5 ways to make LinkedIn part of your morning routine

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network whose mission it is to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. For the job seeker it is a REFERRAL NETWORKING POWER TOOL. Spend 5 minutes a day – or roughly 30 minutes a week perfecting your LinkedIn networking skills.

TWEAK/POLISH YOUR PROFILE Your LinkedIn profile may be the first impression to the brand of …YOU! Make it count!

Have your summary front and center – Create an impactful first line so it can be viewed above the fold.

Write your summary in the first person – you have 2,000 characters to make it count. Let the reader know how you are the answer to what ‘Keeps them up at night’.

Use keywords and keyword phases to spotlight your proficiencies.

Add designations/certifications immediately following your name, e.g. CPA, or at the very least include it in your headline.

Don’t forget to add the years you attended your college/university. These details will serve up ‘warm referrals’.

IDENTIFY PROSPECTIVE CONNECTIONS Expanding your network is the most significant way to building a robust referral pool.

Search for like-minded people; thought leaders in your industry; folks that can make introductions to a prospective hiring manager and college/university alumni (from those that you attended) as they are ‘warm connections’ and could prove to be quite powerful in your referral pool.

Keep track of your connections, categorize as influencer, hiring manager, recruiter, referral etc. This information can be maintained in the ‘Relationship’ block of each contact.

Don’t be an ‘ASK-HOLE’, reciprocity matters a WHOLE LOT when building your network.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH CONNECTIONS “A healthy professional life starts with healthy relationships.”

Scroll through the activity feed for stories your network has shared -- filter the main page to show only news from your connections, versus group updates.

Review your connections for ‘Special Days’ or ‘Special Events’ in their life: anniversaries, birthdays, promotions and new jobs. Send them a kind word, let them know they matter.

Review ‘people you may know’ resulting from a connection you have – ask for introductions where appropriate.

WALK THE TALK – JOIN GROUPS, FOLLOW COMPANIES Joining GROUPS specific to your industry and interests, further supports the content you’ve supplied in your profile.

Search for groups, companies, and schools you attended under the INTERESTS tab

Follow companies that you’re interested in working for – monitor the companies’ JOBS tab.

Join groups that decision makers from companies you want to work for are in – you can join up to 50 groups.

Explore LinkedIn Pulse for professional content from a variety of channels.

SEARCH YOUR WAY TO THE TOP Use the LinkedIn search box at the top of every page to search for people, companies, groups, and more.

Basic search – for people, companies and groups.

Advanced search – for people. Use fields and filters to drill down with more specific results. Save your search. With a FREE account you can save up to three searches.

Saved search – for people. You can save your favorite searches, and choose to receive an email alert weekly or monthly. Results are always current.