Wade Burgess previously was the Senior Director, Northern Europe at LinkedIn. In this role, Wade managed LinkedIn’s recruitment business – helping European employers find and attract talent at scale through LinkedIn’s professional network.
Wade is now an official member of the Forbes Technology Council and has shared with us his views about using LinkedIn to Manage Your Professional Brand:
9 minutes a day: Continuous career management
I worked at LinkedIn for around ten years, my role involved managing LinkedIn’s recruitment business. I help European employers find and recruit talent on a large scale through the hub of LinkedIn’s professional network.
LinkedIn has been worked with personal branding expert William Arruda to explore the importance of continuous career management. Rapid changes in the working world have meant that jobs are not only harder to obtain, but also difficult to keep. It is therefore important to spend a continuous amount of time on developing your career to get the best possible chance of succeeding in this tough economic climate.
William and LinkedIn discovered together that by spending just 9 minutes a day on your career management, you could potentially get promoted; find that ideal job or you could simply become better at what you’re already doing.
They further suggested activities which you can easily slot into this dedicated 9 minute window. LinkedIn provides a great platform to facilitate the following:
- Build your network– building and maintaining relationships is a major component of a successful career.
- Maintain relationshipsby recommending and congratulating others in their careers – everyone enjoys being recognised
- Request recommendationsfrom your networks as credibility is critical
- Document achievements and winson LinkedIn to stay current and relevant
- Update your status every dayand make sure your profile and photos are current
- Expand on your thought leadership;lead a forum or LinkedIn group; publish an article; start a blog; speak publicly, recommend a book on the Amazon Linkedin app.
- Use the power of videoand create a video bio of yourself for your Linkedin profile.
- Source staff– one of a manager’s hardest jobs. If you build your brand community, you’ll create fans who want to work for you.
- Research.Make an effort to get to know more about your clients or partners and competitors – LinkedIn is a great place to start
By using these tips above you will not only be able to improve your career prospects, but also your understanding of this constantly evolving world of work.
