With 660 million members worldwide, LinkedIn claims to be the largest professional networking service for expanding your own career network and forging business contacts. It’s the Facebook of the modern business world: These days, most employees have a profile and use it for their own career purposes.
Jana Hampe and I had a chat about Telekom x LinkedIn. Jana is an intern in our Social Media Team and helps manage Deutsche Telekom’s LinkedIn and Xing channels. As well as outlining the basics everyone should know about LinkedIn, she also gave us some useful tips on how to write a really good profile.
Who is LinkedIn aimed at?
Jana: LinkedIn is suitable for everyone – career professionals, young professionals, graduates and companies. Visitors to the platform have the opportunity to encounter and interact with colleagues, competitors, opinion leaders, and industry experts – and can obtain information, enter discussions, make contacts, search for job offers and raise their own visibility as experts.
What are the benefits of a personal LinkedIn profile?
Jana: It’s very beneficial to be able to add personalized (career) content to your own feed. Unlike some other platforms, you won’t have to battle with a barrage of dubious spam content. This makes LinkedIn ideal for building your own professional network, talking to experts and improving your own career prospects. LinkedIn is also a legitimate source of information when researching potential employers and digging a little deeper into the company. And those looking for new career opportunities, can let recruiters and the network on LinkedIn know that they are interested in new job offers.
What do people have against LinkedIn compared with other social media platforms like Instagram?
Jana: There is a common misunderstanding that LinkedIn does not target younger groups and that it is primarily used by older professionals. But of course, that’s not true. Apart from the fact that its mission is completely different to, say, Instagram, LinkedIn is also ideal for younger people and young professionals starting out in their career. There’s also a misconception that LinkedIn contains little in the way of personal content and is mainly made up of company advertising. Again, this is not the case; private individuals do upload personal content, as long as it is within a career context. What you won't find on LinkedIn is selfies or fashion and food posts.
What are the key features of corporate communications on LinkedIn and what parallels are there to other platforms?
Jana: People who follow us on LinkedIn find out more about the company, its employees' daily routines, and our career opportunities. Our aim is to get people interested in Deutsche Telekom by posting authentic stories and present ourselves as an attractive employer. The target group-specific posts include job descriptions, application advice, introductions of individual employees, teams and employers, and even current company news. We are supported by a range of departments that provide us with interesting topics and content so that we can demonstrate the full diversity of Deutsche Telekom.
Our community also helps us regularly by sending us their feedback, questions, suggestions and even praise. We are constantly developing our online presence further to reflect changing user behavior patterns. That's true of all our social media channels, not just LinkedIn.
What tips do you have for beginners wanting to create a good LinkedIn profile?
Jana: Maintain every aspect of your profile, and make sure it is kept up-to-date. Providing a detailed account of your professional experience and key skills will help recruiters and other interested parties to form an accurate impression of you. LinkedIn also offers the option of adding a personal slogan. This is your opportunity to summarize your profile in a pithy statement. Traditional applicant photographs are no longer required; feel free to show your personality, but with a certain degree of seriousness.
Thank you for your insights, Jana!
