People always say, “put yourself out there”, to be recognised and noticed. This is meant to help you with your opportunities in life, and also employment. I am doing this from a professional perspective, because I have no experience on how to put yourself out there generally, but I have the ability to dabble in LinkedIn, so worth sharing for beginners.
Why should you put yourself out there?
Reason 1
Why not?
Reason 2
LinkedIn is the Instagram for professionals. That’s how I would describe it. You show off your achievements, your projects and work, to show how you’re developing your career. It’s also a good way to build up warm leads of people you potentially want to work with, or be mentored by. These individuals can level up your employability, and help you get to where you want to be.
The thing is with getting jobs when you’re younger, it’s about who you know. Then you get to early adulthood, and it’s based on your volunteer work, your grades and personal achievements in extra-curricular stuff. Once you have made it onto the employment ladder, how you progress is by who you know and the reputation you build for yourself.
Reason 3
On LinkedIn you can showcase who you know, and if you get yourself swindled in the correct pools, then your career can go beyond your wildest dreams. You can also search for job opportunities, and research companies with various filters. This can expose you to so much in terms of opportunities and places.
Reason 4
Company’s have LinkedIn and before they give you an interview, they tend to check your profile and get to know you better. It’s not a disadvantage if you don’t have a profile, but if you have an up-to-date profile, they can get a better picture of you, before they decide to see you.
When to do it
Put yourself out there as soon as possible. The best time was yesterday, the second-best time is now.
Student
If you’re a student, you can set it up patterned with the university, and then you can get free access to LinkedIn Learning. Here there are a variety of LinkedIn courses, which when completed you can stick the certificate on your profile and showcase what you have achieved. You can complete courses that you think will boost your employability.
I honestly wish I took LinkedIn more seriously in uni. There was so much time, where I could have completed those courses, and boosted my profile. I could have graduated with a little more under my belt. I could have learnt how to use LinkedIn to improve my employability. But there is no better time than the present, so I have started doing it now. It’s a little harder, balancing a full time job and my social media life, but I am exploring it now, which is better than later.
Adult
Regardless of what experience you have, it’s best to get a profile if you want to develop in a career. You can pay for LinkedIn premium and see who is checking out your profile. You can pay a little more to get access to LinkedIn learning. However, every few months or so LinkedIn can give you free courses and a free 30 day trail for premium.
Not as great as some of the free things you can get with a student status, but you don’t need to pay for LinkedIn all the time. If you’re looking for a job, you can pay for the time being that you are searching, and then stop paying again.
How to do it
Go to the LinkedIn website, and set up your profile. Use your professional name, as this is something that potential employers will see you on.
Don’t post anything embarrassing if you don’t want employers to ask you about it. This is a place to be professional, and show off what a great employee you can be.
Start off by adding people you know, before you start adding random people. If you don’t know anyone, I doubt it. You have read this post so you know about me, here is my profile (well…). Come connect with me, and drop me a message letting me know you found me from my blog.
This is good practise, as when messaging someone new, you should have a good conversation starter, especially if you don’t know them. Don’t make them feel like you’re a weirdo following them, connect with them. Let them know you. Ask for some inspiration. But don’t be pushy, let them respond at their own pace, and if they don’t, but accept your connection, then take it as a learning experience.
There are other ways of putting yourself out there, such as other social media platforms, or writing a blog or mailing list. This was just a specific way to put yourself out there, which doesn’t require as much up keep as other social media platforms or keeping a blog.
Moral of my story:
- Set one up: It’s a great way to connect with people professionally
- Live a double life: Keep your fun life away from LinkedIn and showcase your employability
- Take advantage of LinkedIn learning: Having the chance to upskill from home, with minimal financial impact, also you can show them on your profile. Like an online CV
- Add someone you know: If you don’t know anyone, add me and let me know you found me from my blog. This is how you approach new people on LinkedIn, but give them a tailored message as to why you want to connect with them.
- Put yourself out there and get known
