The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and its lingering economic fallout continues to rapidly change the way individual professionals and businesses are using LinkedIn nowadays. This makes it imperative for all of us to know how to start using LinkedIn in the right way in 2021 and possibly beyond.
Importance of LinkedIn
To begin using LinkedIn in the right way in 2021, let's understand the importance of this networking platform.
LinkedIn is undoubtedly the best online resource for self-branding. While LinkedIn enables us to connect with professionals and people that share the same profession, colleagues, friends and bosses, it's also a vital resource for job seekers.
In fact, LinkedIn boasts that at least one candidate gets hired through its platform every 10 seconds, which is a fairly impressive figure compared to other top job boards' performance.
In 2020, LinkedIn had over 660 million users in 200 countries. Among these, 57 percent of users are male, while the remaining 43 are female.
At least two new users sign-up on LinkedIn every second.
These figures rightly prove the importance of LinkedIn for individuals and businesses. And using this resource correctly can help in your career growth.
Focus on Online Skills
To use LinkedIn in the right way in 2021, we've to adapt or create a profile that matches the new work era thrust upon us abruptly by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Therefore, here's some ways to get the best from LinkedIn.
Nowadays, almost every business is moving most of their processes online. That's because the need for social distancing makes Work-from-Home (WFH) a necessity. The majority of these WFH jobs are online. Therefore, to remain competitive in the job market, focus on online skills on your LinkedIn profile.
While you may have superb educational qualifications, skills and work experience, chances are, there would be few takers for your services if your work is limited to offline processes. Therefore, take your skills inventory and list what tasks you can easily perform online.
You may have to adapt your LinkedIn profile to reach out recruiter if you already have one to showcase online skills. And if you're new to LinkedIn, the task is a bit easier since you can emphasize online skills in demand nowadays.
Open Doors to Freelancing
During 2020, freelancers across the USA reported a 35 percent increase in demand for their skills and services. This translated as higher income, despite some ups and downs during that year, especially during the pandemic's peak.
The bulk of American freelancers' demand came from Small and Medium Businesses or SMBs that were forced to lay off staff to trim payrolls or switch to online platforms.
The same trend will continue in 2021 as businesses continue to cope with the pandemic's economic fallout. Furthermore, demand for freelancers is set to rise exponentially from buyers worldwide, not merely in the US.
Therefore, create a superb profile that would enable you to find work as a freelancer during 2021, regardless of whether you have a full-time job or looking for new opportunities, open doors to freelancing with your LinkedIn profile.
As a matter of fact, all freelancer platforms such as Upwork, FlexJobs.com and Fiverr, among others, require that you provide links to your LinkedIn profile for buyers to view.
Create Posts Regularly
Most of us post something or another on our social media pages. It's also possible to post on your LinkedIn profile. However, posts on LinkedIn vary vastly from those on social media networks. In the sense that LinkedIn posts usually should be something to do with your profession or the industry where you're working.
These posts could be in the form of news, researches, personal experiences or anything that people from your profession can find useful.
Such posts will help you to get more connections. In fact, some of the connections you make can prove vital for getting references for jobs and freelance work or networking to exchange ideas and views about your industry.
It's not possible to see who's reading your posts on LinkedIn. Therefore, your posts could be viewed by the top brass or decision-makers of top companies, which could come forth to make superb job offers.
More Ways to Use LinkedIn in 2021
Additionally, you can also use LinkedIn in 2021 to learn about market trends in jobs and freelancing. LinkedIn enables you to stay in touch with the latest developments in your industry through posts by others.
In Conclusion
As we can see, the way to use LinkedIn in 2021 is changing quite a lot compared to 2020. To derive the maximum benefit, it's important to adapt your LinkedIn profile or create a new one. The above tips could help you to start using LinkedIn in the right way in 2021 and beyond.
About the Author: Natasha Shetty is passionate about blogging and writing. She fondly calls it "the art of words". She is unique, and so is her content. Blogging about education and ideas to grow is something that she loves doing.
