9 mins a day for effective career management: LinkedIn Study

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 161 million members globally and 15 million plus in India, today revealed that over 91% of Indian professionals believe the ideal amount of time invested daily on progressing one’s career should be in excess of 30 minutes. This is according to a LinkedIn commissioned research by IPSOS Mori globally and by Cross-tabs for India, involving 3,600 working professionals from around the world. 

 

With the constantly evolving workplace, it is crucial for professionals to take control of their career and invest time in building their personal brand amongst the professional community. Through this survey, LinkedIn has highlighted that continuous career management by allocating a small amount of time every day can make a difference and help professionals in furthering their career.

 

According to experts, if professionals spend even 9 minutes every day to nurture their career they will be able to learn new things, keep up-to-date with the industry and in turn be better at their jobs.

 

When asked about career management on a daily basis, 52% of survey respondents said that they prefer spending time with their mentor whereas 44% would rather use that time on professional networking sites like LinkedIn. The research also highlights that more than 80% of professionals choose to dedicate time to professional networking sites in order to share their expertise, stay connected with clients and keep up-to-date about the latest trends in their industry.

 

Of the 400 plus professionals who took the survey, 44% believe that men spend more time in developing their career as compared to women. However, most men surveyed believe that both sexes are equally developing their careers (38% women vs. 33% men). As per an industry-wise break-up, Marketing & PR professionals are considered to be the top networkers (28%), second to journalists (19%) and followed by Bankers and Stockbrokers (17%).

 

William Arruda, a leading personal branding expert globally, who partnered with LinkedIn to identify the optimum amount of time to spend daily on what he has termed ‘continuous career management’, said, “Fitting 9 minutes of career management into your daily schedule is all it takes without adding stress or pressure. 9 minutes is the optimum amount of time recommended, because it also gives you complete focus, and educators to psychologists agree that the ability to focus one's attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one's goals.”

 

“Relationships require care and so building and maintaining them is a major component of successful career management. These days, we live in a highly connected and technology driven world, so building your online network on LinkedIn, is a critical career management skill,” says Arruda.

 

The public perception of 3.5+ hours per week is a stark contrast to Arruda’s recommendation of 45 minutes per week.

 

Hari V. Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India said, “Today’s professional workforce operates in an increasingly demanding environment and hence, it is more important than ever to take charge of one’s career and manage it effectively. At LinkedIn, we remain focused on helping professionals become more successful and productive and through this survey aim to encourage career management on a daily basis. Whether or not they are looking for a job, professionals should allocate some time every day for building their personal brand.”

 

Arruda continued, “If you have a good LinkedIn profile, you can be approached at any time by a prospective employer about a job that they already think you are perfectly suited for and so it’s worth spending the time to keep your profile current and put your best foot forward even if you are not actively looking for a job. Your dream job may find you.”