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3 Ways to Make the Most of LinkedIn

Networking is more than just a trend; it is a step toward success. If you do it right, branding yourself and connecting with professionals can spark your career and turn the Internet into your personal phone book.

What does it mean to “do it right?” You should make the most of LinkedIn – the largest professional networking service available on the web. The site allows you to connect with employers/employees, co-workers, alumni, and friends. You can share updates on your career advancements, learn from your network, and engage in giving or receiving advice for professional advancement. Following are three ways to make the most of LinkedIn:

1. Join Groups

LinkedIn in has over 300 million users, and some people have thousands of connections alone. Groups allow you to narrow that number down to a specialized member base and create discussions with people of the same interests. According to Miles Jennings, there are five main reasons to use LinkedIn Groups:

  •  Learn from your network
  • Discover your passion
  • Engage with your community
  • Develop a focused audience
  • Deliver high quality, curated content

Join our IWU Alumni Group of over 5,000 members to engage in discussions with some of our brightest alum. This is a great opportunity to learn what colleagues are doing and share a learning experience together. Examples of some articles posted within the group are:

  • Creating Your Own Content Marketing Strategy
  • Digital Tattoo: Lasting Effects of Social Media Posts

2. Connect it to your Twitter Account

This feature allows those who consider themselves avid tweeters to link their two accounts together. Within the settings, you will be given the option to make your Twitter account visible on your LinkedIn profile and to share tweets that contain #in in your LinkedIn status. This application is beneficial because it allows you to post statuses simultaneously to Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also follow your LinkedIn connections on Twitter or create a LinkedIn-specific Twitter list. Read this article to learn more on how to utilize the tweets application to build social influence.

3. Use LinkedIn Tools/Resources

Shortly stated, LinkedIn offers more than we realize. There are resources available that many people overlook or do not know exist. LinkedIn offers a way to add apps to your profile such as Google Presentation. It also features an “Answers” tool that enables you to ask questions regarding your field of interest. The advanced search allows you to better search for both people and jobs by keyword, name, company, industry or even interests. Lastly, you can always see who has been viewing your profile.

LinkedIn is the best way to discover new opportunities and accelerate your career. Engage with our alumni by joining our group to improve your own personal brand and catch up with old friends.

Check out a related article about Todd Rhoad who contributes much to  LinkedIn Discussions.

Written by Kelly Reed. Kelly is a senior Strategic Communications major with a focus in Public Relations. She is the President of IWU PRSSA and hopes to work as a communications director of a nonprofit organization after graduation.

 

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Living Uncommonly – Todd Rhoad ’05

With three graduate degrees and fourteen years of higher education, Business Consultant Todd Rhoad could easily have chosen to climb the corporate ladder. Instead, he decided to live an uncommon life and pursue business with an intentional Christian perspective. Mr. Rhoad, the founder and CEO of BT Consulting in Atlanta, Georgia, articulated that the business world can be a challenging work environment, often tempting people to compromise their ethics in pursuit of their personal advancement. (BT is short of Blitz Team.) While completing his Master’s degree in Business Administration, ’05 IWU alumni Rhoad states that he was challenged to look at business in a different light. He remembers that professors routinely asked him and his peers to consider the question “what would Jesus do?” when looking at a difficult situation. At the time, this expression seemed cliché, but Rhoad expressed that this mindset was fundamental in shaping his professional outlook. Suddenly, he was able to approach work with a brighter perspective; instead of simply pursuing his career advancement, he was able to focus on serving his clients and working to meet their needs.

Todd Rhoad imageA byproduct of this mindset shift, Rhoad established a career consulting firm in 2010 with the expressed goal of “putting compassion back into business.” BT Consulting offers a plethora of career services, intended to meet professionals at every phase of their development. Services are varied and range from career coaching, networking strategies, mobile app development, to business development and startup assistance. In the future, Rhoad states that he hopes to see BT Consulting working closely with IWU graduates, helping them to develop as professionals. Additionally, Mr. Rhoad would like to see his company partner with IWU students and Alumni to provide professional support and services around the globe. In what is stereotypically a competitive and cutthroat workplace, Rhoad is committed to approaching the business world from an uncommon perspective and developing professionals with their best interests in mind.

Todd has provided alumni with training opportunities and offers his services to IWU alumni who wish to expand their network. You may also go to our IWU Alumni Linked-In Group to view his discussions.

Take a look at a related article about Linkedin – 3 Ways to Make the Most of Linkedin.

Written by Katherine Arch, Story Teller for Alumni Relations. Katherine Arch is a Junior English major at Indiana Wesleyan, and a member of the Track and Cross Country teams. She is passionate about sharing people’s stories and celebrating their divine potential in written form.