Top 10 Linkedin tips for PQ Accountants

LinkedIn is the most popular social network for accountancy professionals

Richard Davenall, Area Manager & UK Part-Qualifieds Brand Manager for REED Accountancy shares his tips to use the network to its fullest potential

1. LinkedIn presence is vital for aspiring PQs – to be found by current colleagues and prospective employers is important for the promotion and proliferation of your skills and qualifications.
2. Networks are critical for professional development – whether it be internal or external to your current employer, building networks enables you to enter dialogue with all manner of likeminded professionals who can provide you with career opportunities.
3. Broaden your appeal – your personality can shine through more easily via LinkedIn than through your CV, which is a marginally more formal document for employer review. The simplicity of a well-presented image, alongside demonstration of your career history, is always beneficial.
4. Demonstrate your strengths – LinkedIn offers a first-rate medium for illustrating your skills in a softer manner than your CV; it enables you to highlight your achievements and ambitions using key words in prose, combined with indicating your interests through the groups, networks and conversations that you participate within.
5. Join accounting groups – build your knowledge of key topics, both general knowledge and economic/accounting in focus, in order to aid the application of your skills to relevant situations and challenges.
6. Share engaging content – promote your interests and knowledge through the use of interesting articles, conversation topics and industry news.
7. Affiliate yourself to your accounting body – align, converse and engage with content directly relevant to the qualification you are studying, to demonstrate to your audience the interest you hold in the profession.
8. Search for your ideal job role – use your network of contacts, groups and interests to find employers and job opportunities that will provide genuine scope for skills and responsibilities development.
9. Research interesting and prospective employers – there are few better ways to engage pre-interview with organisations and line managers; check out their backgrounds, interests and future plans to formulate your interview questions.
10. Don't miss out – failure to hold a LinkedIn account removes you from a mass of ongoing news, debate and information about your profession, with numerous accounting information being detailed through LinkedIn accounts, Groups and organisations.