LinkedIn – A Guide for the Already Employed

LinkedIn is one of “the” tools for job seekers today. Serving as an interactive resume, a method of connecting with others in your field and as a social media network to stay up to date with career-related news, it has something for every job seeker. However, what if you are not actively looking for a new job? Should you still utilize LinkedIn—and if so, how? These five tips from Thrivas, a leader among temp agencies, will help you get started using LinkedIn, even if finding a new job is not your top priority.

• Create a Basic Profile – The first thing to remember is that LinkedIn is for everyone. Creating a basic profile will give you a “virtual resume” of sorts. You can add more information later, but just including your current and past work experience, education, and a profile picture is a good start.
• Check Out the Security Options – Since you are not actively seeking a job, you may not want to make all of your information available to everyone who uses LinkedIn.
• Network now – Make connections in your industry now, while you do not need them. This may even mean connecting with others in your current company. What this will do is help you create a network slowly and more organically. In the future if you DO need to search for a job or reconnect with others in your field, you will not be scrambling and adding masses of people to your profile in a hurry.
• Get Active – There is much more to do on LinkedIn than just looking for a job. Check out the blogs, groups and other benefits of the website. You will find that LinkedIn has a lot to offer you that may even help you as you work in your current position.
• Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader – LinkedIn is a great place to establish credibility for yourself within your industry. Share news stories, post your blogs and take advantage of the opportunities to make yourself known throughout your industry. If you are interested, you may have the chance to boost the credibility of your firm too.

As you can see, using LinkedIn is not something you should do only if you need a job. This social network is big and growing bigger every day. Create your profile or update it today and reap the benefits—even if you are not searching for a job.