It’s not a secret around our office that my favorite social media platform is LinkedIn. In a world where you have options like Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok, I really enjoy the less drama-filled, professionalism of a primarily business-focused social platform. Is it perfect? Of course not. But if you aren’t using it or maybe it’s not your favorite just yet, let me provide four reasons that may help change your mind and convince you to use this platform regularly.
Less Drama
I mentioned the less drama reason earlier and I’m repeating it for a reason. The only time I’ve seen people get dramatic on LinkedIn is when people post content that shouldn’t be on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a place to share your business accomplishments, your thoughts on your workplace, or even to provide mentorship to those seeking to do work like yours. My typical posts are going to be me sharing things that Dogwood has posted, articles that I read along with my additional commentary and open positions we have. If you look at my profile these are all the things I have posted recently.
What you don’t find are my political opinions, my vacation pictures, what I ate, or what I am doing on just about any given day. Those things are super interesting, but they’re on Instagram. Don’t worry, you’ll never find me participating in the newest dance trend on TikTok, but you’ll see me posting videos of my kids and our dogs for sure.
Business Connections
Anytime I meet someone one of the first things I do is look them up on LinkedIn. They may hand me a business card but from that point on I’m wanting to bring them into my network. I want to see what they are sharing, and what their needs and likes are so that I can learn ways we could possibly connect and help each other.
Not all relationships end up being mutually beneficial and many times there aren’t deeper connections. Neither of these reasons should be why you don’t connect with someone. Circumstances change all the time. I’m still there and we are connected now so maybe we’ll reconnect again when the time is right.
Why You Have Your Job
Another reason I add people on LinkedIn when we meet is that I have a curious desire to understand why. Someone says I’m the director of “X”, my brain thinks that’s a pretty cool position, how did they get that. LinkedIn tells that story. You can look at someone’s job history and with a little bit of deductive reasoning follow a career path that led them to where they are.
My own path to being the General Manager and Partner at Dogwood is filled with all types of experience. I’m sure there are people in my past who scratch their heads and wonder how I ended up here, but when you follow the path, I was literally building a resume that led me to this. It’s the reason why people choose Dogwood to work with. We have an amazing staff with a variety of experiences that led them here and equipped them to do the awesome things they do every day. LinkedIn is a great place to show that!
Job Opportunities & Openings
LinkedIn is full of business connections, and some of those turn into job opportunities. Sometimes they aren’t even opportunities that you were looking for but because your profile matches something a potential employer is looking for, you get recruited.
We use BambooHR to manage all of our HR backend functions such as PTO, Payroll, and event their job board. They have a built-in integration with Indeed, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter. They also allow you to create unique links for other platforms like LinkedIn. When we have an opening we post it to LinkedIn and it’s the only platform we pay extra for them to promote the position to likely candidates. We’ve received multiple people through this platform and I can name I believe 4 of our current staff that we found and were hired through LinkedIn.
So it’s with a mixed bag that I offer this as a positive. It’s great for finding new employees, but just remember to take care of your staff because there are other employers out there lurking to lure them away.
So What Next?
I’ve given you four great reasons to be using LinkedIn regularly. Now it’s time to go tune up your profile, show why you have the job you have, make connections, and learn from others. Make sure you follow other thought leaders that you want to learn from and since we’re connected now, add me on LinkedIn so maybe we can work together soon too!
