LinkedIn: Dos and don’ts

Social media use grew during the pandemic, when digital communication was safer than face-to-face meetings. One of the biggest winners was LinkedIn. Microsoft, which owns the platform, has reported "record levels of engagement" — with currently more than 800 million members, up from 645 million in 2019.

As it's a platform full of existing (and potential) customers, partners and employers, it's worth using LinkedIn well. Getting it wrong could damage your credibility. It requires a certain amount of work, but it lets you build professional relationships that can be good for your career. Here are some tips to help you:

DO

Keep in touch

Reports about "boomerang employees" (people who leave a company but return to work for it again) are on the rise and show how valuable it is to stay in contact with former colleagues and talented employees. Like, comment on and share their posts.

Add images to your LinkedIn posts

Marketing CEO Fran Jakubowicz says: "A post without an image is simply sloppy work. Even a stock photo has the ability to generate 650 per cent more engagements than a text-only post." Humans are visual creatures, and research shows that images on social media increase engagement.

Credit the photographer

It's more than just good manners; it can help you avoid a difficult legal situation. Never take images from the internet. If your own images aren't right, search on free stock-image sites, like unsplash.com — and credit the photographer.

Ask for recommendations

Contact past and present managers and team members to see if they will leave a recommendation — each one builds your credibility, and these online reviews help potential new employers find out what it's like to work with you.

Use active verbs

Just as on your CV, active verbs help you present your work. You are the focus in these sentences, captivating readers and making you stand out. "Developed", "achieved", "pioneered": make you and your work sound compelling. Provide statistics or further information to support what you say.

DON'T

Forget to reply to comments

Create a community: turn on notifications on the LinkedIn app, so you can reply in a timely manner. Ask questions and show interest, and add relevant hashtags so others in your field can read your comments.

Just brag

Marketing manager Tom Orbach used AI to analyse more than 100,000 LinkedIn posts to create the Viral Post Generator (viralpostgenerator.com). These narcissistic parody posts are examples of what not to do. Instead of unproductive brag posts, think about what provides value to your contacts and followers.

Get too personal

It's social media, but it's social media for your working life. Keep topics focused on business — experiences, business transparency, tips and tricks. People want to see the real you, but always with professionalism.

Spam connections

It's poor etiquette: don't send a standard message to everyone who adds you as a contact. Keep messages short and personal.

Recycle other people's content

The truth will come out in the end. Don't take something you've seen on Facebook and pretend it's your own idea on LinkedIn — someone else may notice, commenting on your post and discrediting you in front of your entire network. Plagiarism is never a good look.

How to stand out with active verbs...

Don't write: "Responsible for cost savings for project ABC"

Do write: "Reduced costs for project ABC, resulting in 18% annual savings"

Don't write: "Duties included client management"

Do write: "Maintained strong relationships with clients across the DACH region"

Don't write: "Duties included implementing a new project management tool"

Do write: "Transformed collaboration by introducing a new project-management tool"