LinkedIn is the largest professional network on the internet. Linked in describes itself as ‘a platform for anyone who is looking to advance their career. This can include people from various professional backgrounds, such as small business owners, students, and job seekers. LinkedIn members can use LinkedIn to tap into a network of professionals, companies, and groups within and beyond their industry’.
Despite this, some people, most notably academics, don’t always choose to engage with or make the most effective use of the platform. That’s a shame, as it can be a great way to network with like-minded people, share knowledge and increase your visibility.
If you are an academic, there are plenty of helpful pointers on how to create a profile and make the most of the platform.
There are many useful articles both within LinkedIn and beyond on the general principles of how to create a compelling profile. Here are some of my personal tips.
Top 10 tips:
- Follow (other) clever people. Make a note of what you admire about their profile and how they’ve presented themselves, their research and skills. Apply some of the same principles to your own profile.
- Keep it professional. It’s a personal view, but I would advise: no pets, children, pictures of food or fundraising. LinkedIn is not Facebook. However, it is a great place to highlight your research, publications, prizes and conferences.
- Look for and follow relevant groups. For example, if you’re in academia and think other academics aren’t using the platform, think again. There are, for example:
- 33k members on ‘PhD to Consultancy’
- 27k on ‘How to write a Thesis’
- 217k on ‘Research Methods and Statistics’
4. Share useful content with your network, contributing your views rather than simply re-posting.
5. Visibility is everything. LinkedIn offers the opportunity for exposure (in a good way) and women in academia in particular can only benefit from increasing their profile!
6. Be a content creator. Become someone others follow. Provide useful and interesting content that readers will want to read and share. Post regularly. It’s an opportunity to make your research accessible to a lay audience.
7. Build your network. Personalise invites to people you’d like to connect with. Reach out to those who are of interest/in the same field- but also accept invites from those not in your immediate sphere so you don’t create an echo chamber.
8. Connect with those who have a high-profile. I’ve LinkedIn and exchanged opinions with a number of published authors over our shared interest in women’s equality, for example.
9. Keep your profile up to date. This has the added benefit that when you need to update your CV it won’t take as long.
10. Capture your skills. The discipline of creating and curating a profile is a good way to remind yourself and others of the impressive range of skills you have to offer.
The power of visibility can never be underestimated.
Margaret Cho
