The Mistake 99 Percent of LinkedIn Users Make

Last week, LinkedIn celebrated its 13th birthday. It's officially a teenager. With more than 414 million users, it's the largest professional social network. And it's getting bigger by the day, making it the biggest pool of talent online as well. When it comes to LinkedIn, we're all little fishes in a big pond. Which means, if you want to be contacted about great business and career opportunities through LinkedIn, you need to stand out. However, that's where many users are making a critical mistake.

Your personal brand is more than your job

A decade ago it was easy to manage your personal brand. Back then, a personal brand was no more complicated than “I’m an Inventory Analyst for Sears.” When LinkedIn was launched in 2003, I’d use that as my job title on the site without thinking twice about it. Nowadays, personal branding is more complicated. We have a brand that’s separate from the one our employer has designated for us—that is, different from our job title. Whether we reflect it on our LinkedIn profile or not, we’ve got a brand, a network, and, in the best case, a plan for our career that is distinct from our employer’s plan for us. (Begging the question: Does your employer have a plan for your career?)

The Modern Day Interview

The history of finding the right person for the job dates back to 1792 BC, when tradesmen sought apprentices to teach their skills to. The modern day system of hiring can however be credited to Thomas Edison, the creator of the light bulb. It is said that Edison would get hundreds of applicants whenever he was seeking to add someone to his workforce. Edison, being the genius that he was, and in trying to find college graduates with knowledge comparable to his own, created a “test” for all prospective employees, which consisted of a series of general knowledge questions. Some were specific to the exact position Edison was hiring for, while others were related to topics such as geography and literature. Newspapers of the day picked up the story and other captains of industry began to use tests of their own in their bid to select the best person for the job. This process evolved into the system of hiring that we have today.

Social Media Takes Center Stage in Recruitment

Social media continues to grow and now has over 1.2 billion users worldwide. While it has become a great tool for companies to connect their brands with consumers, it has also become a valuable tool for recruiters and job seekers. 

Current studies show that social media use for hiring is at an all-time high with 92 percent of companies using platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for recruitment.

LinkedIn is the top dog for social recruitment. The professional social network was used by 93 percent of companies in 2012, which is up from 78 percent in 2010. Facebook follows close with 66% whilst Twitter has 54% of recruiters using it platform.

Germany has been ranked the most successful country in Europe in terms of a social media based recruitment according to a survey conducted of 1,200 senior executives across Europe, having over 30 per cent of its companies recruiting using online networks.

Companies are now moving away from the traditional advertisement of job vacancies in newspapers and are now taking to social media as their mode of advertising jobs. Aside the advertisement of jobs, recruiters with a click of a mouse can scan through the profile of applicants on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook before inviting them for an interview. 

Job seekers on the other hand have the opportunity to apply for jobs and send their CVs to prospective employers through social media for shortlisting. LinkedIn, as an example, has transformed the way people interact with recruiters. Candidates can now apply for jobs by simply using their LinkedIn URL rather than sending a traditional CV. Equally, candidates are using LinkedIn as their online CV and are investing time in developing online profiles to increase their marketability.

Soon there will be a complete shift from the traditional ways of recruitment towards a more technologically advanced method of recruitment with social media at the center of the process.

By: Sidney Arthur

Focus Media