LinkedIn offers a plethora of resources to help you grow your business or build your career. In order to accomplish these objectives, you need people in your corner cheering you on! LinkedIn can help you curate a team of enthusiastic mentors who want to see you succeed. Learn how to leverage the platform to make you successful.
2. Nnenna Umelloh
The LinkedIn Strategist
When I started my career as a Higher Education Consultant, LinkedIn was indispensable. It was an obvious choice
and method of building my business.
I went out of my way to learn the ins and out of the platform. At the same time, I thought everybody did that.
After all, I couldn’t be the only entrepreneur who used LinkedIn in their business.
It didn’t take me long to realize that I was the only person I knew who used LinkedIn to the extent that I used the
platform to develop my brand, expand my network and build my career.
It’s common knowledge that in order to advance your career, you must have a LinkedIn presence.
Unfortunately, most people use LinkedIn as a landing page for their resume. We both know in order to get
anywhere, you need more than a landing page.
• You need a community.
• You need supporters.
• You need mentors.
Fortunately, you can find all that and more on LinkedIn. It’s called LinkedIn Networking and I happen to be a pro.
I leverage LinkedIn to develop my brand, expand my network and build my career.
Let me do the same for you.
3. #1 Tap into your Alumni Network
You can connect with alumni from around the world!
• Need advise on how to enter a market in Australia?
• Trying to transition from oil and gas to the entertainment industry?
• Want to learn some pointers on how to advance your career?
One of the benefits of using LinkedIn to find mentors is that you can be fairly specific in the type
of people you want to find.
Filter Results By:
Location Where They Work What They Do What They Studied
What They’re Skilled At How You Are Connected When They Graduated
For instance, if I was looking for advice on how to land a job at Google but I was not interested
in relocating, I can filter my search results to only show me alumni who work at Google, but
live in Austin.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
4. How to Tap into your Alumni Network
Step 1: Type your university into the
search bar
Step 2: Navigate to the Alumni Tab
5. Step 3: Filter Based on Key
Characteristics
How to Tap into your Alumni Network
6. #2 Search by a Specific Company
Sometimes your alumni network may not recruit talent from your university. Another way to find mentors is to look for people in a
specific company.
Filter Results By:
• Location
• Past Companies
• Industry
• School
• Title
This type of search query will help you find the right professionals in a specific industry who have the skills and experience to help
you out.
For example, I can look up people who work at Google, were located in Austin, Texas, were previously employed by Microsoft and
work in Marketing.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND
7. How to Search for a Specific Company
Step 1: Type the company name Step 2: Click "See all employees"
8. Step 3: Set your filters
How to Search for a Specific Company
9. #3 Follow “What People Are Talking
About Now”
LinkedIn allows you to track what people are talking about now. The people
who bubble to the top of these lists and mentions tend to be industry
leaders and experts.
Take a leap of faith and reach out to these thought leaders for guidance.
The trick is to tap into a thread that you find most appealing and relevant.
Once you read the curated content, you'll get a good idea of what is going on
at the moment and who's leading the conversation on those topics.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
10. How to Follow What People Are Talking About
Now
Step 1: Navigate to the top right of your LinkedIn feed Step 2: Pick a relevant thread
11. Step 3: Read curated content
How to Follow What People Are Talking About Now
12. Before You Send a Request…
Do your research!
Take the time to learn about the person and
their career. Also be sure that your profile is
neat, informative and up-to-date. Make
sure you can add value to their network if
you do end up sending a request.
Always add a note!
Be specific about your intentions for
sending them a request. Chances are you
are in need of help or guidance so say so.
This is not the time to ask for a job or an
introduction. The goal is to learn from their
experience to help you build your career.
13. More LinkedIn Resources
How to Become a Thought Leader on LinkedIn
How to use LinkedIn to Stay in the Loop and Relevant
How to use LinkedIn to Prepare for a Salary
Negotiation
How to use LinkedIn to Conduct Company Research
How to use LinkedIn to Build Meaningful
Relationships
How to use LinkedIn to Transition to Another Industry
14. A Note from Nnenna the LinkedIn Strategist
These tips can help you find the right people who can help you
build your career, but this won't happen over night
As a LinkedIn Strategist, I can help you find the right people
you need to connect with in order to expand your network and
build your career. This whole process is a part of a greater
service I have dubbed LinkedIn Diving. I can get you a list of 40-
50 people who meet your specific needs.
Whether your trying to grow your business or build your
career, you'll need a coalition of mentors to help you get there.
Use LinkedIn to help build a team of people who support you
and your goals.
Learn more at linkedin.achievementconsulting.org.
