LinkedIn, Part II

I took an Advanced Linkedin class today – didn’t think I would get much out of it, but yet again I was proven wrong.  I’m more impressed than even after the first class.  Some of the highlights for me:

You have three levels of connections in your network.  Level one connections are the  people that you have invited to join your network or they have invited you.  Your network includes these first level connects, as well as their first level (which become your 2^nd level) and their 2^nd levels which become your 3^rd level connects.  Any groups you join are also considered a part of your network. 

For search, any recruiter making a search will use keywords to find the skills or position for which they seek prospects.  The text of your resume can be searched, but the priority area is the headline, so ensure any critical keywords are listed. If there are particular jobs you are seeking, list those keywords in the headlines, as well as the summary, and resume text. 

I’ve been avoiding uploading a photo due to security reasons.  I learned you can upload a pic and then restrict to whom it can be shown.  You can visit the Settings page to restrict what is shown during a public search, and to restrict the distribution of what you post.  Especially when setting up your profile and resume, you don’t want every little change made blasted to your connections, and network. 

View the Profile section to customize your web address—you can add this to your resume, business card, etc.  On the edit page there is a link to “customize button.”  Linked in gives you the html code for a clickable LinkedIn icon button that you can add to emails, websites, etc.; it will link to your LinkedIn profile.  It looks like this:

Visit the More/Events tab to find or set up networking events in your area.  Also in the More tab is the Application Directory.  You can download multiple applications to your site, ones that can access Twitter, connect your blog, make a poll and more.  One app that astounded me was SlideShare.  You can:

• share presentations & documents with your LinkedIn network
• upload portfolios, resume, conference talks, PDFs, marketing/sales presentations
• display them on your LinkedIn profile
• embed YouTube videos in presentations, add audio to make a webinar

I downloaded a PowerPoint presentation on Virtual Collaboration  from a Hewlett Packard VP.  If you are interested in a company, their presentations may give you an inside peek at the company culture, processes, operations, etc., or just download for self-education.    As I understand it once the document is in SlideShare,  it’s public without proprietary rights.  Wow!

When you check out LinkedIn, hit me back with a comment and share your thoughts.

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