LinkedIn: How do Executives Use It?

As of August 2011, there are currently over 120 million LinkedIn users wordlwide. Ever wonder if others are utilizing LinkedIn the same way you do?

In Entrepreneur magazine’s October issue, 400 Americans who were registered LinkedIn users between July 1st and 5th, 2011  were surveyed on how they used their LinkedIn accounts.

Here are the interesting results categorized by user titles:

TOP-LEVEL EXECUTIVES:

-Networking: 22%

-Promoting their business: 20%

-Keeping in touch: 18%

-Co-worker networking: 13%

–Hiring: 12%

-Job Search: 9%

-Networking w/former employers: 6%

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT:

-Keeping in touch: 24%

-Industry networking: 22%

-Co-worker networking: 19%

-Promoting their business: 13%

-Hiring: 9%

-Job search: 8%

-Networking with former employers: 7%

ENTRY-LEVEL:

–Job search: 24%

-Co-worker networking: 23%

-Keeping in touch: 19%

-Industry networking: 19%

-Promoting my business: 6%

-Networking with former employers: 5%

-Hiring: 4%

So what does this all mean?

Decision makers like management and top-level executives do not see LinkedIn as a significant tool when it comes to hiring. However, this doesn’t mean that you should neglect your LinkedIn profile or other social media sites like Facebook. Click here to read how best to promote yourself online in a positive way!

Here’s our advice to job-seekers on how to best use LinkedIn:

1.Profile Picture: Your LinkedIn profile should portray your professional capabilities and not your personal life so choose a work-appropriate photo. Just remember that first impressions still count, so don’t give companies and/or recruiters any reason to remove you from their job candidate consideration list.

2. Resume: Reading copious amounts of copy on a resume is difficult whether it’s a physical copy or an online version. Don’t just copy and paste your resume onto your LinkedIn profile. Start with a concise, descriptive summary listing your specialties and talents.  Summarize your experiences in short sentences so it’s easier to read at a glance.

3. Recommendations: Ask former and/or current co-workers, direct supervisors, clients, and vendors to give you a 3-4 sentence recommendation that best describes your professional experience in a concise manner. Make sure to double-check them before you approve and post on your profile.

4. Portfolio: Add links to your website, online portfolio, blogs and other sites that best displays your experience.

5. LinkedIn Groups: Join relevant groups that relates to your industry and/or title such as Careers in Cosmetics or Fashion Marketing & Digital Media Group (FMG). Companies and recruiters sometimes post jobs in these groups that they won’t necessarily post on other online sites.

Good luck!

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