Using Hidden Skill Sets On LinkedIn

There are many reasons why I love LinkedIn. I encourage folks to be more more active on this platform fairly often. One of the reasons why is I feel like this is a great place to demonstrate skills sets and competencies not listed on your resume.

Here's my thoughts on the subject.

If you are like me, there positions you would be very much interested in doing, however, you don't have the direct experience listed on your resume. What you do and what you have done has nothing to do with the roles you are interested in. You can't help to feel defeated, so you try and think, what is a way to build credibility for those potential roles?

Enter LinkedIn. There are a plethora of roles listed on the jobs section. There are a plethora of subjects and topics to chose from, ranging from trending topics to group specific conversations. There are a plethora of ways to interject yourself into those subject matters and conversations.

That is why I encourage folks to create and engage. Creating content well here specifically grabs the attention of the specific audience you are hoping to pivot towards. Maintaining that content keeps that attention from that audience. You are building that trust in whatever topic you are mentioning, and also, you are demonstrating compentcey in how you deliver that message.

Allow me to elaborate. Let's say you go with video to deliver your message. Let's say your message is about marketing. By creating messages about marketing via video, you are not only demonstrating your knowledge in marketing, but also demostrating your ability in creating a video. You may not have marketing or video editing listed anywhere on your resume, CV, or job history, but as you become more and more consistent and persistent, people will know you for those two subjects as well. You have more of a potential of folks vouching for you in the way of endorsements and recommendations.

It doesn't have to be just videos or marketing. It can be any subject you want. You can create sales tips on a slidedeck and share them as a document on this platform. You can share a pdf that is a checklist of some sort. You get the idea.

I'll share with you what I have done so far. Before I begin, I will admit, I need to do this more myself.

An initial driving factor of my content creation was exposure as a video editor. Also included is some of the photography work I've done. The subjects matter would often revolve around topics like video tips, community, creativity, curiosities, storytelling, learning, and language. I engage often in other content creators' posts. They range from marketing, video editing, sales, branding, and community to name a few. I build a relationships with people in those fields. We also gain a mutual trust in each other.

I know there's much more work to do, and I look forward to the challenge. On my end, I need to practice more what I preach.

For you, my dear reader, if you find yourself lacking experience for a position you desire, this may be a good avenue to close the skill gap. Leverage LinkedIn to demonstrate those skills sets not listed in a resume, CV, or job history.

Of course, this isn't the only option, and by no means, do I claim to be an expert. Just to reiterate, this isn't the only reason why I am on here. There are many reasons why! But I do believe as this platform continues to evolve and grow in popularity, creating content with the hidden skills you have great potential in landing that role you desire.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Have you used LinkedIn to demonstrate hidden skill sets? What were they and how'd that work out for you? I encourage you to share your story, either in comments, or even better, create a post talking about it.

Thank you for reading this article, as with any of my content, I appreciate you taking the time for it. Have a great one, and until next time, take care.