How to be ethical, and other tips on getting the most out of LinkedIn

1. Be specific

Be as exact as you can when it comes to describing your position and industry when creating your LinkedIn profile.  Don’t just call yourself “Senior Manager”; instead think of what your job demands of you, i.e. “Senior Manager of Operations, Supply Chain Management & Logistics.”  This will help companies who are interested in you gauge whether you are the right person for the job.

2.  Join only trusted networks

Avoid joining networks haphazardly.  Unlike Facebook where it’s alright to just add friends and build your network indiscriminately, a streamlined industry network will help you get better results and weed out the networks you won’t be needing and result only in wasted time and opportunity.

3. Streamline your CV

We were taught that a good resume should only be a page long and should enable the person interviewing you to get the gist of your skills and accomplishment at a glance.  Avoid overloading a potential employer with unnecessary information, for instance adding extracurricular clubs in grade school.  Stick to the meatier parts of your work past and present, and leave the non-current minor things in the past.

4. Be ethical

LinkedIn is a vast ground for networking opportunities but a code of ethics must still be in place.  Never badmouth your current employer online nor express any dissatisfaction you may have, or butter up the competition in the hopes of securing a new position.  Remember that LinkedIn may be vast, but your industry can be very small, and you may end up working again with the very people you just dissed.