LinkedIn: START HERE and get motivated!

Shaun Coulton is a LinkedIn insider, olympian and consultant in social media for businesses. As an MTeach student, I was a bit like a duck out of water at the seminar on Personal Branding hosted by LaTrobe University’s Director of MBA: Professor Andrew O’Loughlin held in the Melbourne CBD last week, but this didn’t stop me learning valuable information on how to promote myself using LinkedIn.

So it’s uni holidays and you’re kicking back between semesters thankful for not having study or assignments to worry about. Getting a job is a long way off right? Wrong! Elite athletes call it the 1%ers: their success hinges on those little decisions like the millimetres of reduced friction in their sprint shoes, the 500 grams of weight saved by using carbon fibre or titanium components and so forth. And it’s not just about the equipment, doing one extra sprint or set at training each week accumulates over time. Just two a week, about 90 more each year, calculate that over the four year cycle between Olympic Games and that is 360 more sprints or sets that might just shave off 0.1 of a second that wins you gold. Ok ok, so a job is not the olympics, but wouldn’t you rather get that job and start getting paid $67,000 on your first year out instead of taking a CRT role and continuing making coffee every other day!

All I’m saying is start now even if it’s only 1 hr per week.

While Coulton’s pitch was aimed to benefit business and business people, I believe that a personal brand as a teacher is just as important. By developing your brand, you will become better at articulating who you are and what you are about. LinkedIn is a place to advertise your brand and is a powerful tool to showcase your talents and experience, serving as a digital living portfolio where you can create and interact with your networks. LinkedIn helps you be found, find others and expose yourself to relevant industry research. Become a LinkedIn expert is part of my journey and instead of thinking “I will share it when I’ve done it”, let's share the journey together.

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