Finance Directors Use Linked In For Networking

October 11th 2013 | Posted by phil scott

 

Linked in for Finance Directors – Part 1: The basics

With new social media channels emerging on what may seem like a daily basis and Twitter and Facebook appearing to take over the world it can all seem too much  – and easier to avoid, but if there is only one social networking arena  you embrace – let it be Linked in.

Financial Services is in the top 3 industries active on Linked in – with 4 out of 5 professionals being registered users already. Still, for many people how to properly use Linked in and then benefit from it is still very much a grey area.

Linked in is fundamentally about maintaining relationships with colleagues and clients past and present, it is a useful career management tool and it is being increasingly utilised in the recruitment of Finance Directors.

Not only does Linked in enable you to passively keep up to date contact information for your contacts, through career moves and changes – it also enables people to find you based upon your experience, industry, skills and connections.

The key to success on Linked in is to have a strong, up to date profile, which gives a complete picture of your career history and showcases your full range of skills and experience. This will take some initial time and effort to compile but is then easily maintained and doesn’t require regular updates, posts, status’s, tweets or otherwise!

Below are some of FD Recruits top tips for getting started with Linked in:

  • Add an impactful headline showcasing or summarising expertise, or highlighting your position- note that your current job title and your headline can be two different things.
  •  As with your CV, you want your profile to standout and make an impact – keep to the point and focus on highlights rather than listing everything you’ve done along the way.
  • Select all ‘keywords’ relevant to your career expertise, this is how other LinkedIn members find you and subsequently endorse or recommend you.
  • Give an overview of your job, company and break down of responsibilities – always use descriptive and positive terminology and demonstrable examples where possible.
  • Add ‘specialities’ & ‘skills’ – a new Linked in feature ‘endorsements’ allows contacts to give you a ‘one click’ recommendation which adds credibility.
  • Ask some of your contacts, colleagues and clients for recommendations – these will boost your ‘profile completeness’ and look impressive.

Once you have a complete and strong profile that you are happy with you can look to get some connections and expand your network.

Do this by searching colleagues and clients past and present, sync with your address book and you can use the ‘people you may know’ tool.

To keep up to date with sector specific information or to network with relevant contacts you can then join some groups – or even create your own.

In the coming weeks we will look further at how you and your businesses can really make the most of Linked in, keep an eye on our blog for more.

Connect with FD Recruit on Linked in and join our groups for regular updates.