And sadly I won’t know if it was any good.

You’ve probably read so many blog posts on the importance of a LinkedIn photo that you’re tired of the topic. I know I am. So why am I revisiting it? Because the message doesn’t seem to be getting through to enough LinkedIn members.

I recently began reading what had the potential to be a well-done post about how jobseekers should brand themselves in their job search; but then I stopped in my tracks.

Why? Because the author made a most obvious blunder—he had no photo on his own profile. What’s the big deal, you’re asking? Here’s the deal; without his photo, he lost credibility with me. His purpose was totally deflated.

How can someone write about succeeding in the job search without having a photo on his own LinkedIn profile, and be convincing? He can’t. Plain and simple, a profile sans photo doesn’t give people faith in a person. This person came across as a hypocrite.

At this point almost every LinkedIn member has a photo—albeit sometimes of poor quality—so someone who doesn’t have a photo is an odd ball. I can safely say that more than 90 percent of my connections have a profile photo. Nay, 95% at least.

I know this because one benefit of having a photo on your profile is that you become memorable, hopefully in a positive way mind you. Lacking photo makes you memorable in a negative way, and you don’t want that. Right?

Because LinkedIn encourages its members to include a photo on their profile, anyone who goes against the grain is seen as unprofessional. Someone who is unprofessional comes across as unqualified to share information or undesirable to connect with.

Many people won’t even open a profile without a photo. This includes me. I don’t trust who I can’t see. I don’t judge people based on their physical appearance; although, I will judge them on the quality of their photo. But even if I don’t like the quality of their photo, I’ll still connect with them, especially if their Value Headline is strong.

It’s estimated that profiles with a photo are 14x more likely to be opened than those that don’t. This illustrates my point. I remember the days when the lack of a photo was commonplace. Heck, for the longest time I didn’t have a photo; instead I sported a picture of a soccer ball in its place.

A profile without a photo seriously hinders him from branding himself. This is what ruined the reading experience for me. Your first impression on LinkedIn begins with your photo. Do you want to make it a poor first impression by not including one, or a poor photo? Of course not.

I’m not suggesting placing a photo on your profile at all expense. A photo of you at a frat party participating on a beer bong event is not how to brand yourself. A photo of good quality, on the other hand, will brand you.

There’s no excuse for not having a photo. One of my customers showed me his LinkedIn photo, which was taken by his wife with an iPhone. Not too bad. Not bad at all. If you don’t have the means to have a photo taken professionally, this is a good substitute.

“Certainly you could have gotten past the fact there was no photo on this person’s profile, Bob,” you might be saying to yourself. To that I say, If the author is going to talk about branding oneself on LinkedIn, one of the most fundamental component is the photo.

Yes, we’ve read posts about LinkedIn photos ad nauseam, but I couldn’t let this person’s mistake go without saying something. What’s unfortunate is that this post may have been a very good one, nay great one; but because the person didn’t sport a photo, I just couldn’t finish reading it.

Call me shallow if you like, but this goes to show how important a photo is in branding oneself. If this is the 100th post you’ve read on the importance of a profile photo, thanks for bearing with me. If this is your first, hopefully you get the message.

Many introverts are creative writers because writing is what they love to do. As an introvert I prefer to write, as opposed to talking, to communicate my thoughts. Talking is what I do for a living, but writing is my strength. But it doesn’t always easy.

There are times when I hit a wall as I’m trying to write. It’s better known as writer’s block, and it’s frustrating. It’s Sunday morning, and I want to post an article on Monday; but for the life of me, I can’t think of something to write about.

So how can introverts get those creative juices flowing? Here are seven suggestions.

1. Read others’ writing

The idea for this post came from one I read by Sophia Dembling, When an Introvert’s Brain Stops Producing. I’m sure she’d be totally stoked to know I was inspired by her article in Psychology Today. She’d also appreciate the fact that I stole her idea, or maybe not.

In Three Secrets to Writing Better, Erik Deckers, shares bits of advice on how to become a better writer. They are write everyday; read the newspaper; and my favorite, steal from other writers’ styles. (I think what he really means is to learn from the best.)

2. Take a walk

Some of my best ideas come from taking my morning walks, where I traverse the neighborhood listening to music or local radio on my phone. For some it may be hiking hills or going to the gym. Scientifically it’s been proven that what’s good for the body is good for the mind. It provides clarity and a time to reflect, which introverts thrives on.

3. Observe

I love to include my family, friends, customers, and events in my life in my writing. They provide the basis for my posts. In one post I wrote, I equate my basement to LinkedIn recommendations. You may be wondering what my grungy basement has to do with LinkedIn recommendations. Now think about where recommendations are located on your LinkedIn profile. You see what I mean?

4. Write, just write

I have a bazillion rough drafts/started posts that need to be completed. When an idea hits me, I write the beginning of a “brilliant” blog which may or may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Others I’ll return to and finish the thoughts I had way back then.

You can write stream of consciousness, which is simply writing without stopping, just writing and then later correct any errors. For some it’s too messy. But others like the freedom it offers. What you may have at the end may not be worth keeping.

5. Give yourself a break; not everything has to be original

I hate to admit it, but not all of my posts are original. Most bloggers will tell you the same thing; we re-purpose what we’ve already written. When I was in marketing, we called it leveraging material.

So I go into my archives and I pull out something from long ago, something people won’t remember. I write a new intro and change the wording around in the lists or body of the post. Voila. Take a break. You can’t expect to write creative verbiage every time you post.

6. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket

I have labored over blog posts for days and even weeks. Don’t do this. If what you’re writing isn’t ready for Prime Time, save it for another day. You may have to think about it for a few days, or even a week, before it feels right for you.

In fact, this post is a couple of weeks in the makings. I will go back and forth between multiple posts if necessary. Other times I will write a post on my smart phone, when the right moment hits me.

7. Change your setting

Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m somewhere other than my house. There are distractions, such as multiple media going on at the same time, e.g., television, radio, my daughter’s Netflix show blaring from her computer. A place like Starbucks provides a great place for me to get away and get the creative juices going.

The only problem you may face is being disrupted by someone who wants to talk with you while you’re trying to write. Read this article about how I was interrupted by someone while I was trying to reflect. 

8. Write about losing your mojo

My last suggestion is to write about losing your creative juices…temporarily. It’s something you’re experiencing, something close to you; so why not write about it. I personally think this makes people more depressed about not being able to write.

My Creative Writing college professor said writing about writing is cliché, so we were forbidden to do it. Instead he wanted us to write about sex (he wanted us to write about what we knew).

It will pass, this temporary loss of creative juices. Introverts rely on themselves to conjure up their creativity; they don’t enjoy brainstorming with others. So there may be spells of creativity loss that can be frustrating, to say the least.

This post is a follow-up to Dear recruiter, 15 reasons why you lost the best candidates ever. Following are complaints I’ve heard from my career center customers.

As a career strategist, sometimes I hear grumblings from my workshop attendees about how their interviews with hiring managers are less than pleasant. And what follows the interview can be just as unpleasant. For those of us who are gainfully employed, it may be difficult to understand candidates’ frustration and, at worst, despair.

Hiring managers, don’t take it personally. You’re busy with projects that need to be completed and feel you have better things to do than hire the next person. But think about the logic of your disdain for interviewing candidates; your next employee is the person who can make your life easier. Help you complete important projects.

Not all hiring managers are at fault in the hiring process, but for the few that are, below are some reasons why—shall we say—you’ve blown the selection process. What follows are paraphrased thoughts of my customers (clients) over the years.

1. In search of the purple squirrel? Good luck with that. I may not have 100% of the qualifications you’re looking for, but I’m ambitious, a quick learner, and want to succeed.
2. I got laid off from my last company because it reduced its workforce by half. I survived five layoffs. And still you think being out of work for three months is a sign of my ineptitude. (Maybe its a sign of a jobseeker’s poor job-search methods.)
3. That photo of me in Cancun drinking a Margarita, I somehow got tagged on Facebook. But you weren’t as focused on my stellar LinkedIn profile as finding something wrong with me on Facebook.
4. Really, you couldn’t reschedule our interview which would have taken place during my son’s graduation ceremony? No, I don’t think it’s worth missing this milestone. Hope you understand.
5. I guess you heard I’m 50 years old. End of story.
6. I was 15 minutes early for the interview. You were 45 minutes late for it. Hmm.
7. Your handshake was limp. You didn’t maintain eye contact. Your face looked like it was made of stone. Did you learn anything about first impressions?
8. “When did I graduate from high school?” Really? Can’t you be more creative than that?  (Many of my customers get asked this revealing question.)
9. The job posting didn’t call for someone who is proficient in Flash. If it had, I wouldn’t have applied for this position. I don’t suppose telling you I can learn it quickly….I didn’t think so.
10. I might have taken your job if you had returned my inquiry. I have accepted a different offer. Oh well.
11. You told me I’d hear about your decision within a week. Two weeks later I’m still waiting. Yes or no, I’d like to know what you’ve decided.
12. I’m not the “right fit?” How about: “You don’t have the expertise we’re looking for,” “You came across as dispassionate,” “I’ve decided to fill the position internally.” All of these would be fine. I can handle the criticism.
13. You want me to write a five-page explanation on how I’d solve your supply chain issue? I can do that with my eyes closed. But are you offering me the job, or do you just want free advice?
14. So let me get this straight, you want to pay me half the amount of money I was making at my last job and do twice as much work?
15. This is our 11th interview. How many more will there be? (A customer of mine landed a job after 12 interviews, including two on the west coast…at two different flights.)

These are among other complaints I’ve heard from my customers. They don’t expect to land every job for which they apply; they just want to be treated fairly and with respect. Hiring managers, perhaps you could consider what you’re doing to make the job search harder/unpleasant for your candidates, and make some minor corrections.

Photo: Flickr, Kristof Ramon

I recently told a potential customer (client) that he should stay longer at his current company, rather than jump ship after only about a year of working there. We agreed to talk a short time later to determine in which direction he wanted to go with his LinkedIn profile and strategy.

Awesome, right? Yes and no.

A week later he replied to my email saying he had decided that he would stay put and therefore didn’t need my services. He thanked me for my “awesome” advice and said he would get back to me when he was going to make a move.

My would-be customer is a data analyst at a healthcare organization in Boston. At the time he was impatiently waiting for a promotion he was promised months ago. Fearing the promotion wouldn’t materialize, he felt it was time to make a move to another company where he would be recognized for his hard work and talents. He was 26 years-old.

Perhaps I’m getting old and think this young man was too impatient, but he made me think about how Millennials are constantly on the move for bigger and better things. Is this necessarily a bad thing? It depends. A Forbes article states that the average tenure for a worker these days is 4.4 years, but Millennials (born between 1977-1997) plan to stay at a job for half that time.

I work mostly with Baby Boomers (1945-1964) and some younger and occasionally come across Millennials. I notice a distinct difference in the work attitudes of the two. While the younger workers are on the move, the older ones are more content staying for a while.

One concern employers have of the Millennials is confirmed by this man’s attitude, who at the time he talked with me had been at his company for nine months and the one prior to that eight months.

His choice reminds me of choices I made at his age. I was reckless and changed jobs like people change socks. I felt no loyalty toward my employers; it was all about me. This type of thinking doesn’t sit well with companies, as the Forbes article states:

For companies, losing an employee after a year means wasting precious time and resources on training & development, only to lose the employee before that investment pays off. Plus, many recruiters may assume the employee didn’t have time to learn much at a one-year job.

One thing I emphasized that night when talking with my Millennial is how his resume would look. To employers his resume would show a job hopper, not someone extremely talented at what he does. He agreed with this assessment. Perhaps this is the reason he decided to stick it out for hopefully three more years.

His reason for leaving wasn’t only because he wanted to advance quickly; he wanted to learn the latest and greatest software. I saw his point because I’m also one who likes to learn new things.

What about the plight of Baby Boomers? Some of my unemployed Baby Boomers feel as if they’ve been betrayed by the company they worked for for 25 years. They pride themselves for showing loyalty and commitment. So they wonder why they were let go unexpectedly.

To make matters worse, they’re not as well prepared for the job search.

My Baby Boomers also tell me either training opportunities were not available to them, or they didn’t take advantage of them to learn new technologies. Shame on them if the latter was true. How can we fight the stereotype that says older workers aren’t as technologically inclined as Millennials when the older generation hasn’t taken advantage of opportunities?

So, what’s the answer? For the Millennials, their best bet is to stay put for at least four years; and for the Baby Boomers, they’ve learned their lesson by showing loyalty and growing comfortable at companies for so long.

Photo, Flickr, Gustavo Camarillo Rangel