If you are looking to advance your career in medicine, and you’re one of the 4.76 billion people already on social media today, the good news: You can leverage this free and powerful tool to improve your reach, build your personal brand, grow your network, and find new opportunities in your industry.

Today's most popular social networks include Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, and Snapchat. But one of the most important social media platforms you have at your disposal for professional networking and career advancement is LinkedIn.

Knowing how to use each platform is key, and contrary to popular belief, how you personally show up and engage with your network far supersedes your follower count. Let’s look at how the experts suggest using social media—especially LinkedIn—for personal branding and growing your professional network.

The Power of LinkedIn for Healthcare Professionals

LinkedIn has grown from a simple search engine to the world’s largest professional network where experts congregate to share content and find top talent. Executives from Fortune 500 companies—along with over 830 million other members—have profiles and are engaging daily.

Here’s how to make the most of your social media presence.

Optimize your profile. LinkedIn used to be strictly professional, but over time it has evolved to be a more comfortable and casual place where professionals can “let their hair down” and be themselves, making great strides in the fight for workplace authenticity. That said, to grow your network and attract the people who will help you grow your career, you’ll need to ensure your profile is in good shape. This means having a captivating headline about what you bring to the table professionally and a summary that tells an interesting and meaningful story about your career path. You’ll also want to make sure you include all relevant work experience and infuse your profile with SEO-optimized keywords so recruiters and hiring managers gain exposure to your background, experience, and unique impacts you’ve made in previous roles.
Post content. This may sound like a no-brainer, but one of the biggest obstacles to personal branding and network building is logging onto powerful platforms like LinkedIn to stay silent and scroll without engaging or sharing content. It can feel intimidating sharing an inspirational quote or a story about a meaningful connection you made with a patient—it can feel like shouting into a deep, dark abyss and nobody listening or responding—but it takes time to build. The more you post, the more the algorithm will push your content into the feeds of those interested in hearing what you have to say. You have to start somewhere. Here are some best practices for quality LinkedIn posts that elicit the most engagement:
1. Include an image with your content. Posts with visual components perform better than text-only posts.
2. Use hooks that catch people’s attention. In healthcare, this might look like, “What the pandemic taught me about ____,” or “5 reasons emotional intelligence is critical in healthcare.” You have amassed a great deal of information and best practices about your unique industry and career—don’t be afraid to share the wealth! You can help others aspiring to your career path and show your hand to recruiters and hiring managers for potential promotions.
3. Post a video! According to LinkedIn Pages Best Practices, video content gets five times the engagement of other content.
4. End each post with 2-3 relevant hashtags.
Interact with your network. Remember that deep, dark abyss we mentioned earlier? Don’t let the sound of crickets chirping be the only thing someone hears when they comment on your posts. Respond and engage often and consistently to continue building your brand and network. If you see a post that piques your interest or an inspirational quote that resonates with you, by all means, comment on the post or re-share it with your network!
Be yourself. Research has shown that employees who can be themselves at work have higher job satisfaction and more productivity. While it is always important to be polite, professional, and respectful, showing up authentically (on LinkedIn and at work) can be your secret weapon to level up your career in healthcare. So, by all means, share that funny video of your pets, your hobbies, your vacation, and anything else that might make someone laugh, smile, reflect, or even better—consider that you may be the perfect fit for a new role opening up on their team.

Find other tips and best practices to optimize your LinkedIn reach here.

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