This morning I got to attend the Java MeetUp 612 social media discussion, with Nicole Harrison (@SocialNicole) and Kate-Madonna Hindes (@GirlMeetsGeek) talking about maximizing your LinkedIn use. It was a great morning of mingling and discussion, and today's post will highlight the 3 points that I found the most helpful.
LinkedIn isn't just a bobber in the water: you need to do something with it.
This was something that Kate said, but was an overarching point that both her and Nicole touched on and alluded to. LinkedIn seems to the social network that people tend to create and then ignore, but like any social media channel requires engagement and involvement to really be effective. If I had to sum up today's Java Meetup 612 in one sentence, that's what it would be.
Don't just name links: let people know why they need to click it.
This was a very interesting point that Nicole made, and she was talking about editing the website links on your profile to say what someone will see when they click it, rather than just what the link is. For instance, if I list Daily Axioms as one of my websites on my LinkedIn profile (which I do), I can change the title of the website link to "Social media news and analysis" (which I did). That way, someone knows what the link is about before they click, and because of that will be more inclined to visit the site. This was one tip I took to heart right away and acted on as soon as I sat down at my computer afterwards.
80% of employers look for recommendations, so yes recommendations do matter.
Both Kate and Nicole discussed LinkedIn recommendations and the best practices behind them. Kate let us know why they're important when she said that 80% of potential employers look for and read recommendations. She also brought up the fact that it's okay to "coach" whoever is writing your recommendation and guide them towards certain topics/projects to write about. That way the recommendations will be more genuine and offer different (yet still relevant) points for potential employers.
Nicole also brought up a great point that the best starting point for someone looking to get a recommendation is to write one themselves. Just like with Twitter, if you want to build your network you need to take the first step yourself and make the effort to reach out.
So there you have it, these were the 3 points that I personally found the most interesting. Obviously there was a lot of other topics we discussed, so I definitely recommend attending these Java Meetups. Check out the Java Meetup 612 Twitter page to get the latest updates about when the next one will be.
