I hope that you are using LinkedIn for networking and personal branding every chance you get. But you’re not the only one benefiting from your presence there–LinkedIn is, too.
If you are on a job search, LinkedIn is the perfect place for hiring managers to get more details about you and find samples of your work–if you have been adding files and links since LinkedIn’s recent updates–as well as doing research about your target companies and the people with whom you are interviewing.
You should also be using LinkedIn to increase your influence by participating in Group discussions and posting valuable content. You can find an overview of our past LinkedIn tips here. While you are using LinkedIn more to help your career development, however, LinkedIn is using you and your data more to increase its value–both to professionals and to stockholders.
Who’s Viewed Your Updates
LinkedIn.com is now keeping track of and reporting to you who has seen your updates. They are hoping that this feature makes you update more often. It does not require an upgraded account to see this information, unlike who has viewed your profile. If you are planning to take some time to tweak your profile, however, you might want to turn off updates until you are finished so your entire network doesn’t see when you corrected that typo or put in another comma.
You Recently Visited
It might feel more invasive to have LinkedIn so clearly monitoring where you go and what you read, but if you sometimes lose track of what you were looking at last week or the name of that person you were researching, this will definitely be helpful. LinkedIn always knew where you were going–now they are letting you in on your own data.
We find LinkedIn to be a very valuable resource, especially for research, whether you want details about a company you are interested in working with, information about a hiring manager for tomorrow’s interview, or when you are looking for talent. And remember, as on all social media platforms, a little thought about LinkedIn before you share goes a long way.
Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative