Home | Profile | LinkedIn Tips | School Tips | Online Networks | Contact

LinkedIn Tips
Page 3 of 6

 

Tip 3

 

 

Fill in your name

 

If you are known by more than one name, such as I am known as both Richard Upton and Rick Upton, then you will want to be found by people searching for either name. LinkedIn’s search engine has some intelligence that “knows” that certain nicknames are tied to certain names. For example, if you search for “Rick Upton” in LinkedIn, you will find a number of people named “Richard Upton”.

 

To update your name:

 

  1. At the top of every LinkedIn page, there is an “Account & Settings” link.  Click on the link to open the “Account & Settings” page.
  2. On the right side of the page, click the link “Name & Location.”
  3. In the “First Name” field, enter your full first name.  e.g. My first name reads “Richard”.
  4. Click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.

 

Some people set up two accounts, one for each name (e.g. one for “Rick Upton” and one for “Richard Upton”).  The problem with this method is that you would be less accessible by your trusted connections unless every single direct connection you have is connected to both of your profiles.  Another problem is that you would then have to maintain two accounts.

 

 

Tip 4

 

Fill in your LinkedIn profile.

  1. Click the “My Profile” tab.
  2. Fill in as much information as possible. The more you fill in, the more likely you will be found by someone who can offer you a valuable opportunity. 

·         Keep in mind that recruiters, vendors, clients, coworkers, managers, and more may read this information.

·         Fill in the “Summary” and “Specialties” sections to give people an overview of your experience and capabilities.

·         Go beyond filling in information about your current employer and position.  By filling in former employers, ex-coworkers will be able to find you, and recruiters will have a better picture of your experience.

·         Fill in your educational history so that former classmates and professors may find you.

·         At the bottom, add organizations to which you belong, so that people who know that you belong to these organizations may easily find you.

 

 Return to Top ^

 

 

Tip 5

 

Join any applicable LinkedIn groups.

  • Warning:  When you join a group, as a default everyone within the group may contact you directly via LinkedIn.  Fellow group members will not be able to see your email address unless you both have already made a direct connection.  You may or may not consider being a member of a group as being favorable, since it is possible that you may receive a LinkedIn introduction from a fellow group member you don’t know.
  1. Check the LinkedIn groups directory to see if there any other groups you can join. Note that not all LinkedIn groups are listed here, only those that have paid to be listed.
  2. Check your alma mater’s website and contact its alumni association to see if a LinkedIn Group is offered for alumni.
  3. Contact your organizations to which you belong to see if they offer LinkedIn Groups.

 

 Return to Top ^

 

 

Tip 6

 

Browse LinkedIn connections for people you know.

  1. Click the “My Contacts” tab.
  2. Click on the number next to a name (such as “Upton, Richard”), not the name or email address next to the number.  The number next to my name is 308 as of this writing (7/2/2007).
  3. At the new screen, review the list of names here.  These are people to whom your direct contact has a direct LinkedIn connection.  That means your direct contact personally invited them or they personally invited your direct contacts to be directly connected contacts in LinkedIn.
  4. If you see anyone you know, trust, and have their email address, click on their name.  For every person on this email distribution, you’ll probably find that there is at least one person your direct connection has listed in their contacts that you know but don’t have yet in your contacts. Let’s say you clicked on a hyperlink for someone named Ben Seedman.
  5. Now you should be on Ben Seedman’s profile page. On the right side, you’ll see the text “Add Ben to your network.”  Click on the hyperlink.
  6. At the next window, select the option which best describes how you know Ben.  Change the body of the text if you would like to, or keep it as is. (You’re more likely to be successful connecting with Ben if you write a customized message.) Then click “Send Invitation”.
  7. Repeat the process for other contacts.  By doing this, you are expanding your contacts by removing an unnecessary level.  Since you can only “see” for three levels of contacts, taking your original direct contacts out of the middle gives you visibility to more contacts.  Also, adding direct connections to people who already have LinkedIn accounts makes it easier to connect with them.

 

 Return to Top ^

 

 < Previous Page                                                                       Next Page >

 

www.rickupton.com.  Copyright © 2007 Richard Upton.  All Rights Reserved.  Last Updated July 2, 2007