The Professional Profile
My time on the Fáilte Ireland team has provided me with many opportunities to post and engage with my connections on LinkedIn. I have found myself predominately in a sales and marketing role and I have found LinkedIn to be one of the most useful tools in which to support this role. I can connect with people that I meet at a networking event and keep in touch, in subtle ways such as commenting on their posts.
LinkedIn has been especially useful during COVID-19 when I could not travel to meet international buyers and I had to rely heavily on virtual communication.
I have found that a LinkedIn post with relevant personal images, especially a post including a picture of me, receives much greater levels of interest. See below clippings for a comparison. The first post in which I shared images of myself and colleagues at a networking event in Barcelona received nearly seven times more views in the feed than the second post in which I was sharing that I had attended a virtual networking event for St. Patrick’s Day.
LinkedIn post #1:
LinkedIn post #2:
Recently, when I was looking for a new position as it is soon time to move on from Fáilte Ireland, I ensured that I followed companies on LinkedIn so that I could receive their updates on my feed, and I especially kept an eye out for posts in which they announced they were hiring. I also consider my future career plan and make an effort to follow those individuals within my industry especially those in higher positions, should I ever cross paths with them in the future. For example, I would love to return to Northern Ireland to work in the business tourism industry at some stage, so I have made a conscious effort to follow those individuals in the relevant organisations.
I have also been responsible for the Meet in Ireland LinkedIn account and I find that posts in which my colleagues share to their networks preform significantly better. Our communications team now sends out an internal email to all Meet in Ireland members when we have a relevant post from the business page. This further highlights the importance of personal connections and networks on LinkedIn and the true value they have.
I have also found the below piece of advice very useful. Whilst I try to do it, this is something which I will strive to include more of on my LinkedIn. It is very possible, whilst remaining professional to show your personal interests and accomplishments and allow professional connections to get to know you that bit better through your personal brand.
Key piece of advice:
The power of a successful LinkedIn profile cannot be underestimated. I have found myself going to look for an individual on LinkedIn and I find myself very shocked when I learn that they do not have a profile. The Harvard Business Review highlights the importance of a LinkedIn profile as being the “centrepiece of your online career persona” and that this platform should be used to tell your tell your story, in order to “reach your vision faster.”
https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-tell-your-story-on-linkedin
Éilis McNamee LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilis-mcnamee/
