect the way you currently look. And no bikini shots please!
- Completely fill out your personal profile. Spend the same amount of time and care here as you would on completing your CV. The best bit? You have the added advantage of not having to limit what you say to two pages! Add all your relevant experience and educational achievements to tell a story about who you are.
- Download the LinkedIn QR code to help you easily build and grow your connections! I have a handy one pager to show you how to do this. If you’d like it drop me a DM on LinkedIn and it’s yours.
- Build your network! Avoid just connecting with friends and family. Be brave and connect with others who are already established in the roles or industry you think you want to work in. LinkedIn will also tell you if you have connections in common, which is very useful if you want a conversation opener or would like someone to introduce you.
- Follow your potential future employers on their LinkedIn Company Pages! Identify who they are, type the company name into the search bar, and actively follow and engage with their page and content. Imagine how useful this might be at interview? You could talk about their latest content shared and demonstrate some real interest in their business. Now that’s what I call standing out at interview.
And if you’re wondering if LinkedIn is worth all the effort….
“One of the former Faraday Institution PhD researchers now has over 5,000 followers. He recently posted about his scientific research on LinkedIn and received 3,763 likes, 161 reposts and 91 comments! Others have had companies approaching them with job opportunities and were stunned that having a LinkedIn presence can be so impactful…” Francesca Long, Head of Training and Talent Development
I think this quote from Francesca speaks for itself!
I hope you found these tips useful and they debunk a few LinkedIn myths for you. I hope you now also understand why this platform is worth spending some time and energy on. For further LinkedIn support and training information you can head here. Or to come and connect with me on LinkedIn head here.
As ever, thanks for reading!
*Source Microsoft reporting as of October 2023
