30-Day Linkedin Challenge Part 2

Here are suggested actions within each of the areas:

Improving Your LinkedIn Profile

• Update your LinkedIn Headline.
• Check your LinkedIn privacy settings.
• Add a header image to your LinkedIn profile.
• Set up your personalized LinkedIn URL.
• Review your list of LinkedIn Skills (and delete any Skills that aren’t relevant).
• Update your LinkedIn profile photo.
• Add your contact information to LinkedIn in the About section.
• Review your current job position/description and make any updates/changes.
• Make sure the industry you’ve chosen to feature accurately describes you.
• Review (add to, update, and/or edit) your About section.
• Research other people with your job title on LinkedIn and see if you can improve your profile by looking at what’s included on their profile. (Note: Do not copy anything from these profiles; only use them for inspiration.)
• Add a project you’ve worked on to your LinkedIn profile.
• Go back and review/edit your previous Experience descriptions.
• Update your list of courses on your LinkedIn profile.
• Look at your profile and see if you need to remove any old content.
• Spend 15 minutes researching possible LinkedIn Groups to join.
• Review your education descriptions on LinkedIn and make any necessary changes.
• Add any publications to your profile you’ve contributed to or published.

Connecting with Contacts, Companies, Recruiters, and Hiring Managers

• Connect with one of your references on LinkedIn (be sure to personalize your invitation).
• Send a message to one of your existing contacts.
• Reconnect with someone on LinkedIn and invite them to meet up with you “offline” (in person).
• Send connection requests to two former coworkers.
• Follow one company that you’d like to work for.
• Spend 15 minutes reading and responding to other people’s status updates/posts in your News Feed.
• Connect with a recruiter who places candidates in your industry.
• Spend 5 minutes endorsing your existing connections.
• Engage with 5 people through the “Notifications” section of your LinkedIn account (“Like” or “Comment” on their LinkedIn Publishing articles).
• Send a LinkedIn message to an existing connection you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Use LinkedIn’s search function to find and connect with someone who went to your college/university that you didn’t know personally but who would be a good addition to your network.

Creating Content (Status Updates and LinkedIn Publishing)

• Post a LinkedIn status update asking for help in your job search (if you’re not conducting a confidential job search).
• Comment on a LinkedIn Publishing post written by a hiring manager or recruiter.
• Read your LinkedIn news feed and comment on someone else’s update.
• Share a photo as a status update.
• Add a presentation, video, or other “rich media” content to your profile.
• Interview someone in your industry and post it as a LinkedIn Publishing post.
• Post a request for advice or assistance in a LinkedIn Group.
• Share a resource that someone else posted about on LinkedIn (either on their own status update or in a Group). In your share, be sure to give that person credit for finding the resource.
• Start a discussion in a LinkedIn Group you’re a member of.
• Write a LinkedIn Publishing post.
• Come up with 10 ideas for LinkedIn Publishing post topics.

Getting Involved In LinkedIn Groups

• Join a LinkedIn Group (one for your industry, one for your alma mater, and/or one for jobseekers).
• Ask a question in a LinkedIn Group.
• Post a link to a valuable (not self-promotional) article or resource in a LinkedIn Group.
• Spend 15 minutes reading and responding to other people’s posts in a LinkedIn Group.
• Start a LinkedIn Group.
• Remove yourself as a member from a Group you’re no longer actively participating in.

Giving and Getting Endorsements and Recommendations

• Ask someone for a LinkedIn Recommendation.
• Thank someone for giving you a LinkedIn Recommendation.
• Make a list of five people you want to give a LinkedIn Recommendation.
• Give a LinkedIn Recommendation.
• Check the settings on your existing Recommendations and make sure they’re visible.
• Send a LinkedIn message to one current connection and ask if they’d like you to write a Recommendation for them.

Grab Bag

• Update your preferences on the LinkedIn “Jobs” page.
• Spend 20 minutes reading and commenting on other people’s LinkedIn Publishing posts.
• Use the LinkedIn Salary tool (http://www.linkedin.com/salary) to “discover your earning potential.”
• Use LinkedIn’s “Jobs” function (linkedin.com/jobs) to search for advertised jobs that you may be interested in.
• Use LinkedIn’s Search feature on the main menu — identify five companies you’re interested in learning more about (or working for) and use the LinkedIn “Follow” feature to keep updated on the company activities.
• Spend 15 minutes reading through your LinkedIn news feed.
• Review the My Network tab in the LinkedIn main menu and review your open connection Invitations. (Also review suggestions and send a connection request.)
• Use the Notifications tab in the LinkedIn main menu to see connections with birthdays and work anniversaries and spend 10 minutes sending congratulations.

Completing the 30-Day Challenge

At the end of the 30 days, review your progress. How many LinkedIn connections do you have now, compared to how many you had 30 days ago? How many hiring managers or recruiters are you connected to now? Has your involvement in LinkedIn Groups led to any new job leads?

Next, celebrate your completion of the program! By sticking with this challenge for 30 days, you have improved your LinkedIn profile and grown your network! You’ve shown that you can make LinkedIn an important component in your job search.

This is a 30-day challenge that you can complete over and over again. If you’re just getting started on LinkedIn, focus on the activities in the first two sections:

• Improving Your LinkedIn Profile
• Connecting With Contacts, Companies, Recruiters, and Hiring Managers

You can repeat this 30-day challenge over and over again to strengthen your LinkedIn profile, build your connections, and get more out of your use of LinkedIn.

Here is a sample completed 30-Day LinkedIn Challenge Planner.

Download your Blank LinkedIn Challenge Planner