LinkedIn: Catching the Eye of your Future Employer

In 2012, LinkedIn’s highest demographic sector was aged between 24 and 54 years at 67.7%. Basically, in our simple terms, holla at your potential future employer!

This statistic suggests that most of the people we want to know us, are hanging out on LinkedIn, so that’s where we need to be. But the difficult thing for our generation, is adjusting to the professional nature of this social networking platform.

Everything on LinkedIn is related to your professional life and success, so it’s crucial to make sure you don’t mix it up with your personal (away from potential employer) platforms such as Facebook.

Below are 5 tips on how to create a LinkedIn profile that is sure to catch the eyes of your top potential employers.

1. Complete Your Profile

Fill out all of the information you have for each section; experience, volunteering or charity work, skills and expertise, education, contact information and projects. Make sure the information you put down is accurate.

2. Write Status Updates

You want your connections to see you, not too much but enough to remember you so make sure you have something interesting to say. Use articles pulled from your favourite blogs or websites. My favourites are PR Daily and HBR Blogs. Make comments about them expressing your related opinion, but please, I beg of you, DO NOT get on your high horse and use it as a platform to voice your rants – this is not the right place.

3. Schedule your Updates

Think about a combination of a) what times you are able to go on LinkedIn and b) what time your target audience is on LinkedIn. Pick times that cross over both and use that as your regular posting time. Example: PR People jump online most mornings to make sure they haven’t missed anything while they were sleeping. I have time while I wait for my morning coffee, so that is my bi-daily posting time!

4. Join Groups and Communities

The best way to connect with likeminded people and to gain access to a huge network of information sharing is to join groups. Find similar business interests or use location as the point of similarity and join in the group discussions to get your name out there and make new connections.

5. Have an appropriate Profile Picture

LinkedIn is not where you want to advertise your 2am in the bathroom of a club, smokey eyed, bandage dressed, duckface mirror shot. Period. Use a professional headshot with appropriate, conservative makeup and hair. If you don’t have a professional photo to use, find a photo of yourself that fits the description and professional or not, you will be respected for your appearance.

 

Sources: PR Daily, 20013 & LinkedIn Ad Platform 

Style File – My picks from Witchery SS13

I adore this time of year! The chill is leaving the air, the midday sun is strong, flowers are starting to bloom and you can hear little birds in the trees… That stuff is nice, but what I really love, is the Spring/Summer Collections by my favourite Australian brands and retailers.

This is my first Style File post for the season, but I promise you there are more to come!

Witchery is an Australian retailer selling clothes in Australia, Singapore and the UK. They take classic pieces and alter them to fit the current trends, creating a beautiful, chic, modern line each season. Although not typically known for workwear, the classic tailoring and design of many pieces allow them to be versatile enough to be worn out on a Saturday night or into the office.

I love the pieces below because of their simplicity. You can dress each piece up or down and give an outfit its own personality.

These are my favourite picks from the Witchery SS13 collection and all items featured are available from http://www.witchery.com.au

Happy Shopping! X

 

Finding the time to live a healthy lifestyle in and around long work hours

I’m not by any means a “fitspo” nor could my body shot be used as “fitspiration”. However, I am a twenty something year old female who is in the healthy classified BMI range and does not smoke or drink (much). In my own self-righteous opinion, I consider this an achievement in this society.

As women, we are challenged daily with accepting our natural body shape when there is so much media to suggest that no real woman is capable of being truly beautiful. Now, that is an entirely difference piece all together, however I am (mostly) happy with my body and I believe I owe it to a fairly (too many wines don’t count!) healthy lifestyle.

Between working and studying, which I will be for many years to come, I have found it difficult to eat healthily and exercise regularly. There are only 24 hours in the day right? After a while, I have managed to get into a good routine of exercising and eating well. That’s not to dismiss the fact that I could squeeze at least 2 extra workouts into my week but hey – I’m only human!

Since healthy lifestyles are an interesting topic in vogue at the moment, I thought I would share with you my little tips and tricks on having a healthy lifestyle when your work hours never seem to end.

The Spot Blog’s Healthy Lifestyle tips:

1. Pre-pack lunches at the beginning of the week. 

Cook a big curry or make a big salad on Sunday night and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Each night, put a lunch sized portion into a small container or jar to take to work for lunch the next day.

2. Make healthy snacks.

Home made clean apricot and coconut balls are great for portion controlled morning and afternoon teas. Recipe will follow soon!

3. Avoid the coffee shop.

Like anything, coffee is OK in moderation. I personally draw the line at one (if any) per day. Drink up delicious herbal teas such as peppermint, green and honeydew, rose and French vanilla or chamomile tea or fix the hourly munchies.

4. Go for a walk during your lunch break.

Just make sure your slip on your flats first! Even just a small walk around the block can make a huge difference. This kind of break is also known for helping relax and clear the mind and will improve your mood. Positive work attitude come at us!

5. Join a gym near work.

Going to the gym can be time consuming and much easier to dismiss when it is out of your way. Have a look around and see if you have a gym near work or near home (near work is better for motivation!).

6. Buy some cute exercise gear. 

Bright and happy runners and fun work out clothes are all around. Knowing you’ll look good will make you feel much better before and after exercising!

I am absolutely no expert and none of the above is guaranteed however I feel they all help to keep me healthy enough to feel good about myself – and that’s all we can ask for!

If anyone has any other tips and tricks let me know in the comments, it would be great to share ideas!

THE SPOT BLOG. X

Tuesday evening inspiration

Hi, I’m Jess, and I’m a serial list maker.

 

I am not at all academically inclined. While finishing high school, I was notoriously known for writing my 2,000 word essays the night before and to many people’s surprise, managed to avoid failing. I believe my unusual success comes down to the power of list making.

In each class when we had dedicated time to working on the assignment, I refused to write a single sentence, and would instead list the key points for each paragraph with sub-lines for the supporting evidence and sub-sub-lines for working examples.

This intricate planning originally derived from my complete and utter laziness and refusal to do anything as instructed has actually been one of my best assets in life so far, as I said before, I largely owe my not completely bad academic record entirely to my obsessive compulsive detailed lists.

List making has proven to be one of the best habits I have and this is why:

1. Lists organize your thoughts.

Having a lack of clarity of tasks can severely hinder productivity. Using a list allows you to clearly and logically understand the full set of tasks you have to complete.

2. Lists allow you to prioritise.

Aligning tasks with deadlines and a timeline of completion lets you relax and not stress about not finishing tasks on time. This also often enhances the quality of work.

3. Lists express our creativity.

When brainstorming or listing, your brain explores the thoughts that are not first nature to us. Often referred to as “thinking out of the box”.

4. Lists give us a sense of achievement.

There is nothing better than crossing something off a to-do list. Knowing you have completed a task and been able to gauge your progress provides us with a much-deserved sense of self-satisfaction.

Ultimately, lists allow us to be more efficient, creative and relaxed busy little bees. Living in a world where daily tasks include needing to write a blog post, update client social media platforms (not to mention your own) and having to pick up the dry cleaning, shop for your dinner party and exchange that impulse buy skirt you bought from DJ’s two weeks ago, a little organisation of the mind really doesn’t go astray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A5 To Do List – KikiK – http://www.kikki-k.com/a5-to-do-list