LinkedIn's Elinor Honigstein on Crafting your Personal Brand For Professional Success
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Elinor's career journey and advice
Tell us about your career so far and the essential turning points that got you where you are today.
I started my journey in the charity sector in community building, partnerships, fundraising. Seeing the direct impact that your work has on people is so rewarding, and these years have probably been the most fulfilling years of my career. I decided to work to the tech sector both to try and do good at scale it was at the time when all the social impact tech companies and impact investing were becoming so prevalent. But also to learn and grow professionally.
But as you can imagine - the fact that I decided to do this did not mean that the market was waiting for me. I quickly understood that I needed to build my network from scratch and in way reinvent myself, and my professional brand. At that point, I started engaging on LinkedIn more with relevant content and people as if I was already part of the industry. I finally landed a consultancy role at Zinc VC - an incubator of social impact startups. That’s when I started having a voice on LinkedIn and being intentional about building my professional brand on the platform by using key words from the industry everywhere in my profile, posting about tech events, about my work, about the startups that I met, about innovation, talking about my journey into tech, connecting to more and more people. Through my profile, I made it clear that tech and social impact are two concepts that people can associate me with. I then landed a job at the British Gov connecting global startups to the British market, and from there moved to LinkedIn where I’ve been leading Business Development initiatives to drive value to our members.
Looking back at your career, what advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
Try and think of what brings you joy in your career, rather than taking any job just because it was offered to you. Think more strategically about the short/ long term career pathway that’s right for you, and select jobs based on how much they fit this pathway, and how much they can teach you.
Elinor's conference at Technology for Marketing
Tell us more about your conference titled “Crafting your Personal Brand: LinkedIn for Professional Success”
My session will cover the building blocks of building your professional brand on LinkedIn, in a way that helps you access opportunities, be seen as a credible thought leader, and build a community around you.
Don't miss out on Elinor's session at Technology for Marketing 2024!
What are the most important sections of a LinkedIn profile to focus on for maximum impact?
The headline as it is the first thing that people who look for someone with you your profile will see. There you can write your job title, and briefly explain what it means: what impact you drive, career aspirations and achievements.
What type of content performs best on LinkedIn for building a professional reputation?
Content that is authentic and help other members in their own professional lives - by sharing your perspective on industry insights and interesting products/companies, and by sharing your own career journey and personal stories.
How can employees effectively represent and promote their company’s brand while also building their own personal brand?
Repurposing company content with your own take, and sharing your experience of working in the company are always beneficial ways.
What are some common mistakes professionals make on LinkedIn that can negatively impact their personal brand?
What’s important to remember is to always see your content from the perspective of your audience: how can you add value to them, and what do you want the content to signal about you (e.g. a skill, capability, experience, impact).
What are some emerging trends on LinkedIn that professionals should be aware of to stay ahead in personal branding?
Everyone today can be a content creator. To stand out you need to sound personable, add value to others, build your network also outside your feed (engaging with other’s content, messages, in the real world).
How do you foresee the evolution of personal branding on LinkedIn in the next few years?
I think we will be able to be more than one thing (role, expertise) at the same time, the human voice will stand out (vs ChatGPT and other AI assistants) and we will be able to integrate our interests and passions beyond our career more seamlessly e.g. causes we care about, volunteering, transferable skills.
Quick-fire questions
What is your favourite social media platform, and why? LinkedIn - for obvious reasons and also because it truly puts the member at the centre.
The tool you use the most on your laptop? Canva
Is there any marketing campaign (from any brand) that you liked recently? Thought Leadership Ads on LinkedIn
How many unopened emails do you currently have in your inbox? Around 50
What is one of your proudest moments in your career? Connecting a dozen of global founders for a program I co-designed - to help them share knowledge, connect to capital and business partnerships.
What is something you’re still looking forward to achieving in your career? Become an impact investor, investing in socially driven startups and diverse founder
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