Category Archives: LinkedIn

2 recent LinkedIn changes: one good, the other MEH

Good move: joining positions

Previously, if you wanted to list all your positions at one company, you entered a “new position” and your company’s icon appeared for each position. This got confusing, because at quick glance it appeared as if you worked at two, three, four, or more companies.

Note: the process is still the same in terms of entering your titles, but LinkedIn shows the line joining the positions, displaying the company icon only once.

My solution to the multiple-icon fiasco for one company was to write another positions within the original entry and separate them with a line. Unfortunately, it limited how many characters I could use for each entry.

Another problem with showing multiple positions under one entry was diminishing SEO. (Titles are weighed among the heaviest of the areas on your profile.) So it was to one’s benefit to enter as many job titles for each company. Still, it looked confusing and and disorganized.

MEH: truncating positions…again

Remember when LinkedIn showed a person’s first position and truncated the rest of them? I do, and I thought it was a terrible move. Here’s what it looked like below the full first job description:

Well this brilliant move more than a year ago must have disappointed LinkedIn members, because LinkedIn went back to expanding all but a few positions, which I loved. I just couldn’t look at a profile which only displayed titles, companies, and tenure of employment.

When LinkedIn reversed its decision, I wrote this in a post:

The good news is that LinkedIn has reversed it’s decision of showing only the first position in its entirety and truncating the previous ones. On May 26th, 2017, I noticed that LinkedIn corrected this faux pas. Now we can see most of the positions expanded.

LinkedIn meets its users halfway

Currently LinkedIn has decided to truncate people’s positions to a point (approximately 60 words). This includes your first position, as well. Visitors to your profile can still see the rich media areas, but there’s still that thing about clicking to “See more” that leaves me sour.

Note: these 60 words have to be grabbers. I suggest they’re written in first person point of view, contain a value statement, and are kept to three lines at most. Three lines at most because you should show a bulleted accomplishment. An excerpt of my first job description reads:

I’m more than a workshop facilitator & designer; I’m a career and LinkedIn strategist who constantly thinks of ways to better market my customers in their job search. Through disseminating trending job-search strategies, I increase our customers’ chances of finding jobs.

HIGHLIGHTS

► To meet the needs of my customers, I have developed more advanced workshops that have garnered high praise

I get it. LinkedIn wants a streamlined profile that doesn’t take up too much space. And the nice move it made by joining positions might not look as appealing if the position are expanded. I guess I’m a traditionalist who likes to see a profile that resembles a resume outline.

What do you think about these two changes? I’d love to hear your opinions, even if you disagree with me. Especially if you disagree with me.

The Ultimate LinkedIn Guide, Part 2: How to Optimize Your Network

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In Part 1, we looked at a checklist you can use to optimize your LinkedIn profile. This post will address optimizing your LinkedIn network; how to connect, with whom to connect, and connecting etiquette.

As we address the three stages of optimizing your network, check off the ones you feel you are succeeding at.

Why Connecting with LinkedIn Members is Important

It’s not evident to enough people that the foundation LinkedIn is built on is making connections and nurturing relationships. Yes, creating a strong profile is important, as is engaging with others (which we’ll address in part 3); but building your LinkedIn network is essential.

There are approximately 560 million LinkedIn users worldwide. You are allowed to connect with 30,000 LinkedIn members. Am I suggesting that you build you network to 30,000 people? No. What I am suggesting is that you reach out to an amount of people you’re comfortable with. Most important is that you reach out to the right people.

1. How NOT to Connect

The number one rule when connecting with LinkedIn members is to send a personalized invitation. There is no deviating from this rule. To click “Send now” lacks creativity and is lazy. Instead, always choose “Add a note.”

We’ll get into writing the proper invitation note later in the post. Let’s first look at the improper ways of connecting with LinkedIn members.

The following ways to connect will not give you the opportunity to send a personalized invitation; rather it will simply state your name and give the recipient of your invitation the option to Ignore or Accept (see below). When I receive invites like these, I click “Ignore” with no remorse.

Number one on the list of connecting improperly is through the feature, “Your contact import is ready” and then choosing to send mass invites to your email contacts. You’ll find this option under “My Network” on the top navigation bar.

Second on the list is, “People you may know.” This option is also under “My network.” When you click Connect, your invite goes straight through to the recipient. No chance to write a personal invitation.

Finally is connecting with someone on your mobile app by simply hitting the connect button. This, like the aforementioned ways to connect will send along the default message.

2. The Correct Ways to Connect

Connecting correctly means taking the time to read a potential connection’s LinkedIn profile, and then writing a personalized invitation. Following is an example of a personalized invite.

You can connect with second and third degree contacts. For third degree contacts, LinkedIn hides the connect request under the three horizontal boxes beside the message box. (See below.)

Contrary to what many believe, you can connect with the LinkedIn mobile app and still send a personalized invite. It’s tempting to simply click “Connect,” but open the person’s profile first and then select the drop-down box (seen below).

3. With Whom to Connect

Your LinkedIn network is your life blood. Without a strong network of people, you will not be successful on LinkedIn. If you are weary of reaching out to people you don’t know, you’ll have to get over it. I tell my clients that the only way they’ll get to know people is by inviting them to their network, or vise versa.

How Many is Enough?

LinkedIn members have opinions on how many people should be in one’s network. Some believe a smaller, more focused network is better; whereas others believe the more the better. How many people you have in your network is your prerogative.

Note: If you have less than 400 connections, you might not be taken seriously by some recruiters.

Regardless of how many people you would like to connect with, there are tiers of people you will want to approach. In the pyramid below the more important or relevant people ascend from the bottom to the top.

1^st tier: Your former colleagues and supervisors, as well as vendors, partners, etc. Connecting with these people first makes the most sense, as they know your work and can vouch for you.

2^nd tier: Same occupation, same industry. As an example, you’re an accountant in the manufacturing industry. You will search for other accountants in your industry.

3^rd tier: Same occupation but different industry. They have less in common with you, but can also be of assistance. An accountant in the information technology industry may know accountants in manufacturing, and therefore can introduce you to them.

4th tier: Recruiters are an important group of people for many job seekers. I always suggest to my clients that they reach out to recruiters, as they have a pipeline of employers job seekers are unaware of.

5^th tier: Target companies. People at your target companies are your quickest way to get to know important employees who work for companies for which you’d like to work. Try to connect with people at your level or a someone who might supervise you.

6^th tier: Your alumni can be beneficial to you because of the bond you share. This tier of people is particularly helpful to post grads entering the workforce who need connections to certain companies.

4. Finding Potential Connections

LinkedIn is a powerful database of professionals throughout the world. Finding people will not be difficult if you know how to use LinkedIn’s features. The most obvious way to look for someone by occupation is to use “Search.” A search for Program Manager garners 1,974,989 people. (See below.)

However, to conduct a more focused search, you’ll use “All Filters.

From the diagram below, you can see I’ve searched for program managers using the following filters:

Title: Program Manager
Degree of Connection: 2nd
Location: Greater Boston Area
Company: IBM

This garnered 37 results to match the criteria. This is a manageable amount of people to consider connecting with.

5. How to Write Proper Invite Messages

The art of connecting with LinkedIn members is in the message you craft. There are essentially three types of messages:

The cold message: This is the most difficult to write successfully. In your message you need to provide a reason why your desired connection should join your network.

Using a reference: This message should garner success as long as the person you reference is well known and trusted by your desired connection. It’s important that your reference agrees to being mentioned in your invite message.

Asking for an introduction. A separate message, or email, from a trusted reference must be sent to the intended person. The person making the introduction must be a first degree connection with you and the recipient.

For the full article on how to send connection invites, read 3 Proper Ways for Job Seekers to Send Invites to Potential LinkedIn Connections

Read part 3 of this series.

The ultimate LinkedIn guide: part 1, optimizing your profile

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This article is the first part of a three-part series that will guide you through LinkedIn.

In today’s article, we’ll look at how to optimize every section of your profile. Next, we’ll examine connecting with LinkedIn members. In the third and final part will cover ways to engage with your network connections. No one part will guarantee success in your LinkedIn campaign.

Consider this article a checklist that can help you stay on track when crafting a great LinkedIn profile. This article contains all the same checklist items I use when guiding my own clients through the process.

Brand or Message

This is more important than many people realize. If you don’t create your profile with a clear brand or message in mind, you’ll have an unfocused profile. Consider the following components of your branding strategy:

Optimizing your profile

Although keywords are not enough to raise your profile to the top of a recruiter’s search results, they are still important. Keep in mind that some areas of your profile are weighted more heavily than others when it comes to keywords — specifically, your headline and job titles.

Major profile sections

As we go through each section below, check off the ones you feel are strong. If you can’t check off some of the sections, read about how to make them stronger.

1. Background image

Your background image is your first chance to brand yourself on your profile. It is important to use a photo that is relevant to your work or what you enjoy doing. Your image should be sized at 1,584 by 396 pixels for the best results.

2. Profile photo

If you think a photo is unnecessary, you are sadly mistaken. A profile sans photo gives the impression you can’t be trusted. In addition, people won’t recognize and remember you. LinkedIn says profiles with photos are 21 times more likely to be viewed than those without.

Your photo is a huge part of your brand. You don’t have to necessarily dress to the nines for it. Just look professional and presentable.

3. Headline

Perhaps the most critical component of your branding, your headline tells readers your title and areas of expertise. Don’t scrimp on this one — it carries a lot of weight when optimizing your profile. You have 120 characters to use — make them count.

4. Hyperlinked information

Fairly new on the scene, this is a welcome change. (See boxed section of photo below.) When they click on the information in this box, readers are brought to your place of employment, education, contact info, and/or your connections.

5. Summary

Much has been written about LinkedIn summaries, so I’m going to spare you the verbiage and simply say your summary must tell your story. It needs to articulate your passion for what you do, how well you do it, and a call to action (how you can be reached). You have 2,000 characters, so I would use as many as you can.

6. Dashboard

The dashboard area contains a lot of handy information: views of your profile, views of your latest post, and the number of searches you’ve appeared in. In addition, you can ask for career advice, turn on “career interests,” and check out the salary range for your position.

7. Articles and activities

This area below your dashboard is visible to everyone who visits your profile. Visitors will see how many articles you’ve written and the number of posts you’ve shared. When I see very little info in the activities section, that means the person hasn’t made an effort to engage with their network. (More on this in the third part of this series.)

8. Experience

Too often, people skimp on the details in their experience section. This is particularly the case with C-level job seekers. You don’t need to include everything, but your major accomplishments are required. Note: Your job titles carry significant weight in terms of keywords.

9. Education

Don’t be afraid to add a little more character here than you would on your résumé. Were you a D1 athlete? Mention that under “Activities and Societies.” Did you complete your degree while working full-time? Mention that in the “Description” area.

10. Volunteer experience

Don’t neglect this area. Employers appreciate people who give to their communities. This is also a section where you can showcase your personality. Your volunteerism doesn’t have to be job-related. But if it is and is extensive, list it in your experience section.

11. Skills and endorsements

You can list a total of 50 skills, and others can endorse you for those skills. Take advantage of this section, as recruiters pay attention to the number and types of skills you have. When you apply for a job through LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply” feature, the number of skills you have for the job are counted.

12. Recommendations

Once considered one of the top features, recommendations have been relegated to the basement of your profile. Should you continue to ask for and write recommendations in light of this change? In my opinion, yes. Recruiters will continue to read them.

13. Accomplishments

One of the major blunders LinkedIn has committed is anchoring this section in the basement of the profile. I say this because important information lies within, including lists of projects, organizations, publications, and patents.

14. Interests

This section shows visitors your interests in influencers, companies, groups, and schools. Recruiters might glean some information about you, based on the groups you’ve joined and the companies and schools you follow.

Profile Extras

15. Rich media areas

Rich media areas reside in your summary (shown below), experience, and education sections. Here, you can post videos, audio files, documents, and PowerPoint presentations. See this as your online portfolio.

16. LinkedIn publishing

LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to blog on topics of interest and share the posts with your connections. If you’re consistent in blogging, you’ll develop a following. Promoting your blog is entirely up to you. In the past, whenever you published, your connections would receive notification of your posts. Not so anymore.

17. Video

Video is becoming more important to stand out on social media. A good video must contain content that is relevant to your network. Small technical things like smiling, proper lighting and sound, and a steady camera are important.

If you are diligent about completing the sections of your profile covered here, you will be a third of the way toward a great LinkedIn campaign. Next read part 2 of this series!

This post originally appeared on recruiter.com.

Should Candidates Send a LinkedIn Invite to Recruiters after the First Interview?

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A client of mine recently asked if she should send an invitation to a recruiter to join her LinkedIn network. After the first interview. I thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you wait until the process is complete. If you get the job, send an invite. If you don’t get the job, still send an invite.”

To confirm the advice I gave my client was sound, I thought of asking recruiters what they thought. So I turned to the Facebook group, Recruiters Online. What I expected was a firm “nay” on candidates sending a LinkedIn invite after the first interview.

What I got was the exact opposite. In fact, approximately 98% of the recruiters were in favor of candidates sending them a LinkedIn invite after the first interview. One recruiter wrote, “What’s the problem?” As if saying, “This is a dumb question.” Dumb as it may be, I was a bit taken aback.

These recruiters reminded me that what’s important in any situation is building one’s LinkedIn network. Here are just a few of the answers I received from approximately 70 recruiters who weighed in.

Kendra Saddler, “I usually sign off a promising screening call with, ‘Hey good talk, whatever happens, let’s keep in touch, I’d be honored to accept your Linked invitation.”

Michele Vincent, “If I was interviewing candidates other than skilled trades workers, I would expect [a candidate sending me an invite] and appreciate this — especially if I was interviewing for a marketing or sales position.”

Wendy Donohue Mazurk, “Obviously [I appreciate an invite] as I am interested in them or we wouldn’t be speaking. I also would send them one. Isn’t that the point of LinkedIn?”

Glenn Gutmacher, “If I’m interested in a candidate and we’ve gotten to the interview stage, that candidate wants as much insight as possible into 1) my company (e.g., see which relevant hiring managers I know) and 2) in case it doesn’t work out, [I can refer them to] outside companies who may have similar roles.

“Conversely, I’m appreciative because that candidate’s network should be chock-full of relevant talent for similar roles, and I’ll get a lot more potential candidates by perusing their network.”

Scott Axel, “Yes, and I find it professional and a good sign to indicate actual interest in the role.”

Nick Livingston , “I consider it the modern ‘Thank you, our conversation was worth the time and regardless of what transpires in the short term, you’re someone worth keeping in touch with’.”

Julie Lynn, “I definitely connect with people that are interviewing with my clients whether or not they get the job.”

A Leigh Johnson, “They can invite but I probably won’t accept it until our business concludes, positive or negative.”

Jennifer Sherrard, “I would expect it if I haven’t already connected with them.”

Steve Lowisz “Accepting a LinkedIn invite from a candidate you interview shows you are actually interested in people and not just going through the motions. If the candidate gives you the time to interview the least you can do is show some level of gratitude and accept their invitation—even if the are not the right fit. It’s a small world and people know other people.”

These are just some of the comments I received from my innocuous question, so I thought. Some of the respondents were polite in their answers, while others considered the question “crazy,” as one person wrote.

From now on when my clients ask me if they should send a LinkedIn invite to a recruiter after the first interview, I’ll confidently tell them that more than 70 recruiters I polled said to do it. What more proof do I need?

Photo: recruiter.com

5 reasons why the LinkedIn Recommendations section should get more respect

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In my house the basement is designated for the stuff we barely use or bicycles that my kids ride in warm weather. It’s not the type of basement that is a furnished “man cave.” I give it no thought until the furnace or water heater need repair, or I have to retrieve the lawnmower to cut the grass.

So when I consider the LinkedIn profile and how you can no longer move certain sections around at will, I think about one important section that is, as I tell my LinkedIn workshop attendees, buried in the basement like my furnace and water heater.

LinkedIn has made a statement. Like my forgotten stuff and rarely used bicycles, recommendations have lost the value they once had. We encourage business people and job seekers to ask for recommendations, but given that they’ve are shunned by LinkedIn, why should we talk about them as if they’re a valuable piece of the profile?

What we talk about now are endorsements. But recommendations, to many, are more substantive than endorsements; they mean more. (Read about my love/hate relationship with endorsements here.)

Do you remember when recommendations were required to meet 100% completion or All Star status? No longer is that the case. That’s right, you must have at least five endorsements on your way to stardom.

Below are five reasons why recommendations should get more respect.

1. Once considered one of the most important sections of the profile. 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.

But recommendations are more difficult to write than endorsements are to give. So eventually we’ve seen the number of recommendations decrease in favor of the all popular endorsements, which promote engagement and…laziness.

2. Say more about the recipient. This argument is so old that I’m tired of saying it, but I will. A recommendation is a testament, in the words of others, of your excellence. And we know the words of others say more about you than what you say about yourself. If written with thoughtfulness, a recommendation can be gold.

A three-year-old article (to this day) from FastCompany, Is this part of you LinkedIn profile hurting your job search?, describes the virtues of recommendations. But it also warns against accepting recommendations that are fluffy.

3. Say something about the writer. People who supervised you are demonstrating their authority and the values they hold in an employee. When asked to write a recommendation for you without any guidance, they are going to think about what makes you a great employee. If they value teamwork, communication skills, expertise, problem solving; these values will show in their writing.

I always advise my clients to take care when they write recommendations for others. In other words, produce well-written recommendations. The reason is obvious; visitors are going to make judgments on your content, as well as how you write.

4. They are testimonials for business owners. When LinkedIn delegated recommendations to the basement, I heard a collective grown from business owners who relied not on their supervisors’ praise, but on the most important people, their customers. The reason for their disappointment was obvious; recommendations were great advertisement; they were testimonies of the greatness of their work.

One self-employed résumé writer had approximately 70 recommendations which he proudly displayed after his Summary section. In fact, he made a point of mentioning his recommendations in the Summary. He knew the importance of recommendations to his business. But one day poof they went, landing in the basement.

5. Can be used for excerpts for quotes on your résumé. Many of my clients have used excerpts from their LinkedIn recommendations as such. And it makes sense. If you are in an industry where quotes are acceptable as résumé fodder, go for it. The proof is there; the recommendations are on your profile.

Recommendations can also be used for excerpts for you LinkedIn profile’s About section. In fact, I’ve listed five excerpts in my About section and direct my readers where to go to find them: 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗬 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗦𝗔𝗬 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗠𝗘 (𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗧𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 👇).

Recommendations are valued by recruiters, so why are they designated to the basement? What can those of us do about the disrespect LinkedIn has shown recommendations?

We can write occasional updates expressing our concern or outrage. We can begin discussions in “official” LinkedIn groups. Finally, we can write long posts like this one, hoping that others will feel the outrage that I feel.

Photo: Flickr, Wm

Use “Alumni” to connect with your alumni with 3 steps

3 ways job seekers will be found on LinkedIn

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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. Sure, having a profile that contains the proper keywords is important, but being found by recruiters takes more commitment than that.

What we’re talking about is your ranking on LinkedIn — that is, how high up you appear in search results when recruiters look for people like you. The higher you rank, the more likely it is that recruiters will contact you.

The recruiters with whom I have spoken about this say they rarely look beyond the fourth page of results. At 10 profiles per page, that means recruiters will only look at the first 40 profiles. If you’re below No. 40, you’re probably not getting a call.

So, how do you improve your rank? There are three factors at play.

1. Keywords matter, but they’re not everything

You do need to include the right keywords throughout your profile, but according to LinkedIn, the balance of keywords matters more than abundance. In other words: Don’t stuff your profile with repeated words, as this is considered spamming.

According to LinkedIn itself:

More keywords aren’t always better. Our advice would be to avoid overfilling your profile with keywords and only include the keywords that best reflect your expertise and experience. If you integrate an extended list of keywords into your profile, it’s likely that your profile will be filtered out by our spam detection algorithms, which will negatively impact your appearance in search results.

Where do keywords matter most? Every keyword is important throughout your profile, but the areas weighed heavier than others are the Headline and titles of your positions in the Experience section.

So, yes, keywords are important, but take LinkedIn’s advice and don’t overdo it.

2. Maintain an extensive network…with the proper people

You are deemed more relevant to a search — and thus ranked higher in the results — if you are connected to the searcher. Here’s how LinkedIn explains it:

The more connections you have, the more likely you will have a connection to the searcher. Closer connections, such as a 2nd-degree connection compared to a 3rd-degree connection, improve the likelihood your profile may appear in searches.

The more people you have in your LinkedIn network, the more connections you have. The more connections you have, the more likely it is that you will have some connection to a searcher who is looking for someone like you.

Keep in mind we’re talking about connecting with the proper people — people who will actually be meaningful members of your network. You don’t have to accept every invite you receive just to build a network.

You can see how many searches you’ve recently appeared in by visiting your profile’s dashboard. When you click on the number, you’ll see where the searchers work, which occupations they hold, and the keywords they searched.

This last bit of information can be valuable, as you’ll get a sense of whether you’re using the proper keywords to brand yourself.

It’s also important to note the number of people who visit your profile, as this will give you an idea of your LinkedIn presence. You can find this number on your homepage under your headshot, as well as in your profile’s dashboard.

3. Engage with your connections

LinkedIn is a professional networking site. As such, LinkedIn wants you to network with like-minded people. A safe number of interactions on LinkedIn is twice a day, four times a week.

I suggest to my LinkedIn workshop attendees that they engage with their connections daily. This suggestion is, in part, to set the bar high but also because the more often you’re seen, the better chance you have of getting contacted by hiring authorities.

Participate in discussions, create your own discussions, share articles, write articles, ask questions, and provide tips about your industry. The most obvious way to engage with your connections is by writing direct messages. You can include as many as 50 people in a group message; although one-on-one messages are more intimate.

Read: 6 ways to be engaged on LinkedIn, not just active.

This aspect of your LinkedIn campaign is often overlooked. Many people believe that “set it and forget it” is the approach to take — that a great profile alone will draw people to them. Or to amass a ton of connections will do the trick. Both are important, but more engagement on LinkedIn is also essential to improving your search results.

In the end, note that LinkedIn’s algorithm for search appearances isn’t an exact science. LinkedIn writes:

Unlike standard search engines, we generate relevance uniquely for each member. The order of a search result is determined in part by the profile, activity [engagement], and connections of the person who is searching.

If you want to be found on LinkedIn, you must create a complete profile containing the proper keywords, develop a strong network to engage with, and stay active on the platform. If you do this, you’ll appear higher when recruiters search for someone with your experience and talents.

This post originally appeared on recruiter.com.

6 ways to be engaged on LinkedIn, not just active

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For many years I’ve been telling job seekers that engaging with their LinkedIn network is one of the three important pieces required to be successful using this professional online networking platform. I explain that simply being active is not as effective as engaging; there are differences.

An analogy comes to mind: you’re being active if you’re simply showing up for a party you were encouraged to attend. You nod hello to the people there and have superficial conversations. You know the feeling; you don’t really want to be there.

Carrying the analogy further; you arrive at a party, immediately greet everyone with enthusiasm, make some small talk with five or six people, then join a group of people who are deep into conversation about a current event. You add your input when appropriate. The conversation stirs some emotion in you. You are engaged.

Being active vs. being engaged

It’s possible to be active on LinkedIn, while not being engaged. We’ll look at certain activities that illustrate this. The first two examples are reacting to what others post.

1. Liking what others write

Active—Many have complained that just Liking an update and not commenting on it is not enough. I’m guilty of doing this on occasion, leaving me with a feeling of being lazy. It’s so easy to press that Like icon and not giving the post another thought. This is the ultimate example of simply being active, not engaged.

Engaged—To be engaged, you must read the post, interpret it’s message, and then Comment on said post. Do this first and then Like it. The poster will appreciate that you took the time to read their post. This can lead to further communications between you and the poster.

2. Writing comments

Active—You Liked an update and wrote a comment, but your comment just didn’t have the oomph the “author” deserved. Here’s an example: “Great post, Susan. Thanks.” This shows very little engagement and makes the poster wonder what you really thought about the post.

Engaged—When you’re engaged, you elaborate further and demonstrate that you read the post, processed it, and respond to it in detail. For example:

“Great post, Susan. Your statement about a company lacking a social media campaign being akin to living in the dark ages really resonated with me. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms can create that ‘like, know, and trust’ relationship between the company and its’ customers. You’re also correct in stating that all platforms should be connected, as well as linked to and from the company’s website.”

Note: always remember to tag a person with @name so they will be notified in LinkedIn’s Notifications. I was scolded once for not doing this.

The next examples of engagement are being proactive, rather than reacting to what others share.

3. Sharing posts

Active—Sharing posts for the sake of sharing posts is being active. Your connections will see what you’ve shared, but if the content is shallow and provides no value, your posts will not leave an impression on your connections. You won’t get the Likes you so desire.

Engaged—To stay top of mind, your shared posts must show engagement. LinkedIn encourages you to share an article, video, photo, or idea. Take the opportunity to engage with your network by providing valuable content to them; content that elicits responses. A sign that you’ve succeeded would be the number of Likes and, more importantly, Comments you receive.

One type of update I find successful is asking an illuminating question. If you’re going to do this, be diligent in replying to your connections’ and followers’ responses. Failing to reply to your connections who answer your question does not demonstrate engagement. I am impressed with people who take the time to answer every reply they receive. I try to reply to all the feedback but, alas, I am only human.

Now would be a good time to mention hashtags (#) which are used to categorize certain topics, such as #LinkedIn, #OperationsManagement, #Wellness, #Marketing, #SocialMedia, etc. Read this article to understand hashtags better.

4. Sharing articles

Active—Sharing articles without explaining why you’re sharing it is an example of being active on LinkedIn. Some people will share an article and leave it at that. I’ve been guilty of doing this and feel lazy when I do it. For the most part, I go a step further.

Engaged—Going a step further means you share others’ articles with a short synopsis on the message it delivers, showing engagement. This says, “I’ve taken the time to read the article, understand its meaning, and will elaborate on it for the benefit of the readers.”

5. Writing and sharing your articles

Active—Using LinkedIn’s Write an article, feature is a great way to demonstrate your expertise. However, using this feature to advertise an event or for promotional purposes is being active. You’re not thinking about the value, or lack thereof, your article holds.

Engaged—Writing an article with unique and fresh content takes engagement; it shows you’ve considered what your audience would benefit from. My primary audience is job seekers and career coaches, so I write articles focusing on the job search and using LinkedIn in the job search. I know I’ve been successful when people react to what I’ve written.

Note: refrain from only sharing your own articles. This gives off the sense of superiority.

I include creating and sharing videos under being engage. This is a fairly new concept—probably a year old by now—but it’s catching hold among LinkedIn members. If you are going to share videos, make sure you’re consistent and produce videos your network will appreciate.

6. Sending direct messages

Active—The “One and done” message is the ultimate example of being active. Sure, you’re going through the process of writing to your new connection, but there’s no intent to develop the relationship. An example is, “Hi Claudia. It’s great being connected. Perhaps we can be of mutual assistance.” That’s it; there’s no interaction beyond this. Sound familiar?

Engaged—On the other hand, if you send the initial message and reply back to the recipient. Or if you continue to send messages but the other person doesn’t respond, there are two thoughts. First, you are trying to engage with your connection. Second, take the hint and stop sending messages.

Going beyond

Engaged—I’m brought back to the party analogy, where the person simply shows up and makes no effort to engage. I’m talking about going beyond the conversations you have with your LinkedIn connections. Yes, they constitute engagement; but there’s no effort to solidify the relationship.

Truly engaged—To truly show engagement, you must follow up with your connections. I have developed many relationships by reaching out to them via telephone, if they live a distance away, or meeting them, if they don’t live that far away. One of my connections and I had been exchanging discussions via LinkedIn. Yesterday we had our first phone conversation. Although we will not do business together, it was great finally “meeting” her on the phone.

Photo, Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/jfravel

3 reasons for your LinkedIn success: it’s not only about your profile

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There’s an old saying that goes something like this, “A great website that is not promoted is like a billboard stored in your basement.” This sentiment reminds me of LinkedIn members who have strong profiles, but they’re invisible. For job seekers to be successful, they must consider what a successful LinkedIn campaign consists of.

A successful LinkedIn campaign consist not only of a strong profile; it also includes building a targeted network, and engaging with your connections. Anything less won’t won’t help you get found and, ultimately, won’t help in your job search. Let’s look in greater detail at these three components.

A strong profile is essential

It goes without saying that a strong profile is essential to your LinkedIn campaign. It is, after all, what expresses the value you will deliver to employers. There are a few basic tenets to follow when constructing a profile.

It must be complete. This means having a background image, head shot photo, summary, detailed experience section, education, your strongest skills, and other sections LinkedIn allows.
It must show employers the value you’ll bring to them through accomplishments relevant to your industry and occupation; similar to your resume.
It’s not your resume. This is a mistake many job seekers make. They simply copy and paste their resume to their profile and leave it at that.
It must be optimized in order to pull visitors, such as recruiters, to it.
It must show your personality. Look at your profile as a networking online document. Write your profile in first-person point of view; perhaps 3rd person if you feel it fits your personality.

So is a targeted network

I recall a client of mine who had a strong profile, but was only connected to 80 people. When I told her she needed to connect with more people, she told me she only wanted to connect with people she knows.

Herein lies the problem: people need to connect with people they don’t know in order to get to know them. If you are one who doesn’t embrace the concept of connecting with targeted people, your LinkedIn campaign will be a bust.

Who do you connect with? Let’s look at some of the people with whom you should connect by tiers.

Working your way up the pyramid, your first tier will consist of those you previously worked with, as they know your performance and probably will have an invested interest in your success. Many job seekers rely on their former colleagues as referrals to land their next job.

Your second tier should be people who share the same occupation and industry. You’ll have more in common with them than the following tiers. For example, if you’re an accountant in the manufacturing industry, you’ll have more in common with accountants in your industry.

The third tier comprise of people who do what you do but are in different industries. Again, taking the accountant as an example, his ability to switch from manufacturing to medical devices should be nearly seamless.

Your fourth tier can be perhaps the most valuable one. That’s if you’re willing to do your research on companies for which you’d like to work. You will connect with people within those companies before jobs are advertised. This will give you allies in those companies.

Note: this tier might be placed above “People with whom you worked” and include recruiters. The hungry job seekers will reach out to people who work for the companies on their company target list.

Your last tier are your alumni. This is especially important if you are targeting a company and want to reach out to “one of your own.” College-age students can benefit from connecting with people who can help them network.

After you’ve connected with them, you’ll be diligent in completing the next step, keeping your network thriving. You’ve heard of building your well before you need it, right?

Finally, engaging with your network

We’re all familiar with the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Keep this in mind when it comes to engaging with your connections. Your goal is to keep your thriving in order to be top of mind.

To keep your network thriving takes some work that many LinkedIn users are unwilling to do. I ask my clients to dedicate at least 20 minutes a day, four days a week to LinkedIn. If they’re good, every day is what I suggest. Eye rolls. But I’m quick to say it’s not difficult. For example, one can share:

an article that adds value to your network,
an update offering advice or asking a question that elicits great responses,
a photo with a witty caption,
like and comment on your connections’ updates,
write a direct message to your updates,
a shout-out to your connections.

Mark Anthony Dyson, career consultant and creator of the popular podcast The Voice of Job Seekers, sees engagement as something that can’t be taken lightly. “As we consider how important engagement is,” he says, “I think the tone of a user’s messaging (including responses to group posts) matters. People want to be valued and feel safe. Share and offer advice, opinion, or message without making anyone feel under valued.”

One final point I’d like to make; refrain from sharing Facebook content with your connections. The majority of them won’t appreciate it.

Donna Serdula, an authority on LinkedIn profiles and author of LinkedIn Profile Optimization for Dummies, sums up your LinkedIn campaign nicely, “It’s true that success on LinkedIn hinges upon an optimized, strategic profile, but that’s not all! In order to be found on LinkedIn, you need a strong, robust network. In order to be seen, you need to have an engaging feed of posts, comments, shares, and articles. In order to be sought after, you need to add value, inspire others, and have fun.”

This post originally appeared on Jobscan.co

3 features your LinkedIn profile Dashboard provides: part 2

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In 3 areas of information your LinkedIn profile Dashboard provides: part 1, I talked about information you can use to gauge your status, such as: Who viewed your profile, Post views, and Search appearances. In part2 of this two part series, I’ll talk about the features you’ll find in your Dashboard.

Again, the Dashboard on your profile is for your eyes only. So only you can see how many people viewed your profile, unless you are leading a workshop and displaying your profile; at which point you’ll have to say, “Look, I’ve been at this a while. So don’t feel insecure.”

Career Advice

For job seekers who need help with their job search, LinkedIn offers a feature for career advice. I thought I’d check it out to get a better understanding about the process of asking for career advice. The first step is to get started by clicking on Career Advice. You’re told you’ll complete the following steps:

“Tell us what kind of advice you want.”
“Review potential matches” Here you’ll see LinkedIn users who are experienced leaders in their field. I wonder what makes them “experienced” and if I’m experienced.
“Get in touch” You’ll have the opportunity to have a 1:1 conversation with the experienced leaders.

After you click “Get Started,” you’re given the option of choosing from someone “In my 1st or 2nd degree network, in my region, from my school, or I don’t have a preference.” Next you click “Continue.”

Now you’ll have a limited list of job function from which to choose. I choose Community & Social Services.You’ll also have to choose an Industry Sector. I went with Nonprofit.

Step 3 of 3 is typing in text explaining what kind of help you need. LinkedIn gives you examples, one of which is: “I’d like advice for career pivot strategies from consulting into a marketing, strategy or business development job in the tech industry. What do you see as the pros and cons? And what are some challenges I might face?”

Finally you choose, “Agree & finish,” which I didn’t click. I didn’t want to be put in the system.

Career Interests

This is a feature I recommend to all of my clients. It allows recruiters to see if you are currently seeking employment and what kind. For instance, you might be interested in full-time, part-time, freelance, etc. LinkedIn explains this feature:

Among the many Recruiter spotlights we provide, the Open to New Opportunities feature allows LinkedIn members to privately share their career interests with Recruiter users who aren’t affiliated with their current or related companies.

Once a candidate opts to privately share their career goals with recruiters, users of LinkedIn’s Recruiter product will be able to see that candidate as “open to new opportunities” when running a search that aligns with their background.

If an open candidate starts a new position, they’ll be prompted to turn off their signal if they’re no longer open to new opportunities. They’ll also receive a reminder to respond to InMail messages from recruiters if they haven’t responded to two consecutive InMail messages.

Below is how Career interests looks:

Note that you don’t have to be looking for full-time work to use this feature. You might only be looking for contract, part-time, internship, etc. One of my former clients benefited from this feature. I’m sure others have, as well.

Salary Insights

This feature is the last one listed on your desktop/laptop. It is available to basic members. It provides information you can probably find on Salary.com, Payscale.com, or Glassdoor.com; nonetheless, it’s interesting information. You’ll discover that LinkedIn sends you to a separate site. And if you click “View Jobs,” it returns you to LinkedIn’s Jobs feature.

I decided to look up the salary for a Financial Analyst in the Greater Boston area. LinkedIn provides the following information on the position and location I chose:

Median salary ($65,000) and range ($51,000-$88,000), as well as total compensation ($67,000) and range ($53,000-$90,000).

You can get more specific and choose an industry and years of experience. I chose manufacturing with 6-14 years of experience. Below are the results:

You’ll notice that only 7 people responded to LinkedIn’s request for salary information. This doesn’t give one confidence in the accuracy of the numbers.

Like Glassdoor.com, you can get the salary range for your criteria for various companies. You can also get more insight based on size of company, industry, educational level, and field of study.

Finally, LinkedIn provides the median base salaries and salary ranges for ten selected cities. At the top for financial analyst in San Fransisco is median salary of $77,500 and salary range of $60,000-$100,000. Rounding out at the bottom is Dallas with $63,000 and $50,000-$84,000 respectively. I guess this is information you’d consider if you’re considering moving from Dallas to San Fransisco.

Bottom line: As I tell my clients, no two companies are the same. This is clearly illustrated when you see the differences between Mutual Liberty Insurance $79,000 and Waters Corporation $71,400.

So there you have the features in the Dashboard of your profile. Is all of it valuable? No. But there are definitely aspects that you should consider in your job search, most notably Career interests.

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A strong profile is essential

So is a targeted network

Finally, engaging with your network

3 features your LinkedIn profile Dashboard provides: part 2

Career Advice

Career Interests

Salary Insights

Good move: joining positions

MEH: truncating positions…again

LinkedIn meets its users halfway

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Why Connecting with LinkedIn Members is Important

1. How NOT to Connect

2. The Correct Ways to Connect

3. With Whom to Connect

How Many is Enough?

4. Finding Potential Connections

5. How to Write Proper Invite Messages

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1. Keywords matter, but they’re not everything

2. Maintain an extensive network…with the proper people

3. Engage with your connections

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Being active vs. being engaged

1. Liking what others write

2. Writing comments

3. Sharing posts

4. Sharing articles

5. Writing and sharing your articles

6. Sending direct messages

Going beyond

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A strong profile is essential

So is a targeted network

Finally, engaging with your network

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Career Advice

Career Interests

Salary Insights

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