“Your LinkedIn profile is oftentimes the first thing that a hiring manager looks at,” said Callie Schweitzer. “Make sure it’s up to date and that it reflects your current responsibilities, any skills you’ve learned recently or clips you’ve secured for clients.”
Schweitzer, head of scaled programs at LinkedIn, was the guest on Dec. 17 for Strategies & Tactics Live, PRSA’s monthly livestream series on LinkedIn.
If you’re a PR professional looking to make connections on the career-networking site, then “make sure that you’re active on LinkedIn [and] joining conversations that you see other communicators or journalists having,” she said.
John Elsasser, editor-in-chief of PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics publication and host of S&T Live, asked whether PR people should set a schedule for how often they post on LinkedIn.
For communicators not currently posting on LinkedIn or who post infrequently, “up that cadence gradually,” Schweitzer recommended. “Make sure it feels natural for you.” There’s no need to post content daily, which would be “really hard and inauthentic.”
You can become a thought leader by commenting on other people’s LinkedIn posts, she said. “LinkedIn is a dialogue platform, not a broadcast. You don’t have to start the conversation every time, just to be part of it.”
On a desktop computer, a news module appears on the righthand side of the LinkedIn homepage. “Or if you’re in the app and press the search bar, you’ll see stories that are popular on the platform right that minute,” Schweitzer said. “I encourage communicators to take a look at those. What are people talking about across the platform, not necessarily just within your own network? Those are great conversations to join, to boost your visibility outside of your personal network and to show that you’re part of the conversation.”
If you’re looking for a new job, then “post about it,” she said. “Reach out to other LinkedIn users. People are eager to hear from each other and to help each other.”
Job-seekers can add up to 100 skills to their LinkedIn profiles. Schweitzer suggested that people in the communications industry highlight their familiarity with artificial intelligence on their profiles.
The pandemic made LinkedIn more personal.
“The pandemic really changed the platform,” she said. People started bringing more of their personal selves to LinkedIn and being more authentic in their posts, she said. Now, “They’re sharing setbacks and challenges.”
This candid, personal approach “has made it a lot easier to connect with other people” on LinkedIn, she said. Searching for a job is a lonely process, “but now you have so many people talking about it on the platform and offering each other support.”
Here, Schweitzer discusses how PR professionals can enhance their LinkedIn profiles to align with their career goals in 2025:
[Photo credit: maxstock]
