{"id":550,"date":"2025-03-11T08:46:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T15:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paultcottey.com\/Blog2021\/?p=550"},"modified":"2025-03-11T08:46:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T15:46:51","slug":"using-linkedin-effectively-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paultcottey.com\/Blog2021\/2025\/03\/11\/using-linkedin-effectively-redux\/","title":{"rendered":"Using LinkedIn Effectively Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eight years ago, I wrote<\/a> about using LinkedIn Effectively. I was thinking about LinkedIn recently and thought I’d revisit my original post. I still agree with what I wrote originally, and I have a few more thoughts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are going to be on LinkedIn, keep your profile up-to-date, keep your contact information current, and be sure to check LinkedIn as well as the email you put in your contact information for messages. You don’t want to miss a message on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t list your occupation as a cutesy thing like “Jimmy’s Dad” or “Susie’s Bestie.” Not only does no one care, but no. one. cares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me rant for a bit about pictures: <rant><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Do: Put a picture – no picture means YOU don’t really care. Or, that your hair looks like Medusa’s. Let’s stick with that you don’t really care. Put a picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Wear a baseball cap in your picture, unless you are a professional baseball player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Wear a cowboy hat in your picture, unless you are a professional cowboy. Having visited Montana once does not make you a cowboy. I have some leniency for wearing a cowboy hat if you are a country music star, not a wannabe, but a star. Go ahead, Garth, wear the dang hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do: Be the only one in the picture. Save the group shots for somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Put your hand on your chin. This is not your high school senior picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Wear sunglasses unless you make a living selling sunglasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Put animals in the picture with you. Even if you are a veterinarian, don’t make people guess which mammal is you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do: Take the picture from the shoulders up. You do want people to see your face. If you don’t want them to see your face because of the whole Medusa hair thing, see a barber, or an exorcist, and then take a picture from the shoulders up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do: Take the picture with a straight on view. No one wants to see your behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Use a cut-out overlay that only show a part of your picture. Seriously, don’t do this even if it is your corporate logo – I am talking about you, Accenture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Include any written signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t: Post a baby picture of you. I know your mommy told you that you were, but you weren’t that cute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OK, enough of that. <\/rant><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to posting articles, go ahead, if they are directly relevant to what you do and for whom you do it. If you are a zookeeper and it is International Wombat Day, by all means post a picture of a wombat with a nice one-on-one interview. You don’t ever need to post a picture of your pet, save that for some other social media outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look forward to seeing your picture on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are going to be on LinkedIn, keep your profile up-to-date, keep your contact information current, and be sure to check LinkedIn for messages. Use a professional picture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-old-blog","category-work","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nUsing LinkedIn Effectively Redux - Paul T. 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