As most savvy job seekers and networkers know, LinkedIn’s usefulness goes far beyond your own profile. And even far beyond your contacts. It also has an incredibly useful tool for staying up-to-date with what’s going on in your industry and improving your career: Pulse. In fact, the more you use Pulse, the more it will populate your newsfeed with useful information catered to what you care about right now.
However, this is where most people get stuck. With so many people worth following (and so many more people self-publishing), it gets hard to know what’s what. So you just end up following the obvious big names—Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson, Bill Gates—and not getting as much out of it as you want. (They’re awesome, of course, but also so awesome that it’s sometimes hard to relate.)
Your useless LinkedIn newsfeed ends today! Depending on your career goals, you can make Pulse much more relevant to you by following specific experts. Here are a few ideas for people to follow, depending on your objective.
If You Want to Find a Job
Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn is a haven for job search experts. To get a range of advice, follow the “Careers: Getting Started” channel. Then, if you’re looking for guidance that comes with some extra personality, consider following these pros.
- Liz Ryan, CEO and Founder of Human Workplace
- Lou Adler, Author of The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired
- Dr. Marla Gottschalk, Senior Consultant at Allied Talent
If You Want to Learn Productivity Tips
Who doesn’t want to be more productive? LinkedIn picked up on the demand and created a designated “Productivity” channel. That said, some productivity tips only work for certain people. To find a more tailored match for your own work style, here are three productivity experts to get you started.
- Gretchen Rubin, Author of The Happiness Project
- Carson Tate, Founder of Working Simply
- Greg McKeown, Author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
If You Want to Be a Better Manager
LinkedIn isn’t just for job seekers. It’s also for people who are further along in their careers—either looking for a platform to share their expertise or for managers looking to learn from that expertise. Your first stop should be the “Leadership and Management” channel, but after you do that, check out these three fresh voices on leadership.
- Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn
- Nozomi Morgan, International Executive Coach
- Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten
There are tons of great people to follow on LinkedIn no matter what your career goal or industry might be. Your first step is to follow a broader Pulse channel of interest. Then, as interesting thought leaders begin showing up on your newsfeed, make an effort to follow them directly. Pretty soon, you’ll have a tailored stream of news that will keep you up-to-date with news and advice all in one place.
Finally, no matter where you are in your career, follow The Muse on LinkedIn to make sure you don’t miss out on our job search, productivity, or management advice.