#onlineprofile

Megújult a honlapom!

Sajnos az eredeti, jól megszerkesztett kis oldalamat a szolgáltató stílusváltása miatt törölte, így új online portfóliót kellett készítenem. Nem olyan előkelő mint elődje, de minden fontos információ megtalálható rajta. Ha van kedvetek, látogassátok meg!

Klikk a kép alá!

Kellemes böngészést! ^^

New webpage!

Unfortunately my former online profile got deleted because of the host renewal, so I had to create a new portfolio. Not as fancy as the former one, but you'll find all the important information.

Check it out if you want!

For english version, click on the link bellow!

So, what is LinkedIn? It is essentially a social network, just like Facebook or Twitter but it is different. LinkedIn, launched in 2003, has a professional focus and provides the platform to build an online professional profile or brand. Like other social networks, you connect with other professionals and share updates. It also allows you to apply for jobs and is a valued recruitment platform for companies worldwide. Most importantly, with numerous recruitment agencies and employers on the platform, it hands you the opportunity to market yourself and present your experience. So how did I build my profile?

Putting a face to the name and choosing the right headline

I learnt from very early on it is very important to not only have a profile photo on the platform but a photo that is professionally taken as it will mean you will appear higher in searches and encourage greater engagement. It is also very important to have a background image that reflects what you do and makes it clear what your area is. As you can see below, I chose a picture of the cliffs of Moher. Although I work more specifically in bringing international conferences to Ireland and if I were to put one image of a specific conference centre, this would appear biased as we our responsible for driving business into five regions. I instead went for something more eye catching.

The next step is to choose a headline, as this is the first piece of written information someone will see when they search you in the search bar but also when they land on your profile, it needs to catch their attention. I originally had my tagline as “Association conferences at Fáilte Ireland”. I soon realised that this would not attract as many people to the profile. I changed my tagline to International Business Development at Fáilte Ireland which reflects better what I do and is more attractive to a larger group of users.

Connections- Establishing your network

Also seen on your headline is your number of connections. As a matter of principle and arguably against the usual practice, I only connect on the platform with people I have met, who work within my industry, whose role is recruitment and those that are in industries which interest me. The downside was that it meant that it took longer for me to get to the 500+ which seems like a bit of a milestone for a lot of users. Some argued that I was limiting engagement on my posts but I was happier with my network and as a matter of fact it resulted in greater engagement as my posts were targeting the right groups of people.

About Section

The about section allows you to set out your personal brand from the onset. This section allows you to highlight your experience, accomplishments and passions in a short blurb. As the majority of the about section is hidden with a see more button inviting the user to read more. I made sure that my top line summarised what I was about straight away and would engage them enough to discover more.

 My about allows me to outline from the onset my background in languages and my role within the MICE industry (Meetings Incentive Corporate Events). While finally touching on my involvement as an advocate for speaking out about mental health. When the user clicks see more, it is here where I outline my background education and experience. As I had a lot of content to play with, I made sure to point out that my full job responsibilities for my current role were detailed in my experience section as seen below. The about section is your pitch to the person who is looking at your profile!

Showing your experience

It is in this section where you outline your past and present experience and roles.

 Show your work and make it easy for people to find you

You can customise and change your URL. This is important as it will make it a lot easier for people to find you on the platform but also on the google search engine.

I have a link to our company website in the contact info section of my profile. This both leads clients to our website but also possible recruiters’ to less formal information about me with the same professional image.

The platform allows you to show what you have worked on.  I have attached two videos I was involved in onto my profile, one of which was an Erasmus campaign I spoke for and then also a video which I entered for an industry competition which led me to speaking at a congress in Texas. If you have a blog or personal website which you would like to show off, this is your chance to lead the user that direction.

 Recommendations

A crucial part of your LinkedIn profile is ensuring that you leave and receive ‘recommendations’ and have your skills endorsed by fellow colleagues. They are like references which you would see on a CV while also proving that you are in fact fluent in Mandarin.

 How to Build your brand and start a dialogue

All your posts and interactions on the platform are marketing yourself to potential employers. One of the biggest learnings for me was choosing the right time to post your updates. Midweek posts generated far more interaction and reactions then that of a Friday or weekend post as people tend to switch off.

Whether it is just an update on a team accomplishment (as seen above) (Ignore the movember attempt) or a large accomplishment, in my case winning a competition which would in turn send me to speak at a congress in Texas, the way you write your posts is crucial. For greater engagement, tagging companies and people involved in the story you are sharing is a way of growing engagement. Likewise, it is encouraged to use industry relevant hashtags to help people find your content.

A personal dialogue which I have created is regarding mental health, sparked by winning the competition above. It has led to a lot of speaking opportunities which I have posted on the platform and which have created discussion surrounding mental health. (As seen below) It is this type of engagement which will lead more people to your profile.

So, you have created your profile, it is time to start building your brand. Post content so that your target audience will find you and look at people within your desired field and see how they set up their page. Use the personal playbook for LinkedIn to get yourself up and running and finally SELL YOURSELF!

This is the link to my own profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owensjack/ 

References

https://www.slideshare.net/WalterSinigoi/linkedin-your-personal-branding-playbook

https://www.meetinireland.com/meet-the-team/jack-owens

LinkedIn has over 225 million users and is considered the world’s largest professional network – with that said, as young working professionals and college students we can often overlook our professional online profiles, even though they are a fantastic way to build our own personal brands and careers. LinkedIn was founded in 2002 and launched in 2003 in the United States and has since rocketed into the professional world – allowing professionals of all ages and nationalities to find jobs, highlight their successes and career milestones, and inevitably network with people from all over the world online. In this blog post we will look at some top tips on how to create a great professional LinkedIn profile, as well as looking at my own personal LinkedIn account throughout and how I have incorporated these learnings into making a better online profile.

How does your profile look at a first glimpse?:

So, the first thing that I have learned in my research that’s really important for your LinkedIn profile is ensuring that you have a great punchy headline, you’ve a good profile photo (preferably not one of you graduating), you have a strong biography about yourself and that you list all of your work experiences, education, certificates and skills. Below you will see screen shots from own LinkedIn profile.

As you can see, I have a strong headline stating what I am currently doing – I am currently on the IBEC Global Graduate programme, whereby I am working at Tourism Ireland as a PR and media assistant. This is something that I want people to see when they visit my profile, as it is quite a big achievement in my early career since graduating college in 2018. Having a strong punchline that identifies what you are doing is a fantastic way for people to recognise who are maybe from a networking event or for future employers to take note. I’ve also highlighted that I have my own personal website here too, as that’s a big part of my identity.

Moving away from the punchline of your profile – it’s also a good idea to have a strong bio and make sure that you’ve listed all of your work experiences. I think it’s a good idea to keep in mind the type of job you’re potentially after and what you think will benefit you most in your career – I chose not to list experiences from before 2016, as I don’t feel they’re relevant to me anymore and I have more PR experience now than I did back then. I’ve also listed all of my education to date starting from secondary school – I chose not to include primary school, a I didn’t feel it was relevant.

This is a screenshot of my biography/about section:

This is a screenshot of some of my work experiences listed on my profile:

We’ve got the basics down, what next to make winning profile?:

Having read through the guidelines on how to make a great LinkedIn profile, there is so much that we can do besides the basics listed above.

Change your URL name: this is a great way to improve search engine optimisation (SEO) and make it a lot easier for people to find you on the platform. Screen shots below show how I did it and what I changed my URL name to.

Link your website / blog / online portfolio / online professional platforms: that every opportunity to showcase your work and highlight what you’re doing. For example, I have a fashion blog which I’ve linked prominently throughout my LinkedIn profile as it acts as a mini portfolio of my videography, design and photography work.

Network, network, network: LinkedIn is a great way to connect with people, so take every opportunity to connect with people. Engage with other people’s content, share posts, message people privately about collaborations or just congratulating them on a new job. Be super social and try gain more than 500+ connections!

Build your brand: Take the opportunity to share achievements from your career or studies (below you’ll find examples of posts that I have shared with my LinkedIn network). This is a great way for people to get to know you, build your reputation within your professional circle and potentially create new opportunities for yourself in your career. Another useful tool on LinkedIn when building your own personal brand is the ‘who’s view your profile’ as you can see what industries people viewing your profile are in, locations of members viewing you and what keywords are being used when people find your profile – this analytics tool is a great way to fine tune your profile as you become more familiar with the platform.

Recommendations: In my opinion, one of the last and most important parts of your LinkedIn profile is ensuring that you have and give ‘recommendations’ and that you are endorsed for your ‘skills’ by fellow colleagues. These are great ways to really show your personality but from the perspective of other people that you may have gone to university with or, worked with. Below are examples of recommendations that I have received on my profile, which are really great for character building.

Overall, having researched into the general guidelines on how to build your LinkedIn and the notes given by my college lecturer on ‘building your professional profile online’, I feel that I have really improved my LinkedIn profile. These are some of the tips that I have learned from my readings and experiences online, which I hope in term might help you readers out there that are looking to also improve your online profile.

Here is a link to my current LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-edel-hayes/

References:

https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/techcoalition/assets/professional-branding-playbook-by-linkedin.pdf

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