Five of our Favorite LinkedIn Features to Enhance Your Digital Presence (and Grow Your Visibility)

LinkedIn can be a valuable resource as you begin, or continue through, your professional journey.

Founded in 2002, the professional networking site can help you generate leads, find professionals in your field, search open job opportunities, and research companies (and potential employers) of interest. In this Article, we will highlight five of our favorite LinkedIn features to help you present your best professional self - and one great way to become a thought leader in your field.

The Basics:

“To be most successful in leveraging LinkedIn . . . be targeted and focused with your headline and ‘personal brand’ and engage, connect, comment and participate in the conversation.” (3)

It is, of course, important to take advantage of the basics of the LinkedIn platform to present a great first impression:

1. Choose a clear, professional profile picture (according to the definition of “professional” within your industry”);

2. Write a 3-5 paragraph summary of your relevant experience and career goals; and

3. Update your page URL with your full name (6). 

Add Media files (and Dig into the Details)

Upload your resume or portfolio.

You can now add media files to the sections of your LinkedIn page, including external documents, photos, sites, videos, and presentations (1). Did you complete a project of note for your previous employer? If possible (and not confidential), upload an image gallery or a project recap to showcase your work.  This could also be helpful to highlight volunteerism of note or a link to your portfolio on an external site. 

When populating your page content, remember that, “[u]nlike your resume, you have unlimited space on LinkedIn, so you can go into more depth on your internships, past positions and projects.” (7). Be sure to detail your involvement on projects, key collaboration, and the impact of the resulting success on your department or company. Brag a little, this is YOUR page!

Record the Correct Pronunciation of Your Name

One of LinkedIn’s newest features is the ability to record your full name, which places a small speaker icon next at the top of your intro.

Follow these steps to record your name, a short bio, state your industry or current title, or even just say hello - via Social Pilot (1).

1. Open your profile page.

2. Click on the first edit icon.

3. Click on the Add Name Pronunciation option.

4. Tap on the record icon to record your name.

5. Click on Apply or Retake in case you want to re-record.

Tried and True: Skills and Endorsements

Two of the best, and underutilized, features on LinkedIn are Skills and Endorsements.

While certainly not a new feature, the rise in AI during the hiring process has made the effective utilization of the skills section even more important. Employers want to see a candidate that possesses the required experience for the role and LinkedIn Skills are an easy way to outline your expertise. Select all meaningful skills that may apply, but consider rotating skills off your page as it becomes customarily expected for you to possess them, such as word processing or email.

Secondly, leveraging the Endorsements section is a great way to curate a great impression. “Positive recommendations written by previous employers, clients, or colleagues can show a hiring manager what kind of employee you are and your strengths” (6). 

You can request an Endorsement from any source with whom you have worked, including through volunteerism, current and former bosses, colleagues, current and former clients, professor, and more. To identify relevant Endorsements, consider projects of note or major successes - what part did you play in those wins and who is the best person to illustrate your involvement?

Streamlining Your Search: Saved Hashtags and Keywords

Search with intention by leveraging one of LinkedIn’s newest features.

If you use LinkedIn Learning to hone your skills, discover new thought leaders via your timeline, or read industry news from your favorite LinkedIn News source, consider saving your search keywords for easy reference and updates. “After conducting a search, just click on the Save search option to access it later quickly. Additionally, you can choose this LinkedIn feature to receive weekly or monthly reminders via email once a new member in the network or a job matches your saved search criteria” (1).

Saving a search keyword and setting up email alerts can also be helpful for sales lead generation and networking! Consider trying new combinations of categories and drop downs from the advanced search to narrow your results to those within your network, at a certain company, or other detail that will help you find the right person or opportunity.

Easily Connect Networking Events to your Calendar  

One of our favorite LinkedIn features allows you to connect your calendar to your profile for easy event integration.

First, LinkedIn is an excellent repository of professional organizations within your industry. Not only are professional organization key knowledge resources, they often share helpful articles, member publications, or host events.

“Professional organizations host events and meetings where individuals can get to know and connect with other members. In addition, these organizations afford learning opportunities through webinars, conferences and certification courses that help increase confidence and help them stay up-to-date on industry trends and technology. Participation in organizations also yields content for rèsumès and interview answers”(3).

 If you link your calendar (personal or professional) to your LinkedIn profile, you then have the option to add (or automatically connect) events to which you RSVP on your LinkedIn, directly onto your calendar. This also includes events that people have invited you to, so you will never miss a networking event or an opportunity to support your favorite cause.

Bonus: Schedule posts with LinkedIn Publishing

Do you enjoy posting content to LinkedIn but wish the process was more intuitive? Consider leveraging LinkedIn Publishing! “LinkedIn's publication feature allows your brand to create and share tailor-made content in the form of blogs, articles, videos, case studies, and much more. Within this feature, you will find LinkedIn's user-friendly editor to help you refine your final pieces. Sharing long-form content will establish your expertise and authority within your professional domain” (5). Don’t have time to draft a full article? Keep your audience engaged with LinkedIn polls, a quick and easy way to gain valuable insight into your connections (2). Ask your network to opine on recent industry news, pose a hypothetical scenario, or even ask silly, low-stakes questions to uplift your page and build rapport with your audience.

For maximum control of your timeline, LinkedIn now allows for pre-scheduling of your posts. You can schedule your content to coincide with other meaningful insights or develop a regular cadence of audience engagement. “To help you manage and share content at the right time, you can now select the specific date and time for your Page posts to go live, all within the platform. This much-requested feature will help you build all sorts of efficiencies while fueling the kind of consistent content pipeline that keeps audiences tuned in. Scheduling out posts this way is very easy: after writing a post, select the specific date and time you want your posts to go live directly from the LinkedIn interface” (1). Scheduling your posts can help you stay consistent and keeps your network interested in your point of view.

Linkedin has a plethora of helpful features to advance your career

From knowledge base, to job platform, to library, effectively leveraging your LinkedIn can help you advance in your career and achieve your goals.

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Citations

1. Bagadiya, Jimit. “10 Useful LinkedIn Features You Might Not Know About.” SocialPilot, 6 Jan. 2023, https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/10-useful-linkedin-features-might-not-know. 

2. Zote, Jacqueline. “11 Powerful LinkedIn Features You Didn’t Know About.” Sprout Social, 13 May 2021, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/linkedin-features/. 

3. Kelly, Jack. “LinkedIn Career Experts Offer Advice On How People Can Succeed In 2023.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Jan. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2023/01/02/linkedin-career-experts-offer-advice-on-how-people-can-succeed-in-2023/?sh=4c93071b3473. 

4. Yang, Mary. “LinkedIn Pages: Our Latest and Greatest Features.” LinkedIn, 21 Mar. 2021, https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/linkedin-pages/new-features. 

5. Das, Rushali. “10 Useful LinkedIn Features You Might Not Know About.” Statusbrew, 22 Feb. 2022, https://statusbrew.com/insights/linkedin-features/#tune-into-linkedin-publishing. 

6. Schaffer, Neal. “21 Linkedin Best Practices for Business Professionals to Follow for Success.”  21 LinkedIn Best Practices for Business Professionals to Follow for Success, 1 Jan. 2023, https://nealschaffer.com/linkedin-best-practices/.

7. Wu, Ken. “Three Tips To Leverage LinkedIn For Your Job Search.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 19 Nov. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2019/11/19/three-tips-to-leverage-linkedin-for-your-job-search/?sh=5ca13b694b2c. 

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