LinkedIn for Geologists (and other social media-challenged professionals)

I’m a geologist from Oil & Gas. I was fortunate during my time in the hydrocarbons industry to receive a vast amount of training. My area of speciality in wells is operational optimisation. I honed my skills with much encouragement to ensure I did my job well. But no one ever taught me how to promote myself, to network or to expand my industry knowledge through social media.

That’s something I had to look into myself. I did that by reaching out to Andrew MacAskill when he ran Executive Career Jump. Andrew provided me with the knowledge to use LinkedIn as the formidable tool it is.

Below are some of the gems I picked up from Andrew when I first spoke to him more than three years ago. I have found the ‘MacAskill Formula’ to be invaluable. My list is by no means exhaustive and probably requires some editing and additions from a real LinkedIn Guru. But it’s a good start.

I hope these points help you to learn, promote yourself and / or your company.

1)?????Be aware of the LinkedIn algorithms / Build your profile.

When people perform searches on LinkedIn the algorithm primarily scans two areas.

i. The line beneath your name which most people?use to insert their job title.

ii. Your ‘About’ section.

The line beneath your name is what people see as a first glance. Make the most of it. Don’t just use your job title, use separators and insert as many words as LinkedIn will allow which provide a quick summary of what you do.

Like so:

Subsurface Manager | Geothermal Champion | Oil & Gas Veteran | Energy Transition Supporter | Creating Efficiency, Reducing Waste | Eco-Warrior | Speaker | Mentor

The ‘About’ section allows you to elaborate about what you do and what you stand for. It’s an opportunity to provide a more detailed snapshot of how you add value and what you are about. Ensure you use every available character.

To optimise your chances of being found, ensure you maximise your use of buzz words in both sections. Use words which you would like to be associated with. If it’s a job title which has an acronym, write the job title longhand and add the acronym, for example Non-Executive Director, NED. This way, you will be found should the searcher use either form.

2)?????Use the banner! Add an image to the banner behind your photo to get you attention. Leaving it grey does you no favours.

3)?????NETWORK! Think about who you would like your network composed of. Thinking of changing industries or moving to a different discipline? Connect with individuals in the area you are looking to move to. Use the LinkedIn Search to track down individuals who fit the group you are looking to connect with. For example, search for ‘geothermal energy’, then select the ‘People’ tab. You’ll be presented with a list of people with the words geothermal energy featured in their profile. Use the ‘All Filters’ tab to refine your search into your own geographical, or other regions, the hashtags they talk about, the industry they work in etc. Check the ‘2nd’ box in ‘Connections’ which denotes the individuals are connected to you via a mutual connection, the mutual connection can be used as an icebreaker in your message. Send as many invitations as possible using targeted search criteria. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you don’t know. This is a networking site and people are generally friendly and willing to connect.

When I started expanding my network, I was advised to send out 50 connection requests a day. In my experience 2/3rd + accept. Pretty soon your network will have expanded into your chosen discipline and your LinkedIn page will be full of posts providing you with knowledge about that field.

4)?????Comment and react to posts. Engage in conversation. Get yourself known. LinkedIn likes it when you use the site. You will be rewarded if you participate in conversations, by having your profile elevated in searches.

5)?????POST! Only 1% of LinkedIn users post content. Elevate yourself above the other 99%. At first the idea of publishing something to an audience of your peers can be a little intimidating. However, it will get you and your mission noticed. Also, people are generally supportive. Post as often as you like. I aim for once a week.

6)?????Post in a targeted intelligent fashion. Most people view LinkedIn at lunchtime. Post at noon from Monday to Thursday. If you are targeting an audience in another time zone, post during their lunchtime. Successful posts can roll for days, don’t post on Friday as users tend not to use LinkedIn at the weekend. DON’T POST AT THE WEEKEND, your audience will be severely reduced and a good post can go unnoticed.

7)?????Be aware of the ‘golden hour.’ Nurture your post for the first hour or two by replying to comments immediately. The algorithm promotes posts with most interaction during this time. The algorithm is stupid. It can’t tell the difference between your comment and other users. The more comments, the more your post is promoted. Like your own comments to elevate your post.

8)?????Use hashtags to attract your target audience. Many users take advantage of the ‘Followed Hashtags’ option, which means posts including their selected hashtags appear on their feed.

9)?????Don’t use links in your posts. LinkedIn doesn’t want people to leave the platform. Posts with links are therefore demoted by the magic of algorithms. If you need to include a link, place it in the comments below your post. Apparently, that ‘foxes’ the algorithm.

10)??Be engaging, be polite, be controversial, be controlled and always consider your and the company’s reputation. If interaction becomes heated, pause, or walk away.

11)??'Featured' mode is an option to highlight your favourite contributions by placing them towards the top of your profile. This is a useful option as it places items you consider important or useful where the viewer of your profile can see them. Use it.

12)??Creator mode is something I use but don’t really understand it’s full potential. The positive function it provides is a couple of lines below your profile which are titled ‘Talks about’. You then have the option to add 5 hashtags which provide a summary of subjects you post about. For me the downside is that it makes it more difficult for people to ‘connect’ with you. When your profile is accessed by another user, they will be presented with an option to ‘follow’ you on the main page. They’ll have to hit the ‘More’ tab to be able to send a connection request.

13)??Open to mode. This is a personal choice and LinkedIn keeps the information private. It is accessible only to recruiters who spend a fortune on the professional LinkedIn recruitment tools. It enables you to highlight the roles you would be willing to consider to recruitment professionals. Mine says Advisor to the Board and Non Executive Director as I would like to contribute to the energy transition in these few-days-a-month roles. I think it could be fun. You can add anything which LinkedIn recognises as a job.

14)??Ensure your profile is complete. Include volunteer work if it’s something you have done or still do. Fill out your 50 top skills. These too can help you be found by recruitment professionals.

15)??Be Excellent To Each Other. Embrace the words of the great North American Philosophers, Bill & Ted. LinkedIn is a professional network, keep it professional. Be helpful, be supportive and be kind. Everyone appreciates it.

16)??If you are thinking of decarbonising your operations or facilities using baseload geothermal energy solutions, give me or someone else at Primeval Energy Ltd a shout. We are the ‘Geothermal Optimised’ company. OK this is nothing to do with LinkedIn optimisation, or is it? You are reading this article on my LinkedIn profile after all.