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Is your company’s LinkedIn page working for you?

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Whether you like it or not, LinkedIn is a staple for businesses, job seekers, and professionals looking to network across the world. It is the mecca for professional development – where careers of all kinds and talent of all ages, backgrounds… all shapes, sizes, colors, and creed… collide. FACT: there are an average of 100 million job applications submitted on LinkedIn every month for the roughly 20 million active job listings being seen by 610 million users… 40% of which visit daily. In other words,

244 million people are visiting LinkedIn every single day.

We’ve already talked a bit about the importance of a strong profile for yourself… but when’s the last time you thought about your company’s presence? Strengthening your company’s LinkedIn page has benefits outside of hiring and recruiting. Successful companies use LinkedIn to position themselves as experts in their field, which creates more opportunities for partnership, publicity, and professional credibility.

And then, of course, there are the hiring-related pitfalls of a pitiful business page. If you need to be reminded of why investing in your employer branding is a good idea, make a quick stop here first (3-minute read). Then allow me to share my six steps to a stellar business page on LinkedIn.

6 STEPS TO CREATING A STELLAR BUSINESS PAGE

1.) ALWAYS, ALWAYS KEEP IT ON BRAND.

The first step here is to make sure you understand your brand. If you don’t, find someone who can help you – even if that person is the Founder, CEO, or CMO. If you’re not sure how to get their attention, try using the numbers at the top of this piece. Once you have your branding bearing, the rest will fall into place more easily and more authentically. Just remember these three things once you get started…

1.) Make it clear. Resist the urge to say everything with your visual assets. Focus on the most critical visual messages.

2.) Make it consistent. If you don’t have brand standards to follow when it comes to things like typeface, formatting, or palette do your best to compliment your primary logo and then stick to the choices you’ve made.

3.) Make it visually pleasing. This isn’t as easy as you might think. When you’ve spent several hours on something, you’re more likely to be pleased (or at least convince yourself that you’re pleased) with the outcome. Get your page in front of as many colleagues, friends, and family members as you can. If/ when you get constructive feedback that makes sense for your business and for your brand, apply it.

Next, text.

Your tagline is a good chance to briefly reinforce your slogan, mission, services or accolades. The cover area is especially valuable real estate, so use it wisely. It’s a great opportunity to feature some impressive statistics, your marquee product or services, or the key players in your business.

2.) KEEP YOUR AUDIENCE IN MIND.

A good “about” page doesn’t have to be hard to write. It should be concise and convey your organization’s mission and function. And it should inspire candidates to apply. But it needs to do all of these things at the same time. Just remember to keep your target audience in mind. How do you want someone to feel about your company after reading your bio? What do you want them to do next? Use these questions to guide your writing.

Pro tip: if you don’t have a Life page on LinkedIn yet, you absolutely need one.  This is an invaluable opportunity to dive into your culture, values, employee perspectives, opportunities, and leadership – and set yourself apart from the competition. You can even target who sees what based on their career history, education, and other demographics. Deloitte is an amazing example of how to utilize this space. It will cost you extra, but we think it’s worth it.

3.) SET YOURSELF APART FROM THE COMPETITION.

LinkedIn lets companies display their industry and specialties on their pages. Take advantage of this. Highlight each and every one of your company’s niche skills or sectors. Do you specialize in marketing for eco-friendly tourism? Or copywriting for beauty startups? Online fundraising and donor relations for animal rescues? Include it all.

4.) BE SPECIFIC.

Your company’s size and location may be less interesting than your bio, but it’s equally important. Do you know what else is? Pictures and videos of your employees in their work environment. Candidates (especially younger candidates who have grown up with instant gratification) want to know everything about the place before they take a position…. or even apply. And this can help weed out candidates who genuinely wouldn’t vibe.

5.) SHARE YOUR WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE.

If you’re not posting regular, original, and meaningful content on LinkedIn, you should start. Every company and organization can use original content as a space to showcase their accomplishments, work culture, noteworthy employees, and more. You can offer case studies or share testimonials or press coverage. If you’ve got a blog, great! Incorporate that content on your LinkedIn and push readers to your blog. Do you sell a product? Share customer experiences. Talk about product design and testing. Go behind the scenes and bring your audience with you.

This is a space to get creative. Use every form of digital media at your disposal… photos, videos, motion graphics. Follow other industry-leading companies, important individuals in your field, and the executive leadership in your company – then share what’s relevant to your audience. And of course, remember to weave in your career opportunities.

6.) …BUT BE INTENTIONAL.

Share, share, share. But DON’T share just to share. Share valuable ideas. Share fun ideas. Share things that interest your ideal candidate in the same post as a job listing to catch their attention. When you have strong content, your job opportunities will practically advertise themselves.

Do all of this – and do it well – and your ideal candidates will flock.

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5 questions I get asked as a woman in tech

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I started my career in tech almost ten years ago as a Network Engineer. I’ve grown from what we call a “Tier One Technician” (which is essentially someone who receives, assesses and assigns support requests) to a senior level Engineer on the 14 West Global Technologies team… or WesTech as we like to call it. I spend my time leading a team in the design, implementation, maintenance and support of large-scale solutions and infrastructure systems for companies all around the globe.

And while the work is exciting, challenging and extremely rewarding, I take a great deal of pride in my role as a black woman in tech. There aren’t nearly enough of us. When you consider the challenges that women – and particularly women of color – face in this industry, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But politics aside, the tech environment cannot remain a “man’s world” forever… even the notion of that just simply isn’t sustainable. And personally, I love that I have the opportunity (the responsibility, really) to play a part in this change by leading and supporting the other women who share my passion. Passion is everything in technology professions.

Working in tech can require sacrifice, late nights, early mornings, and a never-ending commitment to sharpening your craft. As soon as you get comfortable, the rules change. When one solution is up and running smoothly, another is breaking down or becoming obsolete. And we can’t afford to hear the noise that bias – whether it be age, racial, gender, or otherwise – creates. We’ve got to find the places and the people who believe in us and then perform. That’s how I see it, anyway. And it’s working for me.

Still, I’m keenly aware that outside of my personal experience and my workplace at 14 West, there is plenty of progress to be made in the larger tech community and I want to help other women enjoy the same type of success and fulfillment I have by sharing my story and insight.

So…here it is.

The 5 Questions I Get Asked the Most as a Woman in Tech

1.) How do you balance work and life?

Work-life balance is difficult for everyone – and honestly, I’m still working on this. I actively prioritize the quality time that I spend with my family and friends by unplugging and being completely present. This way, I never feel like I’m missing the important moments. Clear communication with my manager and my team when I need some extra flexibility goes a long way, too. When I need some time for myself, I take advantage of 14 West’s wellness program to exercise regularly and de-stress with yoga.

2.) What about motherhood and tech?

Three words: schedule, communicate, and prioritize. I live in my planner. My to-do list is never-ending and regularly consists of coordinating my son’s day-to-day, working, studying and creating content for my blog. My first priority is always my son, but I need to be realistic. It’s no good for anyone if I let my “mom guilt” take over. But I won’t sacrifice my family for my career. By accepting that I just can’t do it all, I make clear, healthy decisions about what I can manage and I can be more confident in all of my roles including motherhood. This is easier said than done. I try to keep the goal simple; prioritize the moments I can’t get back, stay flexible on the rest, and communicate. 

3.) Do you ever struggle with confidence? How do you overcome it?

Yes – absolutely. Impostor Syndrome is a very real thing, and it will drain you if you let it. And the hardest part about it is that you can get all of the positive affirmation you could ever hope for, and it doesn’t necessarily make you feel more secure. In fact, sometimes it can backfire. On a fairly regular basis, I need to remind myself, “you are in your role because you were the best candidate for the job.” And whether or not I believe it in that moment, I need to put those feelings aside and get back to it. It’s very common for women to question themselves and compare their technical abilities to the men around them.

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn’t let these feelings stop me, and instead I’d use them as fuel. I could be pitching new ideas, asking for more responsibility, or asking questions… and those feelings may be there in the background. But I remember: feelings are not facts. When I focus on the facts – my accomplishments, the support of my colleagues and friends – I’m more comfortable with who I am, what I know, and even what I don’t know. No one was born an expert.

4.) How do you combat biases in the tech industry?

This one’s tough. I try really hard to focus on my skills and staying sharp. I show up each and every day as the best engineer that I can be. I always concentrate my energy on what I can bring to the organization. If and when questions arise, I back up all of my research with supporting data. In a way, you could say I’ve used these biases to my benefit. I want to know my stuff inside and out, frontwards and backward, upside and down… better than anyone else in the room. But most importantly, I also make sure that I use my voice to support, empower and encourage change whenever I see or hear something biased.

 5.) What advice would you give to women entering the tech field? Anything you wish you had known?

Early in my career, I was encouraged to “fake it ‘til you make it.” It was some of the worst advice I’d ever gotten. Any person – man or woman – entering the tech field should commit to learning. For women, however, there can be fear about coming off as less knowledgeable or somehow inferior. And a lot of women become uncomfortable asking questions, asking for help or seeking out a mentor. Reader, if this sounds like you, I’m telling you, you’ve got to get past this. Fear is one of the greatest threats to your growth potential. In my opinion, this can be toxic and only feeds into Impostor Syndrome. Be honest about what you don’t know and seek guidance when you need it. When you get overwhelmed, break it down and take it day by day. A career in tech is a marathon, not a sprint