August 4, 2022, by Leah Sharpe

Unlocking the Power of LinkedIn

By Daria Paterek, English student

Before I started regularly using LinkedIn, I didn’t have a positive perception of it. I expected it to be full of pretentious business owners, fake motivational posts, and a rose-tinted view of the job market.

We’ve all seen the satirical posts making fun of LinkedIn. Something along the lines of, ‘I was on my way to an interview when I saw an injured dog. I helped the dog. As a result, I was late for my interview. But when I arrived, it turned out that the interviewer was the dog. I got the position #bekind.’

There are parts of LinkedIn that are like that. But your experience on LinkedIn is all about what you post, who you follow, and the content you interact with. 

My LinkedIn journey

My journey with LinkedIn started when I attended a ‘personal branding’ workshop. I had no idea what a ‘personal brand’ was or why I needed one. At this time, I was searching for a full-time placement. I had a LinkedIn profile that I only used to search for vacancies (that’s what I thought the sole purpose of LinkedIn was). When I realised that LinkedIn wasn’t just about recruiting, I started unlocking its full potential.  

I started my journey with LinkedIn by updating my profile: taking a ‘professional’ photo (a selfie in front of my white wall) and updating my profile with my experience. At that point in time, I only connected with people I knew, as I refrained from posting out of my fear of people seeing and criticising me.

Choose topics you enjoy writing about

However, I experienced everything LinkedIn can offer when I started posting (semi-regularly). My best advice when posting to LinkedIn is to decide on three or four topics that you could talk about endlessly. For me, the topics were university, social mobility, marketing, and sustainability. When I first started posting, I was extremely nervous. I felt like a massive imposter. My first posts barely got any engagement, and I wanted to delete my profile. Later, I realised that LinkedIn is a two-way street – it’s about posting, but it is also about engaging with other people and reaching out to people (as intimidating as that seems).  

Don’t compare and connect wisely

The biggest challenge that I faced on LinkedIn was imposter syndrome. My timeline was filled with people working for the Big 4 and young people making millions off of their businesses. I didn’t feel good enough. I kept comparing my experiences and achievements to them and felt like I could never compete. What helped me overcome this was connecting with people in similar positions to me. Current students, recent graduates, and marketers. These creators were honest about burnout, toxic workplaces, and the reality of the job market.  

Since then, I’ve managed to (mostly) post twice a week, connect with professionals in the marketing industry, and grow my personal brand (to the point that I was offered job offers after my posts). 

Overall, LinkedIn is what you make of it. It can be your choice to connect with amazing people (I have made friends from the platform), grab great opportunities, and put your authentic self out there while massively increasing your confidence.  

In the era of an ever-digital job market, LinkedIn may be your key to discovering your dream job.

Find out more about the value of networking, what it is and how you go about doing it. Plus, get some tips on perfecting your online social media presence ready for the workplace. 

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