A presentation given to members and staff of the University of Michigan Eisenberg Family Depression Center and Dept. of Psychiatry about using LinkedIn as professionals and researchers. A video recording of this session, which also includes 30 minutes of demonstration of LinkedIn features, is available on request.

1. LinkedIn for
Researchers:
It’s more than a CV!
Kara Gavin, M.S.
Michigan Medicine
Dept. of Communication

2. Key facts about LinkedIn
• Owned by Microsoft since 2016
• 930 million users world wide, up 30 million since January 2023
• 300 million users in U.S., who account for 1/3 of traffic.
• Nearly half of U.S. users visit the site daily.
• Unlike other social media platforms, focuses on professional activity
• High use by business and public policy community
• 3,000-word character limit on posts
• Probably one of the most “Google-visible” things about you!

3. U-M on LinkedIn
• Multiple branded accounts posting content you can engage with
• Michigan Medicine (200,000+ impressions/month)
• Eisenberg Family Depression Center
• Medical School
• Multiple centers, schools, colleges and groups
• You can get verified as an employee of U-M & Michigan Medicine to
get employee-focused features (via email verification)
• HR uses – finding new staff, fellows, etc.

4. Key steps to spruce up your profile
• The space immediately under your name should be a short “ad” for you
• DO NOT just enter your current title (people can see that further down).
• Instead, write a punchy description of your professional self.
• In the “Summary” area, you can describe your professional interests and current projects.
Using key terms and buzzwords may help you be visible in search.
• In employment history & education, use full company/institution names.
• LinkedIn will likely recognize them automatically, and make it easier for people to connect
with you because they once worked/studied/trained at the same place.
• Use a professional-looking photo.
• Add links to your projects, papers, website(s), professional societies
• Enter specific skills you possess – and other professional/volunteer activities.
• Contact info will only be visible to those who you’re connected to.

5. Tips for posting
• Like and repost posts from accounts you follow
• Short posts are fine! (And you can include many features)
• Posting as an article (even a short one) opens up formatting tools
• Use hashtags and tag others’ accounts to improve discoverability and onward
sharing
• When sharing a link or photo, add a sentence or two about why you’re sharing it
• A great place to give praise, celebrate achievements and milestones, and share
resources
• Post every time you publish a paper, go to a conference, get a grant or award, or
add a new professional title/role

6. Sharing slide sets
• Slideshare.net – log in using your LinkedIn login
• Post PDFs or PPTs
• Assign visibility – public, private, allow downloads & clipping or not
• Add description and tags to make them discoverable
• Leave out preliminary data if you want

7. Privacy & etiquette
• You can control what is visible about you to people you’re not connected
with, who can message you, and who you connect with
• You can see recommended posts or latest posts
• You can tell LinkedIn to email you about activity involving you
• Stick mainly to professional and professional-adjacent posts
(i.e. conference travel)
• Avoid overtly political posts if you do policy-relevant work
• If someone asks to connect & you have no idea who they are: ignore
• People can pay for Premium access which gives them the ability to
message you via InMail, unless you turn this off

8. If nothing else…
• Update your profile at least once a year (set a reminder!)
• Set your privacy and notification settings
• If you get an email saying someone has mentioned or messaged you,
go see what it’s about and engage (or not)