When I was unemployed and my kids were going to a preschool we couldn’t afford, I approached the director and asked if I could create a website for the school. The only payment I asked for was allowing my kids to attend her school free of charge. The kind soul she was, she agreed to my request; and as a result, my kids attended the best preschool in our city.
What I arranged was a side hustle that saved my family thousands of dollars. The gig lasted the duration of my unemployment and until my youngest graduated from the school. The website I created and maintained was, truthfully, not that great; but the director and her staff loved it. Money saved for my family was money earned.
I remember with fondness going to the school to take photos for the website of students engaged in school projects, as well as school events like the annual parade. And I wrote content for the school site, which was title “Director’s Corner.” At times it was extremely fun, at others time consuming and frustrating.
The side hustle concept isn’t new. But for people who are unemployed, it can be a game changer. It can keep them out of debt like my side hustle did for us, or it can earn them as much money as they were making while they were employed. It all depends on what they have to offer.
I tell my clients having a side hustle could help them in their job search. If you haven’t considered a side hustle, perhaps you should. Here are 5 reasons why:
1. Earn money
This is an obvious reason. The money you earn could supplement your unemployment income. In my case I didn’t pocket cash. But over the course of of my unemployment and beyond my wife and I saved money we would have had to pay.
Considered part of the Gig economy, driving for Uber can be lucrative if you’re willing to drive odd hours during the day, as well as put mileage on your car. Some of my clients have made this their main source of income.
One of my clients referees football and umpires baseball more often now that he’s out of work and has more flexibility. He’s making a good sum of money doing something he loves. He’s even learning how to referee soccer.
2. Utilize your skills and/or develop new ones
You might be an amateur photographer who can “shoot” weddings at a fraction of the cost of an established photographer. After taking thousands of shots for one or two weddings, you’ll learn how to be more efficient. Better understand lighting or where you should stand.
Did you act in college or even professionally? You could provide acting lessons to young students. Acting and teaching are two different skill sets. Some actors might say that explaining the art of acting is more difficult, as you have to employ communication skills and see the “big picture.”
If reading is your thing, you might consider proofreading as a side hustle. Writers don’t want their work published littered with typos, so they hire people who have a keen eye for finding mistakes. You could advertise your services on a site called fivver.com.
A website called sidehustlenation.com suggests 117 possible gigs (and the list keeps growing) you could consider based on your skills.
3. Get out of the house
One of the most important things you can do during the job search is get out of your house. Having a side hustle that requires this is ideal, as it gets you away from your television, computer, or out of bed. You’ll also interact with people, e.g., your clients.
If your side hustle is computer based, that’s fine, as long as you take breaks to exercise or do errands . Better yet, set up a virtual office at Starbucks or your local library, especially if you need to get away from distractions. My gig required visiting the school often, including during lunchtime when I landed full-time employment.
Choose side hustle gigs that require you leaving your house, such as personal trainer, yard worker, house cleaner, nanny, junk hauler, tour guide, etc.
4. Create networking opportunities
Whenever you’re around people there are opportunities to network. Always keep your ears open and ask questions about what your clients do. Make it clear that your side hustle is exactly that.
Business consulting is a great example of interacting with people who could be helpful for networking, particularly if said businesses are in your industry. Starting a small business marketing service will also give you exposure to great networking opportunities.
Even running a grocery shopping business can expose you to people of all types. Imagine talking with people in the check-out line and inserting into the conversation that you’re shopping for clients, but your real job is software engineer.
Eventually shoppers in line will say, “I know someone who works at Company (XYZ) and she’s looking for a software engineer. Do you have a personal business card I can give her?” And, of course, you’re prepared to hand them your business card.
5. Continue your side hustle after land your next job
Bring in additional income to make up for what might be a poorly paid position. This is more likely if your side hustle can be done during the evening. I coach people on using LinkedIn, including writing their profiles. This is done strictly during the evenings and on weekends.
As an accountant, you can continue your side hustle by servicing the small clients you gained while unemployed. You’ll perform accounting services during evening hours.
Your side hustle could lead to a career change. One of my LinkedIn connections,Jack Wang, worked in banking until he joined the non-profit world. Wisely he continued financial advising on the side. Now he has made financial advising his full-time calling and is doing quite well with his own business.
Another close LinkedIn connection, Kevin Willett, started out in banking, as well, but is now running a very successful business networking group called Friends of Kevin. He utilizes what he learned about networking, as a VP of banking, to facilitate this group. He loves what he’s doing, and he’s been doing it for quite some while.
You can see how running a side hustle can be beneficial to your job search—earning money, getting out of the house, networking, exercising your skills, and continuing your business while employed.
It’s been awhile since I designed and maintained my kids’ school’s website, but I remember with fondness my visits to their school to take hundreds of photos of happy children. My side hustle allowed our three kids to attend a very good preschool. That made it all worthwhile.
This weekend I did something I hate. Painting. I hate painting for a number of reasons, but the major reason is the breakdown of process. For example, I’m cruising along painting my picket fence, taking my time, no spills, not a drop on my person (I’m proud of this), hitting every spot; and then whamo….
Things start to hit the fan. All of the “accomplishments” I achieved for half an hour vanish, including not stepping on the top of the paint can and tracking white paint on the sidewalk. Now paint is on my hands, clothes, even my hair.
I lose focus, get sloppy, make a mess of things. That’s the breakdown of process.
If you ask some people who are starting their LinkedIn profile, they’ll express the same sentiment I have for painting—they just want to get it over with and have a profile that will help people find them. In other words, they don’t give it the attention it requires.
Do you relate to this sentiment? Here’s what you ought to do to prevent the breakdown of the LinkedIn profile process.
1. Take your time. When I set out to paint my fence I said to myself, “Bob, you’re going to take your time and do this right. It’s only a fence.”
LinkedIn is not a fence that needs painting, but there is ample opportunity for the process to break down. Following are some areas to pay attention to.
2. Get your photo done professionally. I had mine done by someone who sells one photo for $40.00. I’ve heard they come much more expensively than that. Having your photo done professionally is far better than having a relative take it with her Iphone.
I’m not saying you have to wear a three-piece suit to your photo shoot. Just make sure your photo is of quality. And no iPhone photos with you and your family on the beach or at a campground.
It’s said that a profile with a photo is at least 14x more like to be opened.
3. Think of a headline that brands you. Many people will settle for something like Marketing Professional which doesn’t do them justice.
Instead, Marketing Director | National Speaker | Author | Revenue Generator | Business Development will do a better job of branding you. Don’t rush and throw any ole Headline up there.
Ask others what they think of your Headline. Does it sell you, show your value to potential employers? This is what you need to consider.
Your Headline is the second element of your profile that brands you; your photo is the first.
4. Write a Summary worth reading. What I’ve seen hundreds of times are LinkedIn Summaries that are a rehash of a person’s résumé Summary. Will this impress anyone? Certainly not.
Instead, take your time and write a kick-ass Summary that tells a compelling story—your philosophy, areas of strength, accomplishments, future plans. This section of your profile is one of the most important ones.
Without an impactful Summary, there’s a breakdown of process.
5. Your Experience section must lower the boom. Have you ever read a résumé that said, “So what? Who cares? Big deal”? Does your LinkedIn profile’s Experience section say the same? Is it a list full of duties and lacking accomplishments?
I suggest an Employment section that states accomplishments only, or strong duty statements and accomplishments. If you’re just starting your LinkedIn profile, copy and paste your résumés Experience section to your profile, but build it from there to be more personal.
6. Show off your writing. For more than three years LinkedIn has offered the a feature which allows you to publish a post on LinkedIn. If you enjoy writing and feel you’re a good writer, show off your expertise and writing style.
To date, I have published over 149 posts on LinkedIn. Obviously I enjoy writing. You can also be featured in Pulse, providing you receive enough “Likes” and views of your posts.
Although, the standards have become tougher to be featured. Don’t be deterred from writing; what counts the most is that you’re sharing relevant information.
7. Have fun with Media. Make use of the Media feature—found in Summary, Experience, and Education—to show off PowerPoint presentations, links to your website or blog, example of your greatest photos of urban blight, or YouTube videos.
LinkedIn is making it easy to showcase your talent to make visitors want to stay on your profile. Take advantage of this. (Watch this video from one of my connections which he places in his Projects section.)
8. List your skills and amass endorsements. Like them or not, endorsements are here to stay; so you might as well list as many skills/expertise for people to click on.
My feelings about endorsements are not all favorable. I believe they are more perceived value and a way for people to engage with each other.
Your skills won’t endorse themselves, just like my wife said about the unpainted fence. But if you endorse your connections’ skills, you’ll get endorsements in return. (Read how to endorse skills properly.)
This is just the beginning. The line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Is hogwash. You can build the Taj Mahal of all profiles, but if you’re not active, no one will notice.
I’m happy to say my white picket fence is finished and looking great. The process of painting broke down, much to my chagrin, but I learned valuable lessons: take it slow and focus on quality.
The words my wife told me, “It won’t paint itself” are a good lesson for writing your LinkedIn profile and putting it into action. You’re are responsible for your LinkedIn process; you alone.
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
Photo, Flickr, David Alston
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One gets the feeling that LinkedIn is migrating its desktop platform to its mobile app. Maybe not tomorrow, but gradually. The most obvious hint is the way the desktop’s interface increasingly resembles the app. We noticed this when LinkedIn launched its new, slimmed-down platform almost a year ago.
We also noticed enhancements made first to the mobile app, such as photo enhancement and video features. If I were a betting man, I’d say the demise of the desktop platform is nearing the end. Maybe not for awhile, though.
Is this a good thing? It is if you prefer to use the app. Personally, I use the app approximate 50% of the time, which falls in line with the figure Forbes.com gives. My phone is on me all the time, where as my laptop isn’t. This is perhaps why the mobile app is gaining more popularity; its convenience.
Recently I asked my workshop attendees how many of them are using the app. Only a handful of them raised their hands. The concept of LinkedIn on the move hasn’t entirely caught hold, which is unfortunate; because if you’re not using the app, you could be missing opportunities.
The similarities are immediately apparent when we look at the navigation bar from the desktop and mobile app versions respectively.
Both versions include Home, My Network, Jobs, Messaging, and Notifications; although not in the same order. As well, the icons are identical. Let’s look at the limitations, similarities, and advantages of your Home page on the mobile app.
Home
Limitations
1. Search is limited. Like the desktop version, you can search for Top, People, Jobs, Posts, Companies, Groups, and Schools. But that’s as far as it goes. There are some limitations. For example, when I searched for my school, I am unable to locate Find Alumni. This is because it doesn’t exist on the app.
As well, searching for positions is easier on the desktop. I searched on the app for accountants and when I chose Easy Apply, I was prompted to install a “LinkedIn Job Search” app.
Find Alumni and Searching for jobs on the app are topics for another post.
2. You can’t write or edit articles. One disappointing aspect of the phone app is the inability to write or edit an article. You can, however, read and check out the stats on your articles using the mobile app; but if you want to write or edit one, you’ll have to wait until you’re at your desktop.
3. Finding groups on the app is cumbersome. On the desktop the process is straightforward; you simply go to the Work icon. Not so with the app. You must type your groups individually in the Search field to get to them.
(By the way, when I questioned someone from LinkedIn about the future of groups—why they’re hidden in Work dropdown—he told me, ‘They’re on hold.'”)
4. Views of your visitors and latest posts are not available on the app. You don’t have the ability to see the number of people who’ve viewed your profile in the past 90 days. You also can’t see how many views the post you shared most recently received. In order to see this information, you must go to your profile where it is listed in Your Dashboard.
Similarities
5. Posting updates is no problem. Do you want to post an update? Not a problem with the app. Just click on the icon of the pen and paper at the lower right-hand corner.
We’re all aware of how to share an update on the desktop; the field in which you write your updates says, “Share an article, photo, or update.”
If you want to Like, Comment, or Share an article; LinkedIn gives you the capabilities for that on the mobile app.
6. Searches are decent on the phone app. With the desktop, you have the ability to search for people by location, current and past companies, industries, profile languages, and schools. The only criterion you can’t search by is languages.
Advantages
7. You can post a video with the phone app. This hasn’t yet taken hold like LinkedIn thought it would. But it could be a great feature (one that already exists on Facebook), that allows people to report their thoughts anywhere in the world. This feature is currently not available on the desktop version of LinkedIn.
8. It’s easier to get to your profile with the app. No matter which page you’re on with the app, clicking on your photo at the top right-hand corner brings you to your profile. On the desktop, once you leave your home page, you must click your photo at the top right-hand corner for a drop-down that allows you to chose “View Profile.”
Overall, LinkedIn’s mobile app offers you powerful features that will get you by as you’re waiting for your daughter to get out of dance rehearsal. Are there limitations? Certainly there are. But I think LinkedIn will improve the functionality of the app.
An article on Observe.com post entitled “The death of LinkedIn” caught my eye. This post spoke mostly about how business is being conducted on Facebook and no longer on LinkedIn. But I want to speak about job seekers on LinkedIn.
One claim the author makes in his article is that LinkedIn is now only populated with recruiters trolling for job seekers. Reading this article left me thinking that if LinkedIn is, in fact, where recruiters dwell, it needs to step up its game in order to make it the ultimate platform for job seekers.
1. Many recruiters I see posting on LinkedIn are posting on Facebook at a greater rate. I asked one recruiter why I haven’t seen him on LinkedIn as much, as LinkedIn is my preferred place to hang out, and he told me he sees more candidates on Facebook.
This is true. SilkRoad.com presented an alarming figure stating that more job seekers (64%) are on Facebook, while more recruiters (87%) are using LinkedIn to cull talent. Job seekers should smarten up and hang out where the recruiters are. That would be LinkedIn, by the way.
2. LinkedIn’s groups are not what they used to be. Ever since LinkedIn took away the ability to search for people in groups and communicate directly with all members, regardless of degree, participation has waned. Yes, there was spam and yes, group members complained; as a result we have now is less activity.
Groups are supposed to be platforms for conversations, as well as business transactions. But this is not happening as it was supposed to. The aforementioned article may be correct on this front when the author writes:
“Facebook groups are much more valuable nowadays for business than LinkedIn. There’s so much value and quality in conversations that it’s unbeatable.”
When LinkedIn placed Groups in the Work area—rather than making it prominent on the navigation bar—this sent a message of the unpopularity and, perhaps, death of Groups.
3. LinkedIn giveth and LinkedIn taketh. The feature that hooked me on LinkedIn was one that LinkedIn did away with around a decade ago. I’m speaking of Answers, which created a community that was asking questions and answering them. Granted not all answers were of the highest quality.
Many of the same people are turning to Quora, but the community that was created with Answers was affected by this move. Other features that have disappeared are Events, Reading List (people are still searches for a post I wrote on this feature), to name a couple.
4. You’re on your own with LinkedIn Pulse. No social media platform has the reach LinkedIn has for sharing one’s knowledge. Whether you’re in business or unemployed, you can share articles through Pulse.
LinkedIn hasn’t made efforts to dissuade its members from sharing information, but it has made reaching out to your connections more difficult.
LinkedIn once alerted your connections of every article you wrote, which gave you ultimate reach. This is no longer the case. LinkedIn made it clear that you’re responsible for marketing your own articles.
If what the aforementioned article says is true; only one percent of your connections will see your posts (based on a large network), you better do a great job of marketing your articles.
5. LinkedIn ain’t sexy; Facebook is. Facebook is emotionally charged; people might write stupid things. They post topics on politics, current events, and share photos of their vacation in Italy. There are no secrets on Facebook; people pour out their souls. But it’s all good to Facebook friends.
So why do I find myself spending approximately 50% more time on LinkedIn than I do Facebook? LinkedIn is a great source of gaining knowledge. I learn more about my industry than I do on Facebook. Nonetheless, the unspoken rule is don’t show too much personality in your LinkedIn updates.
6. LinkedIn makes job seekers pay for previous features. I haven’t paid a penny on Facebook and services have remained consistent; whereas LinkedIn requires its members to upgrade to premium accounts to recoup the features they used to have.
Case in point, with the advent of LinkedIn Lite, users must upgrade to Sales Navigator to retain Advanced Search features, tagging, and the full blown profile, among other features. This is an $80 a month investment.
I have suggested that all members pay a flat fee in order to be on the same page, and if they want high level sales or recruiter features, their companies can pay for said features. My suggestion that every LinkedIn user pay $9.99 a month is not popular; however, it would separate the true users from the ones who rarely use LinkedIn.
Good News: you can use Google to find a LinkedIn Trainer on LinkedIn. I wanted to find people in the Boston area, so I used this string:
site:linkedin.com (inurl:in OR inurl:pub) -intitle:directory -inurl:dir -inurl:jobs “greater boston area” “linkedin trainer”
LinkedIn isn’t dead
I stopped bashing Facebook in my LinkedIn workshops exactly one year and five months ago when I joined Facebook. Immediately I fell in love with it. But I also realized Facebook is a platform for a different purpose. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. So I interact differently on the two platforms.
LinkedIn has forced us to do with less, yet many LinkedIn faithful still spend more time using LinkedIn than Facebook. Some aren’t even on Facebook. I continue to use LinkedIn, because I believe it is the best way to network online.
Business to business networking, job seeking, developing relationships, disseminating and gathering information are LinkedIn’s purposes. As long as another product doesn’t come around that can promise these features, LinkedIn will stay alive.
Photo: Flickr, Coletivo Mambembe
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As a career strategist, I often come to the defense of older workers who experience ageism, but I don’t talk enough about reverse ageism. In other words, how older job seekers treat younger interviewers during the process.
I hear accounts from some older job seekers about how they had a hard time taking the younger interviewers seriously. Their arrogance speaks loudly as they talk about their interviewing experienc.
Let’s Reverse the Situation
When I talk about reverse ageism, this is the message I deliver to my clients: think about if you were younger and on the opposite side of the table interviewing people like you for a position, where personality fit is as important as technical abilities.
Think about how you would react if an older job candidate looked at you with disdain, seeing you as inexperienced and beneath his level? You would feel, as the younger interviewer, that hiring you would not be a marriage made in heaven. You would feel that you’d have to prove herself to the, albeit highly qualified, candidate on a regular basis.
Your every decision would be questioned. Any effort you would make to correct his actions or even reprimand him would be met with resistance. You would feel powerless. You would finally reason that hiring him would be the wrong decision.
Here’s Fact
The large majority of older workers have a great deal of value to offer employers. They’re knowledgeable in their work and possess life experience that younger workers do not. They want to work and are flexible with their schedule. They’re dependable, able to mentor others, and are great role models.
But this goes out the window when older job seekers think they’re all that or who have a chip on their shoulder. They are convinced they’ll experience ageism at every interview. In other words, they have lost the job before the interview begins.
Susan Jepson, who directed the National Senior Network, writes:
Without intending to, or without knowing it, mature workers can come across as arrogant, condescending; that behavior can invite rejection. Examine your beliefs and assumptions and work hard to be open and communicative with your interviewer, without prejudice of any kind.
Susan Jepson is an older worker, so she speaks objectively.
If you happen to be one who practices reverse ageism against younger interviewers, remember that the person sitting across from you deserves as much respect as you do.
1. She earned her job. Whether she has less experience on the job than you is irrelevant. Someone in the company determined that she was the most capable to manage a group of people. And yes, they could have been wrong.
2. Her job is to hire the best person. You are the best person, but if you show contempt or even hint to your superiority, she won’t see your talent through the less-than-desirable attitude you demonstrate.
3. She will appreciate your points of view. Once assured you’re not after her job, she may see you as a mentor and role model. Younger colleagues like the approval of older workers. Take it from someone who supervised someone 20 years my senior; her approval meant a lot to me.
4, She might have some growing to do. And if you want to succeed, you’ll realize that people of all ages have some growing to do, including you. You can help her through this process by building her self-esteem and confidence. It’s a wonderful thing to see someone grow under your tutelage.
5. She might fear that you’re after her job. So put her fears to rest by NOT talking about how you would eventually want to assume a position like hers, or her position specifically. Rather, assure her that your career goal begins with doing the best possible work at the position in question. Ultimately you want to help the company succeed.
6. Whether you like it or not, she will be your boss. What are your options right now? Enough said.
You may arrive at interviews where ageism is blatant due to no fault of yours. This is the time when you are the bigger man and leave with your pride intact, your head held high.
An organization that wants to succeed will hire a diverse workforce, which includes people of different races, religions, genders, ages, etc. Do your part to make the company succeed by accepting that younger employees have a great deal to offer. As much as you want a chance to get hired, give younger interviewers the chance to do their jobs.
For you hiring managers, you might have taken notice upon seeing the title of this post. While it’s true that job seekers can benefit from advice on their job-search techniques, there’s something to be said about how you can improve the process.
You can make the hiring process a better experience for job candidates. This is within your power, as you are usually the one making the hiring decision. Your goals is to hire the best possible candidates; it’s to your company’s benefit.
Are there hiring managers who interview well? Absolutely. They have mastered the process and hire great candidates. But for those who don’t, here are seven things to consider.
1. Get trained on how to interview properly. Smart companies send their hiring managers to training on how to interview properly. Hiring managers are taught about which questions to ask and how to conduct an interview that draws the best attributes out of job candidates.
“I’ve been managing people for years, and I was never trained how to interview candidates,” one of my workshop attendees said after I made the bold statement that some hiring managers are not the best interviewers.
The statement from my workshop attendee did not surprise me; training can be expensive and time intensive. The Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) provides training for hiring managers. Among the various techniques SHRM teaches is which questions to stay away from, namely illegal ones.
2. Don’t ask illegal questions. One of my clients told me he went to an interview and the second question the hiring manager asked was, “How old are you?” I asked him to repeat his statement. I was so shocked by this blatantly illegal question.
Although it’s hard to prove, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 candidates 40-years and older are protected by age discrimination. But age is not the only topic hiring managers should stay away from. Questions about nationality, marital status, gender identity, race, disability, political preference, and religion are taboo.
3. Don’t discount the value of the mature worker. Related to the previous reason, some hiring managers—young and older alike—discriminate against age. They are subtle about it, or quite obvious. Many of my clients, who average 53-years of age, tell me about times when they could see this on the hiring manager’s face.
This is not only illegal, it’s bad practice. Mature workers add value, through their job experience, maturity, great problem-solving skills, dependability, and more. Am I saying that mature workers don’t lack some skills younger workers do? No. Every age group has strengths and weaknesses.
4. Hiring the best candidate is a priority. Probably the last thing hiring managers want to do is interview someone for—as an example—an office manager, when she has multiple projects to oversee. Here’s the thing, the hiring manager needs someone who can run the office and make her life easier. She needs a problem solver.
Yes, overseeing the projects is important, but finding the right administrative assistant should take priority. Rushing through the process could lead to a wrong hire which doesn’t relieve the problem and can be expensive (approximately 30% of the candidates first annual salary).
5. Be willing to interview strangers. The preferred method of hiring a candidate is through a referral because candidates come with a mark of approval. But sometimes the best candidate is not known someone who works in the company or someone who knows someone who works in the company.
Herein lies the rub: hiring managers need to go through the process of reading résumés from strangers and interviewing them. As unpleasant as it may be, if they want the true problem solver they seek, the right person might not be a referral.
6. Work with your recruiters and HR. A complaint I often hear from recruiters and HR is that they need to play a bigger role in the process. They want to do more than conduct phone interviews to determine a candidate’s salary and experience.
Recruiters and HR want to be business partners and know hiring managers’ thoughts before approaching potential applicants. They should not go into screening candidates without a full understanding of what hiring managers are looking for in terms of: “the must haves vs. the nice to haves,” the interview layout, etc. Read this article from the Muse.
7. Stop looking for the purple squirrel. This is a common term meaning the candidates must be perfect. Candidates must be able to hit the ground running, a fit for the work environment, and liked by the hiring manager.
A candidate who has the required experience and is compatible with his colleagues and the hiring manager is essential; but some hiring managers want a clone of themselves and someone they would want to go out for drinks with. What’s most important is that the candidates possesses high EQ.
This last point is why many of my clients are frustrated by the time it takes employers to hire them. Three, four, five rounds of interviews. According to SHRM, the average time it takes employers to hire job seekers is 26 days. This figure seems low to me, as I’ve seen some of my clients wait two or three months for employers to pull the trigger.
Coupled with poor hiring methods and a long process, job seekers are frustrated. Do you blame them? I don’t.
Photo: Flickr, Kristof Ramon
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Congratulations, you are one of more than 500 million LinkedIn members. LinkedIn is touted as the most professional online networking platform. Many job seekers have used it to find jobs, while others have had no success. You don’t want to fall into the latter category.
The success of using LinkedIn depends on knowing why you’re using the networking platform and how to better use it. LinkedIn can be beneficial to your job search, but first decide if you should be using it.
You Have No Idea
You went through the easy process of securing your LinkedIn membership. Because you’re in the job hunt, a career expert told it would be the answer to your prayers. I curse the people who told you this.
If you really believe LinkedIn alone will land your next job, stop drinking the Cool Aid. LinkedIn is not the magic elixir that people might have told you it is. This is the hard truth. Now let me tell you what you have to do.
Have you seen the television program, “The Biggest Loser.” This is you. You will work harder than you’ve worked before…not to lose weight, of course. If you think I’m exaggerating, ask people who have succeeded using LinkedIn to find a job.
Here’s what you need to do: create a profile; connect with people you don’t know; and engage with said people. This is a tall order, but you can do it. The most promising thing about you is that you’re open to all advice LinkedIn authorities offer you. The question is if you’re hungry enough to do what it takes.
Please read this sequence of posts for a full explanation onhow to use LinkedIn
You’re Half-Committed
Maybe you’re a tweeny; you have an inkling of an idea of LinkedIn and are knowledgeable enough to be dangerous. You joined the last time you were out of work but neglected LinkedIn after you landed your previous job; now it’s time to get back on the horse. You have promise, though.
First things first; your profile resembles your résumé. That’s because it is. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I suggest to my clients that they start with their résumé as a foundation, but from there they need to turn it into more of a networking document.
The solution is to do serious work on your Branding Headline, create a Summary that reflects your passion and value, and beef up your Experience section. This is what I mean by making your profile a networking document, while still maintaining your value to potential employers.
Next, slowly reconnect with with people in your network. Slowly because you don’t want to come across as someone who needs something only when you contact someone. My kids do this. Don’t be like my kids.
Finally, you’ll become more visible by sharing updates on a regular basis. I generally suggest sharing updates two times a day, four days a week…at a minimum. For those who are a little more committed, engaging with your connections every day is your goal.
Read about the next LinkedIn member, The Pro.
You’re a Pro
You know exactly why you’re using LinkedIn. You have a solid strategy that will land you a job. You’re a pro. This post may not enlighten you, other than you are curious to see if you are on track. You are.
I know your’e a pro when I ask you how often you use LinkedIn, and what you use LinkedIn for. The answer to my first question is…you guessed it, every day. How you’re using it is to continue your lifelong networking efforts.
You are making efforts to connect with people at companies for which you want to work, which means you have a target company list. You’re making substantial connections, some of whom you have met for coffee, or at the very least talked with on the phone.
Occasionally you use the Jobs feature to apply for jobs online, but you know this isn’t the most productive way to spend time looking for work. You notice the alumni who work/ed at your target companies, so you reach out to them. You’re stoked if your fraternity brothers work at a few of your target companies. Hey, bro!
Here is a partial list of what you have in place:
A profile that effectively brands you. There’s nothing more that can be done with your profile.
Keywords that put you within the first four pages of profile searches.
More than 1,500 connections, many of whom are recruiters. Yes, it’s cool to connect with recruiters.
Engaging with your connections in a number of ways, such as sharing illuminating industry updates, writing posts on LinkedIn that brand you, asking questions that provoke thought, etc.
In industry groups, where recruiters also hang out, and starting and adding to discussions.
Most importantly, introducing your fellow job seekers to people who can be of assistance.
Coupled with your strong LinkedIn campaign and personal networking, you’re not going to be unemployed too long. Your strategy is straightforward; connect with quality LinkedIn members and create a mutually helpful relationship. As they say, you’re killing it.
Far be it from me to suggest no one joins LinkedIn. The most important thing to discover is why you’re on LinkedIn. Once you’ve determined this, you’ll have to put in the appropriate amount of effort.
Searching for a job was scary and one of the most difficult times in your life. But you made it. You landed the job you wanted. Your job search took longer than you would have liked, but you persevered for six months.
When you think about what led you through your journey and to this new opportunity, you can pinpoint 6 distinct reasons:
1. You demonstrated emotional intelligence (EQ).There were times when you felt like throwing in the towel. You felt like staying in bed dreading the days ahead. Your feelings of despondency were unseen by others, save for loved ones and your closest friends.
When you were networking in your community, attending networking groups three times a week, and taking workshops at the local career center, you showed a confident demeanor. You were positive and demonstrated a willingness to help others. Despite negative thoughts, you did your best to help yourself and others.
2. You developed a target company list. Taking the advice of your career advisor, you made a list of companies for which you wanted to work. She told you to spend time researching your target companies and contacting people for networking meetings before jobs were advertised.
You left each networking meeting with different people to contact. You had the sense that one person, a VP of Marketing and Sales, had an interest in you. He led you to the door saying, “We might be in touch with you real soon.” But you didn’t rely on this one occurrence.
You continued to build your target company list and ask for networking meetings. You were spending less time applying for jobs online and more time meeting with quality connections. You were optimistic. You felt productive.
3. You upped your LinkedIn campaign. You knew how important it is to be on LinkedIn in order to reach out to many people across the state, the country, the world. You were told how important LinkedIn can be to your job search, but you were skeptical.
There was a great deal of work to do, including creating a profile that was based on your résumé, but you developed it into more of a networking document. You personalized it, employing first-person point of view.
You learned the value of connecting with people on LinkedIn, how you can narrow your search to consist of quality connections who are in your industry. Despite all this, you are behind the eight ball because you started your campaign later than others. Your realized you needed to play catch up.
Your company list was not developed in vain, as you used it to connect with people within those companies. One advisor told you to build your foundation in companies for which you wanted to work.
4. You networked the proper way. At networking events you were attentive to others, while also willing to ask for help. Many people think only of their situation, not of helping others. Not you. You kept your eyes open for opportunities for your networking companions.
When people ask you for leads at companies of interest, you gave them the names of hiring managers in various departments. You became known as the “Connector.” Weeks later, you were happy to learn of one of your networking companions landing a position at a company, based on one of your leads.
You also networked in your community. Told everyone you knew that you were looking for a job and asked them to keep their ears to the pavement. Who would have known that your neighbor across the street would be the reason you landed your job?
He worked at one of your target companies and knew the VP of marketing and would deliver your résumé to him. Put in a good word. You were asked to come in to have a few discussions.
5. You wrote killer résumés. Yes, plural. Because you tailored as many of your résumés as possible to each job, knowing that every employer has different needs. A one-fits-all résumé doesn’t work. In addition, you eliminated fluff from your Performance Profile. It’s better to show, rather than tell.
Most importantly, you packed a punch in your Experience section by listing accomplishment statements with quantified results. Results like, “Increased productivity by 80%” sounds better than simply, “Increased productivity.”
Using your network was key in getting your résumé into the hands of the hiring managers, such as the time your neighbor delivered your value-packed résumé to that hiring manager.
6. You nailed the interviews at one of your target companies. There were five interviews for the job your neighbor led you to; two telephone, two group, and a one-on-one. You were prepared for each interview, having researched the company, the position, their competition, even the interviewers.
You used LinkedIn to discover who the interviewers were. One was a youth soccer coach, like you. Another had gone to your alma mater. And another was a veteran, so you were sure to thank her for her service. That went over very well.
After each interview you sent unique follow-up notes to every interviewer, ensuring that you mentioned a specific point of interest made by each one. You even sent a thank-you note to the receptionist. Smart move.
After 6 months, you received an email from the VP of marketing telling you they were offering you the position of marketing manager and were also exceeding your salary requirement.
7. Your work was not complete. You didn’t forget the people who helped you along the way, such as the person who helped you revise your résumé, the people with whom you formally networked, and certainly your neighbor who led you to your new job. They deserved thanks.
In the true spirit of networking, there were people who you could help in a more meaningful way, such as Sydney from your networking group who was looking for an engineering position.
There was a mechanical engineer position opening in your new company. You mentioned the position to Sydney and gave her a good word. Wouldn’t you know; you changed Sydney’s life for the better.
I’ve heard many stories from my clients who have similar plots to this one. Their job search wasn’t easy. Their landing was well deserved. But they had to display EQ, do their research, help others, and be willing to help themselves. If you are dedicated to do the same, your job search will be shorter.
My two daughters used to love writing. My oldest preferred expository writing, while my youngest loved dabbling in creative writing, primarily poetry that had taken on an inner angst slant. I loved reading their essays and stories. Proofreading and editing them was a pleasure.
My youngest daughter once asked me if I write. I told her that I do, and she asked if I write for work. This was a tough question to answer because I don’t get paid for blogging, but I see the doors it opens. Blogging is an investment in the future. How do you explain this to a 13-year-old kid?
Now, I tell my clients that blogging can be beneficial to their job search. I’m often met with reactions like, “Be real, Bob.” Here’s what I tell them about blogging for their job search.
Demonstrates your ability to write
If you enjoy writing and are particularly good at it, blogging gives you the perfect platform. Keep in mind that what you write will be read by people who hope to gain some advice from your writing, not your memoir or short stories based on your college years.
Enjoying the act of writing makes it easier to maintain a consistent schedule of posts. Start with one every other week and then increase them to a point where you are blogging once a week.
If you need trusted people to proofread your posts before sending them out, don’t be afraid to ask. Some of my clients have run their posts by me. My comments were usually: “You’re instincts are correct. Run with it.”
It enhances your brand
Blogging is one of many ways you can enhance your online presence. It demonstrates your expertise in your field, especially if what you write is educational and of use to your readers. This means you need to understand the needs of your audience.
I encourage my clients to blog to demonstrate their expertise. “Everyone in this room is an expert at what you do,” I tell them. This is true. From the purchasing agent to the nurse to the software engineer, they all have knowledge to share.
When recruiters, hiring managers, and HR read your posts, they’ll learn more about your expertise and personality than any résumé you write. Use your professional voice. Begin with a story, if you like. Just remember that the purpose of your posts are to educate your audience.
Also, keep your content positive; refrain from bashing former employers. This is one way to severely damage your brand. I’ve seen people submit negative posts on LinkedIn, which remain in the minds of LinkedIn users.
On the plus side, one of my clients went to an interview where the VP of marketing commented that he saw one of my client’s posts shared on LinkedIn. The VP was very impressed with my client’s expertise and offered him the job shortly after the interview.
It’s a great way to network
The third and final reason to blog is to network on social media like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Provide links in your posts to other bloggers’ posts. They will receive a ping telling them you’ve done this.
Other ways to acknowledge bloggers is by sharing their posts with your LinkedIn connections, tweeting and re-tweeting them, commenting on them, sharing them in your groups, etc. These are all effective ways to develop and strengthen your network.
You’ll find that by supporting other bloggers you will receive some love in return. I wrote a post on the qualities of being a curator called To share is golden. This post illustrates how important it is to not only blog, but to share the work of others. I also listed who I consider to be great curators, and I add to the list from time to time.
So, how do you begin? A connection of mine listened to me bemoan about how I wanted to blog, until she told me to simply do it. After a year of putting it off I finally wrote my first blog with my free WordPress account. And now I consistently blog at least one post a week.
Don’t wait like I did to blog. And think of something that really interests you about your occupation. Don’t expect your first post to be a hit—although it may be. Be patient and stick with it.
You don’t have a WordPress account. LinkedIn makes it easy for first-time bloggers. You can “write an article on the platform,” precluding the need to open a free WordPress account (as I did). The mechanics are straightforward. On your LinkedIn homepage you select “Write an article” and take it from there.
I hope my daughters continue writing in their later years because it is rewarding to the soul. They are excellent writers who will someday make significant contributions to this valuable art. Who knows, maybe one of them will be famous for their writing. One can only hope.
You might be a beginner on LinkedInor even well versed with the platform. Either way this compilation of posts can help you use LinkedIn more effectively. Stay current by reading the most recent ones or all of them. I hope these posts help you with your job search.
The problem with public proclamations is that when you make them you have to practice what you preach, lest you be labeled a hypocrite. Case in point, I’ve stated that one should only share three to four posts a week. This means that if I’ve reached four posts by Wednesday, I’m shut off for the week. At least in my mind I am.
You have valuable content to share—be it long posts, articles, videos, or audios—but it’s not being seen and appreciated by your audience. You conclude that your efforts are being wasted. They are if all you’re doing is flooding your connections’ feeds with your content.
One viable form of content not listed in the paragraph above is comments written in response to other LinkedIn members’ posts. While you might be posting like a bandit, you’re losing half the battle if you’re not commenting on what other’s post.
Have you ever had questions about writing a resume and LinkedIn profile, networking, interviewing, or any aspect of the job search? Of course you have. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article on how to find job-search content using LinkedIn.
In this article, I revisit the LinkedIn profile to discuss what was and what is. Creating a profile that brands you is the ultimate purpose of your LinkedIn profile. However, your profile alone won’t effectively accomplish this goal; you also need to create a focused network and engage with your connections.
This article addresses how you should express your greatness with your resume and LinkedIn profile. In terms of your profile, there are at least 6 areas where you an show your greatness. Make use of these areas. Don’t be shy; you have permission.
Metrics in the form of numbers, percentages, and dollars give your resume’s or LinkedIn profile’s accomplish statements power and separate you from the fold. They cause readers to take note. They complete the story. They show proof.
Based on a poll I conducted on LinkedIn, 65% of voters said metrics on your job-search documents are important to have, 25% voted “No,” and 10% stated, “It depends.” The poll is still active with 1,334 people who have voted.
Smart consumers understand the value of their time and getting the job done right. That’s why hiring a professional writer to write your job-search documents (resume and LinkedIn profile) might be the best way to go. Sixty-four percent of voters chose having someone write their documents, even some resume writers.
Most hiring authorities (recruiters, hiring managers, and HR) who read many LinkedIn profiles at a sitting will tell you that the Experience section is where they will go first when reading a LinkedIn profile. Not the About or Education sections.
There’s no debate when it comes to which document hiring authorities turn to first when evaluating you on “paper.” The resume wins this debate. For the time being. But with 78% or more recruiters looking for talent on LinkedIn, the profile comes in at a strong runner up.
Like the resume, hiring authorities (recruiters, hiring managers, and HR) want to see accomplishments on your profile. Additionally, if you don’t have a LinkedIn presence, you might not be considered for the role.
Many of my clients don’t give enough thought to helping hiring authorities find them on LinkedIn. What I mean by this is that they don’t list their contact info on their profile. Essentially, they’re hiding from the very people who could be instrumental in them landing a job.
This is the final article of a three-part series that looks at the most important sections of the LinkedIn profile, the About, Experience, and now the Headline. It’s debatable as to which is the most important of the three profile sections, but according to a poll taken on LinkedIn, the Headline is the most important.
What happens when you get 16 LinkedIn pros together to talk about creating a powerful LinkedIn profile About section? You get an variety of incredible answers. You might think all of the answers would be similar. Not so.
The previous installment of the three most notable LinkedIn profile sections addressed the About section. This installment looks at what some, particularly recruiters, consider to be the most important section, Experience. If some of you protest Experience being the most important, don’t worry. The next installment will look at the Headline.
No matter how you slice it, there are five areas you must nail on your LinkedIn profile. People’s opinions vary on the order of preference, so the best I can do is give you my take on this and why I list them in my order of preference.
In a poll I conducted a year ago, of 1,189 people who voted, 46% chose the Headline over the About and Experience sections. I was in the minority and chose About (24%). The runner up was Experience (30%)
It’s estimated that at least 60% of LinkedIn members use the mobile app. Further, a poll I conducted on LinkedIn showed that 65% of the participants use the the app more than their computer (desktop or laptop).
In this article I dive into eight major LinkedIn features on both platforms. I discuss how some of features differ between the mobile app and computer platform, so you can understand the advantages and disadvantages of using both.
Have you ever had LinkedIn fatigue? I have. It’s the time when you open LinkedIn, look at it on the screen–computer or phone–and think to yourself that now’s not the day or week to be on LinkedIn. You need a break. Read this article to confirm your feeling of LinkedIn fatigue.
LinkedIn’s Companies‘ feature is a treasure trove of information if you’re searching for people with whom to connect. It’s of more value if you have a reason to connect with said people, namely they’re on your company target list (but this is a whole article in itself).
It comes as no surprise to me that most people feel engagement is the most important component of a LinkedIn campaign. A poll conducted on LinkedIn clearly showed that almost half the voters (47%) agree.
The other two components are a branding/optimized profile, which garnered 29% of the votes and a focused network, which was narrowly beat out with 24% of the votes.
Whether you’re networking via video platform or in person, at some point LinkedIn can play a huge role in your success. I’ve witnessed this with my clients who have forged relationships with other job seekers, mentors, coaches, people in their target companies, and hiring authorities.
It’s no secret that the Recommendations section has lost the allure it once had. Why’s that? We would all agree that employers want to know more about you than what you have on your resume. They want to know how others saw your performance and personality. But how will they find your recommendations if they’ve been banished to the basement of your profile? This article will explain how.
I’ve written or critiqued hundreds of LinkedIn profiles in my role as a career coach. Whether this impresses you matters not. I only mention this to let you know I’ve seen brilliant, so-so, and downright terrible profiles. In this article I’m going to address what makes a profile terrible.
Most people have a hard time engaging with the LinkedIn community, according to a poll I’m conducting on LinkedIn. Although the poll’s only on its second day, it reveals that 42% find it difficult to engage and 21% feel it’s somewhat difficult. Only 37% have no difficulty engaging with the LinkedIn community?
When you think about what makes a winning LinkedIn Profile, what comes to mind? Is it the first impression—background image, headshot, and Headline—the About, Experience and Volunteer sections, Skills & Endorsements, or Recommendations?
When I talk with my clients about their LinkedIn profile About section, I tell them it should tell their story. But that’s too vague. There’s more to your About section than this simple statement. Another way to explain this section is that it should encompass your overall value.
I will be the first to admit that networking on LinkedIn is complex; it’s not straightforward. What does networking on LinkedIn involve? The first step is having a strategy, which will take some forethought. You also have to be willing to reach out to LinkedIn members you don’t know. These steps are the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
In a poll that that asked, “Do you have two lives? Do you separate your LinkedIn life from your Facebook life?” nearly 70% of the 7,442 voters answered Yes. What they share on LinkedIn is professional and what they share on Facebook is personal.
Seven percent of the voters said they share the same or similar content between both platforms, and 26% are AWOL from Facebook. They’ve been there, down that
What constitutes success when creating content to share on LinkedIn? One measure of success is getting many people to react and comment on your posts, videos, articles, podcasts, etc.
Some contributors say that educating their audience—e.g. on how to find a job—is the ultimate definition of success. This is an altruistic view and, some would argue, should be the goal of everyone who creates content to share on LinkedIn.
If you think your LinkedIn profile alone will get you an interview, you’re sadly mistaken. I wish it were that easy. Imagine that you could write a great profile and wait for the interview offers to roll in. Sadly, this is not the case; it takes more than just your LinkedIn profile to get to interviews
Anytime a “Top 10” list is created there is some doubt in the minds of the readers if the selection process was fair. This is why I asked a committee of eight people to choose which 10 LinkedIn profile Headlines stand out from a list of the ultimate list of 80+ LinkedIn voices job seekers should follow.
Approximately 65% of LinkedIn members use the LinkedIn mobile app, and some prefer it over the lap/desktop version, which doesn’t surprise me. In some ways I prefer the app because of its convenience and above average functionality. This article looks at other features LinkedIn users appreciate.
In these times, you might be considering a career change or, at least, shifting to another industry. How do you explain this on your #LinkedIn profile?
This guest article is from Hannah Morgan, a LinkedIn Top Voice, job-search strategist, and founder of Career Sherpa.net. Wondering what to post on LinkedIn? Hannah provides great advice on what to share with the LinkedIn community.
You’ve updated your LinkedIn profile for the one-millionth time but nada, nothing, zilch. No one is contacting you. What if I told you that having a dazzling profile is just one small part of getting found on LinkedIn.
How to write an invite to convince someone to join your network is a common topic. But what about accepting a LinkedIn user’s invite? Do you accept the default non-message? How about an invite that includes a personalized message? In this article, based on a poll I conducted, I talk about four types of invites.
I put a friend to the test by having him tell me what I had just changed in my LinkedIn profile Headline. He couldn’t tell me. Which means he didn’t know what I had for a previous Headline. Which also means it wasn’t memorable. This begs the question if the Headline is so important, shouldn’t people remember it?
Guest writer and recruiter Jeff Lipschultz is a 20+ year veteran in management, hiring, and recruiting of all types of business and technical professionals. He has worked in industries ranging from telecom to transportation to dotcom.
This guest post was written by Ed Han, a recruiter known for his excellent job-search advice. It first appeared on Job-Hunt.org. In it he talks about the three main benefits of posts, making and sharing status updates, finding your updates, making appropriate update posts, and how sharing Facebook posts is inappropriate.
If you ever wondered what LinkedIn features you missed in 2020, Kevin D. Turner has laid it out in this article (Originally published here). Kevin is all stats and to the point. To this end, you’ll learn a lot by reading what he has summed up. My favorite addition? Polls, of course. What is your favorite feature?
If you’re a job seeker and you haven’t optimized your LinkedIn profile, you’re missing out on a ton of opportunities. In today’s market, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find and vet new candidates. But not everyone is capitalizing on what the platform has to offer.
In this post, Austin walks you through three highly actionable tactics that will help you appear in more searches, get more profile views, and land more jobs.
So you can’t think of any accomplishments, let alone with quantified results. The next best thing: testimonials. Perhaps using testimonials on your LinkedIn profile would be more impressive.
Like any list one creates, there’s a magic number in mind. It could be 10, 20, 30, etc. Mine was 50 LinkedIn voices job seekers should follow, but then I dug deeper in the proverbial weeds and found more than 50 voices who deserved to be on this list. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten people, so more will be added.
You might have noticed that content on LinkedIn has taken on a more personal touch. While I’ve never been a fan of this, I can understand it and even accept it…to a point. There was a time when I would write in the comments, “Take it to Facebook” when someone shared something personal. Now I simply scroll on down.
It’s never pleasant to remove someone from your LinkedIn network. But sometimes it has to happen. Like the person I mention in this article. I had to go to said person’s profile, click More, and then Remove Connection. I didn’t do it with malice. Like I said, “Sometimes it has to happen.”
There are many reasons why your photo should be more recent than ancient. In the comments of the poll, I shared an article I wrote back in 2016 called 4 ways your LinkedIn photo is an imposter. Trust me, the ways people’s photos are an imposter haven’t changed. Here is a rundown of what makes your photo an imposter:
I had this great idea to ask my students to be the teacher and teach me how to write a better profile, create a more effective network, and how to engage with my network. Some of them wrote that as the instructor, how can my LinkedIn campaign be improved. This article addresses how to have your LinkedIn campaign critiqued.
You’ve heard it before: LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional, online networking application with approximately 700 million worldwide members. And according to many sources, at least 87 percent of recruiters are sourcing for talent on LinkedIn. It makes sense to utilize LinkedIn for your online networking.
From guest writer Adrienne Tom: Earlier this year, LinkedIn rolled out a small change to personal profiles that seemingly went unnoticed: they increased the headline character count from 120 to 220. This increase may not seem significant; however, increased characters afford users (you!) additional real estate to share value and attract readers.
Occasionally I’m asked which I prefer writing or reviewing, a résumé or LinkedIn profile. To use a tired cliché, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Read this article to discover why the résumé and LinkedIn profile are different.
Guest article from Virginia Franco. Career change is more complex now with online visibility required, particularly on the most important social network for professionals — LinkedIn. LinkedIn for career change is extra tricky because your resume and applications must align with your LinkedIn Profile because most employers and recruiters compare the two.
Like a lopsided political race, this one is a landslide. I’m talking about a LinkedIn poll asking 3,338 voters to chose between keeping either their resume or LinkedIn profile. Which one wins by 72%? Why, the LinkedIn profile, of course. I’m not at all surprised by the result.
I am particularly fond of LinkedIn’s poll feature which has been brought back from the early years. With Create a Poll, you can ask LinkedIn members to vote on certain topics like which three new features They appreciate most–Open to Work, Create a Poll, or Add Name Pronunciation? To my chagrin, Create a Poll didn’t win.
Wouldn’t you know it, the LinkedIn profile Headline is deemed more important than the About and Experience sections. In a recent poll conducted on LinkedIn, in which 1,189 people voted, 46% of the voters chose the Headline over Experience, 30%, and About, 24%.
An optimized profile is important, but it’s not the end all be all. A strong LinkedIn campaign also includes a focused network and engagement. This is clear based on a poll I conducted on LinkedIn. At the end of the poll, 787 people weighed in. I would say this is a legitimate case study.
Working for a One-Stop career center, I’m often confronted by job seekers who haven’t used LinkedIn but know they must in order to shorten their job search. Some of them believe they should begin by writing a compelling profile which makes good sense. But is a profile alone enough?
We’re in the midst of COVID-19 which has forced many of us to stay at home. To make matters worse, unemployment has risen to unprecedented levels. Now is the time to work on your LinkedIn profile, especially if it needs a lot of work.
To land a job in 2020, you will need to have a strong LinkedIn profile. And, that profile needs to clearly brand you. But is a strong, well-branded LinkedIn profile enough? According to four LinkedIn experts it isn’t.
I asked Hannah Morgan, Kevin Turner, Jessica Hernandez, and Andy Foote for their insights for the year ahead and received answers ranging from the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) to building a strong network and engaging with your network.
LinkedIn has launched a new interview-practice feature which leaves me with a sense of ambiguity. On one hand, I think it’s a great attempt to educate job seekers on how to interview for a position. On the other hand, there are limitations to this new feature.
The latest article makes a comparison between your LinkedIn profile and a combination résumé. Your About section is the functional piece of the combination résumé and the Experience section should be written with as much detail on the profile and résumé.
To land a job in 2020, more than ever, you’ll need to be proactive rather than reactive. In other words, stop blasting out job applications 10 per day. If you’ve been doing this for months, by now you know the ROI is very low.
This act of futility demands different approaches. This article explains how to be more proactive in your job search by researching and using LinkedIn.
You’ve heard of the seven deadly sins—Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth. Two years ago I heard a podcast talking about them. Two years later I’m writing an article focusing on the sins you’re committing with your LinkedIn campaign.
They are not the deadly sins discussed in the podcast I listened to, but they can definitely hurt your campaign and, consequently, your job search.
All too often job seekers and business people ignore their Experience section, assuming people will know what their positions entail. Even if you’re a CEO, visitors would like more description of what you and your company have accomplished. Don’t undersell this important section of your profile.
Many people won’t look at your Accomplishments section. Many people don’t even know it exists. How do you draw people to this important area of your profile? You direct them to this area by mentioning it in your About section.
Like many people, I dislike New Year’s resolutions, mainly because we rarely achieve them. But this year I’m going to set some resolutions that are attainable. The resolutions I vow to achieve are ones that relate to LinkedIn. These are ones I can do. I also hope my resolutions will benefit other LinkedIn users, namely job seekers; that they will emulate them. The following are 10 actions I will take in 2020.
It’s safe to say I’ve critiqued or written hundreds of LinkedIn profiles. What’s most important in a profile is that it brands the LinkedIn member; it sends a clear, consistent message of the value the member will deliver to employers. Does your profile brand you?
In a recent LinkedIn Official Blog post, the author suggests you should connect “with people you know and trust.” This seems like sound advice on the surface, but it shouldn’t be followed literally. My suggestion is to take it a step further and connect with like-minded people.
Engaging on LinkedIn can be tough. It requires dedication, stretching your zone and putting yourself out there. But here’s the thing; if you don’t engage, you’ll be forgotten by your connections. In this article I coach you on how to engage on LinkedIn.
No, this is not an article for LinkedIn power users (but there are articles for those in this compilation). This article is for busy people who want to make the most of LinkedIn.
In a recent LinkedIn post, I asked my LinkedIn community to take a quiz consisting of 15 questions. Those who took it were honest about their LinkedIn prowess, or lack thereof. I promised in this post that I would reveal the entire quiz I give my clients. The quiz I give my clients consists of 50 questions. If you decide to take it and don’t score 100%, don’t worry. There is always room for improvement. I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t have a perfect score.
One of the things I like about the LinkedIn profile is the ability to express your written voice. This is particularly important for job seekers, as it gives hiring authorities an idea of their personality. The résumé, on the other hand, doesn’t do this as well as the profile.
I’ve come across thousands of job seekers who believe in the power LinkedIn provides to help them land a job. I haven’t, however, come across as many people who believe in using LinkedIn after they’ve landed. They feel that once LinkedIn has done its job, it’s time to part ways.
Why is that? Do people not see the value of LinkedIn in their work?
Unwanted sales pitches or requests to read an article can be irritating, but is it worth shaming the offender? In this article, people on LinkedIn weigh in. What do they suggest? Read to find out.
You might be in a situation where your company requires you to make your profile more about it than you. If this doesn’t settle with you, try compromising. In other words, dedicate most of your profile to your greatness and the rest to your company’s. Easy Peasy.
When you send an invite to a LinkedIn member to join your network, it’s important that you personalize the message. To do otherwise would show a lack of effort, and your invitation would probably we rejected. So what do you write in the message box when you send the invite off? This article explains how to write a cold invite, use a reference, and ask for an introduction.
If you’re searching for a job, LinkedIn can shorten your search. You’ve probably been told this, but it’s well worth repeating. Will using LinkedIn alone guarantee that you land your next gig? No; LinkedIn is a great supplement to your in-person networking, but you need to engage in both for a strong networking campaign.
LinkedIn can play an important role in your job search. You might be neglecting LinkedIn, thus hurting your chances of landing a job. Read this article to discover 8 common ways people neglect LinkedIn.
Are you wondering if you’re on LinkedIn? This article is meant for you. If you are on LinkedIn, this article will confirm your wise choice. The first thing you need to determine is if your industry is well represented.
This article stands the test of time, as I see negative posts here and there on LinkedIn. Think about how it hurts your personal brand when you show your negativity. In this article I use an analogy of a boyhood friend who was always angry. Eventually we drifted away.
Many people who know me, consider me a LinkedIn connoisseur. They would never imagine that I, in fact, enjoy Facebook. Awhile back, I decided if I were going to bash Facebook, I had to know what I was bashing. In any case, there are times when Facebook is preferable over LinkedIn. This article talks about the strengths of both.
In this popular post, I address the first 50 (approximately) first words of your Summary. Find out why they are important. This post is a good one to read after the previous one.
If you’re a college student, this post is for you. Now is the time to join LinkedIn, but use this platform to its fullest. Hard work? Sure it is. But you can do it.
Many of my clients are unaware of the Contact Info area on their profile. This is a bit disconcerting, especially since it’s an area stock full of information. Make sure you’re utilizing it, as well as checking other LinkedIn members’ Contact Info.
To endorse or not endorse? That is a question many LinkedIn users have. Are endorsements valid? Here are three reasons why you should endorse others on LinkedIn for their skills.
Writing your LinkedIn profile or revising it takes reflection. For example, think about how you want to brand yourself. Your profile is not simply your resume. And consider who your audience is.
When you’re searching for people on LinkedIn, there’s a nifty feature called All Filters. It allows you to narrow your job search to find who you need to connect with or send an Inmail. Read this post to learn about All Filters.
There’s more revealed on your profile than what your Summary, Experience, Education, and other major sections. Read this post to find out what reviewers see when they read your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn members can see your activity section. That’s if you have one. If you don’t have this section, you might turn people away, including hiring authorities. Don’t make this mistake. Engage on LinkedIn.
Many of my clients don’t give enough thought to helping hiring authorities find them on LinkedIn. What I mean by this is that they don’t list their contact info on their profile. Essentially, they’re hiding from the very people who could be instrumental in them landing a job.
If you want employers to know you’re unemployed, here are 5 possible ways to do it. I’ll give my opinion on which ways are not preferable and which are. Here’s a hint, leaving your last position open is the least preferable.
Although this post is written for younger LinkedIn users, the idea that you can connect with people you don’t know applies to everyone. Read the story of my daughter and the advice I give her.
I consider myself to be a fair guy. When LinkedIn does things right, I compliment them. When they do wrong, I criticize them. This time LinkedIn made a smart move by joining multiple job titles to fit under one company icon. But in the same fell swoop, LinkedIn truncating each position.
Use this checklist to improve your LinkedIn profile. This is part 1 of a 3-part series. To succeed in your LinkedIn campaign, follow these posts on creating a strong LinkedIn profile, building your network, and engaging on LinkedIn.
After a client asked me if she should send an invite to a recruiter after their first interview, it prompted me to ask recruiters who hang out on Facebook this question. Surprisingly, their answers were a definitive yes. Read what they have to say.
Recommendations were once the rave of the LinkedIn profile; some considered them the profile’s best feature. Recruiters only had to read them to see your excellence. They could make a quick decision on whether to contact you or not. This is no longer the case.
Would you go to an interview or business meeting without shoes? Of course not. So I wonder why people feel that a Summary statement on their LinkedIn profile is unnecessary. Having viewed hundreds profiles, I’ve seen many that simply begin with the Experience section and have no Summary.
I’m often asked by my clients how they can be found by recruiters on LinkedIn. That’s a great question, and contrary to what my job seekers think, optimizing your profile with keywords is not enough.
Many people think having a great LinkedIn profile is enough. Well, think again. You must also develop a targeted and large network, as well as engage with your connections. These are the three pieces to a successful LinkedIn campaign.
If you’re not paying attention to the Dashboard on your LinkedIn profile, you’re missing out on some information. Who’s viewing your profile, how many views does your latest post have, and how many people have searched for you, plus more.
The first rule is your profile background image must match your occupation/industry. Well, not really. But that’s how most people try to do it. There are five other rules you can ignore in 2018.
LinkedIn’s at it again. New changes to the top of your profile; what I call the Snapshot area. These changes are for the most part nice. Learn what they are by reading this post.
There are two rules I abide by when connecting with someone and after being accepted to someone’s network. Learn what they are and why they’re important.
It’s no longer just about completing all the sections on your profile, you need to know where to include the keywords to be better found. Read this post to learn where the keywords matter most.
Now that your profile is optimized for 2018, it’s time to optimize your network. This post helps you get the most out of your network by explaining the 5 types of connections with whom you should engage.
No one knows when LinkedIn will make changes to its functionality. Some changes are good, others make you scratch your head wondering why certain changes were made. This has been LinkedIn’s MO since its inception.
I will be the last person to say “everyone” should be on LinkedIn if they want to land a job. Although LinkedIn is important in the job search, it’s not right for everyone.
How do you connect with people on LinkedIn? And what are the five steps to take to connect properly? Learn about the feature “Connections of” and how it can be a game player when you’re asking for an introduction or making a “cold call” connection.
You’ll need to use LinkedIn when you’re looking for work, working, and while in school. This post is ideal for all LinkedIn users. Are you using LinkedIn the way you should?
In this article I compare building your LinkedIn profile to painting a fence. Great fun writing this one. But seriously, these are the major components to be concerned about.
LinkedIn members need to be aware of the LinkedIn mobile app, as it will soon surpass the use of its computer application. This is one of a three-part series that discusses the LinkedIn profile on the mobile app.
Although the LinkedIn mobile app doesn’t offer as much functionality as the desktop version, it is a powerful platform. Check out the differences between the two.
One gets the feeling that LinkedIn is migrating its desktop platform to its mobile app. Maybe not tomorrow, but gradually. The most obvious hint is the way the desktop’s interface increasingly resembles the app. We noticed this when LinkedIn launched its new, slimmed-down platform almost a year ago.
LinkedIn is not kind to people who commit certain faux pas. Shall we say the LinkedIn police are watching? Be sure not to post irrelevant information, for example. There are six more.
There are some LinkedIn principles I hold which are quite rigid. They guide me in how I interact with people on LinkedIn. You may agree with some of them, and you may think some of them are bunk.
This post highlights 10 of the most important steps you need to take to be successful on LinkedIn. Read part one for the first five steps and then part two for the final five steps.
Sharing what others write is a benefit to not only that person, but a benefit to you as well. You come across as someone who cares about your LinkedIn community. This post includes names of people who are great curators.
This is one of the more popular posts I’ve written. It addresses the way LinkedIn’s profiles have changed. Even as I’m writing this, I’m sure LinkedIn is making more changes.
It’s embarrassing to say how often I used to post on LinkedIn. I don’t post nearly as much as I used to, but I still post often. How many posts are too much?
You can’t move the Experience section on your resume, nor the Education, nor Skills and Endorsements. What effect does this have on you?
About Me
Bob McIntosh, CPRW, is a career trainer who leads more than 20 job search workshops/webinars at an urban career center, as well as critiques LinkedIn profiles and conducts mock interviews.
Job seekers and staff look to him for advice on the job search. In addition, Bob has gained a reputation as a LinkedIn authority in the community.
Recently he was awarded one of LinedIn’s Top Voices for his contributions on LinkedIn.
He started the first LinkedIn program at the Career Center of Lowell and created workshops to support the program. People from across the state attend his LinkedIn workshops.
Bob’s greatest pleasure is helping people find rewarding careers in a competitive job market. For enjoyment, he blogs at Things Career Related. Connect with Bob on LinkedInand follow him on Twitter.
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If your side hustle is computer based, that’s fine, as long as you take breaks to exercise or do errands . Better yet, set up a virtual office at Starbucks or your local library, especially if you need to get away from distractions. My gig required visiting the school often, including during lunchtime when I landed full-time employment.
As an accountant, you can continue your side hustle by servicing the small clients you gained while unemployed. You’ll perform accounting services during evening hours.
Things Career Related 