I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from my clients, “I can’t sell myself. I just can’t brag.” I understand their consternation, yet I can’t feign sympathy. This would be a disservice to them. What they need is positive reinforcement.
There are two undeniable truths. First, if you don’t sell yourself, no one will. It’s like waiting for Prince Charming to arrive or waiting for a job to jump in your lap, both of which aren’t going to happen.
Second, no one is asking you to brag, not even the employer. He’s asking you to promote your accomplishments and relate your skills to the job at hand. No one likes a braggart.
So how do you sell yourself? Selling yourself is going to involve developing a campaign that requires you to use your verbal and written communication skills.
Written skills
Your résumé. Most believe, understandingly so, that your résumé will be the first contact you’ll have with an employer. Let’s assume this is true, at least 85% of the time (some job seekers network their way to a job with applying for it using the traditional method).
A compelling résumé must include, among other components a branding headline; non-fluff, professional profile; and a robust employment history consisting mostly of accomplishment statements and duties of interest to the employer.
LinkedIn andcover letter. So far you’re not bragging, are you? Also included in your written campaign are your cover letter and LinkedIn profile. Like your résumé, they must promote (not brag about) your accomplishments.
The cover letter is tailored to each specific job (as should your résumé) and entices the employer to read your résumé. It points out your experience, skills and accomplishments pertinent to the position at hand. No bragging yet.
Increasingly more employers are enabling the Hidden Job Market by cruising the Internet searching for kick-ass LinkedIn profiles that meet their lofty expectations, so don’t disappoint. In my opinion; If you’re not going to put the required effort into you LinkedIn profile, don’t bother having one.
Verbal communications
Your elevator pitch. This is an area where job seekers have the most difficulty promoting themselves. For example, as they recite their written elevator pitches in my workshops, I don’t hear the enthusiasm in their delivery. Unbeknownst to them, when they talk about their accomplishments with pride, other attendees admire their confidence. This is not bragging.
Networking. Confidence carries over to you networking efforts. Delivering your pitch in a natural way is how people want to know about your accomplishments and outstanding skills. Remember, at a networking event or even when you’re out and about, people who ask about your job transition want to hear about what you do, have accomplished, and want to do in the future.
Also remember that listening to fellow networkers is just as important as talking about yourself. Too many people talk at networkers at an event. Or they feign listening, all the while waiting for their opportunity to talk.
Telephone interviews. On the telephone during an interview or leaving a message, promote yourself by explaining why you are the right person for the job. Again, demonstrating confidence, not arrogance, is essential. Confidence is one important skills employers look for in a candidate.
The interview. Finally there’s the interview. I can’t tell you how many people fall back into “we” statements when describing successful projects or programs. Interviewers want to hear about your role in the process, not your teammates. You’re the one they’re considering hiring.
Don’t be afraid to talk about your accomplishments with pride. This shows confidence. Without saying you’re the best project manager to assume that position, talk about the time when you assessed a major problem one of your clients had, then how you orchestrated a team of 12 consultants to resolve the problem two weeks before the deadline.
In our neighborhood no one knows which side of the street to park onwhen there’s a snowstorm, which prevents the plows from clearing the street properly. The result is a cleared path the width of fish line. My wife and I have deduced that this is because there’s no strategy in place.
What does the dire condition of my neighborhood during a snowstorm have to do with LinkedIn? Simply this, like a neighborhood without a strategy for a nor’easter, your LinkedIn campaign will not succeed.
Do you have a strategy for your LinkedIn campaign, or is it like the street I live on which requires a snowmobile to negotiate? If you lack a strategy you’ll spin your wheels, get frustrated, and possibly give up on a valuable tool that has the potential to create job opportunities. A plan includes the following:
1. Dedication. I’m a bit of a lunatic when it comes to LinkedIn. One of my colleagues once said I need an intervention and he wasn’t joking. I’m on LinkedIn for an average of one hour a day, 365 days a year—yes, this includes holidays. I’m not advising you to spend this much time on LinkedIn.
However, a dedicated strategy is necessary to stay on your connections’ minds. This is why I tell my LinkedIn workshop attendees to dedicate at least four days a week of activity, or for the more dedicated, everyday. Try to share at least two updates a day.
2. Know what you want to do. Are you zeroing in on a specific occupation in a specific industry, or are you willing to take anything? The former is the correct answer. With this in mind, you’ll be able to determine who to best network with. If your goal is to work in public relations at a university, you should connect with people at universities, not retail.
3. Write a great profile. This is a big order and a blog post itself, but having a profile that attracts employers and other visitors to your site will take a strategy. You’ll need a photo that brands you—the days of a suit and tie might be history. Write a branding titlethat immediately describes what you do, as well as your areas of strength.
Your Summaryshould tell a story, your Employment section describe quantified accomplishments, and don’t forget using the Media section to highlight your talents. A major part of your plan should be Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that includes the correct keywords to raise your profile to the top of the first page.
4. Update often. This is how you communicate with your LinkedIn community. I get looks of disbelief when I suggest to my LinkedIn workshop attendees that they update once a week. They ask me what topics they should updates about. First, I tell them, share articles they’ve found on the Internet.
Other topics can include seminars or conferences you’re attending; interviews you’ve had; advice pertinent to your industry; a great book you’re reading; a happy landing; even a good quote or two; and, of course, a reminder you’re looking for a job. Just keep it professional and refrain from negativity.
5. Connect with other LinkedIn members. No two LinkedIn members are alike; some prefer to keep their network intimate by connecting with people they know and trust, while others will connect with anyone who’s willing. My suggestion is to have a strategy and be faithful to it. Connect with those who you can help and who can help you—a lot like personal networking.
Expand your horizon. Include people in your occupation, industry, and various levels of employment. There are like-minded people in different industries, so don’t be afraid to invite them to your network. Who knows, maybe opportunities will arise from the most unlikely people.
Read part two of this article. In it I’ll discuss five other components necessary for your LinkedIn plan. You need a plan to be successful on LinkedIn.
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If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
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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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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LinkedIn has done it again; it’s made a change to our profiles. This is a welcome change and hopefully a return to the old LinkedIn profile. Get ready for this—we can now see most of our positions expanded.
I noticed this change when I was working with a client. Pleasantly surprised, I expressed my glee. My client, though, didn’t make the connection. He didn’t realize that only the first position used to be expanded; the others were truncated.
Immediately I reached out to my network to ask them if they noticed the change. “Do my eyes deceive me or has LinkedIn expanded the positions in the Experience section?” With, the blink of an eye, some of my connections responded with affirmation.
Others were unaware of what I was speaking of. They hadn’t received the update yet. With LinkedIn, changes aren’t made across the board at the same time. One of my connections wrote back a few days later when she received the expanded Experience section.
What was wrong with the truncated Experience section?
Again the new model of less is more is in play in the Experience section. One is able to see the entire first job listed but must click to see more for each of the remaining jobs.
My concern here is that a person with a feeble current or most recent job will not show as much value as someone who has a more extensive and accomplish-laden job to show. Also, people who have two jobs must choose which one to demonstrate first.
Or, we can simply rely on visitors to click on every job to see their descriptions.
The answer to the final sentence in my post is, no. We couldn’t always expect people to click on the previous positions; thereby raising the possibility of your visitors missing some very important information, including your rich media.
For example, under my second position I have links to two podcasts in which I was interviewed for my knowledge on LinkedIn. Previously, this was not immediately visible without expanding my second position.
You might have been frustrated because you don’t have rich media examples under your first position, but have plenty of it under your previous positions. Now you don’t have to worry about people not seeing your rich media under your second or third positions.
LinkedIn hasn’t expanded all position, however. This might be a good thing, as it cuts down the verbiage seen on users’ profiles. And this was LinkedIn’s intention—to streamline and make the profiles more readable. In order to see all of a person’s Experience section, one must click See more positions.
LinkedIn hasn’t expanded the Summary section. Perhaps this is a good thing. While some don’t read the Summary, many do. I personally think this section is important in telling one’s story.
Just make sure your first 235 or so characters count, as they’re the only ones immediately available. I suggest using a branding statement that expresses your value to recruiters and other visitors.
LinkedIn, take it a step further
To make my LinkedIn experience complete, I’d like to see the return of the photos of the people who’ve written me recommendations. If you don’t remember said photos, they resided under each position showing who wrote recommendations for LinkedIn members. A nice touch.
What’s more, I’d like to see a link between the positions/companies and the Recommendations section. Currently, recommendations are arranged in the order of when they were written. This gives visitors no sense of the companies from which the recommendations came.
I’m sure recruiters don’t appreciate not being able to link recommendations to the respective positions.
When teaching LinkedIn, I’m never surprised when I come across a change made over night. In this case it is a pleasant change, and I am glad that I don’t have a reason to complain. I don’t like to come across as a downer, I really don’t.
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
Photo from Coletivo Mambembe, Flickr.com
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LinkedIn has gone through some recent changes, some of which are welcome, other that are not. Regardless of how you feel about these changes, you will have to adapt in order to be successful in your LinkedIn campaign.
In this three-part series I will talk about the components of a LinkedIn campaign that will brand you, which include:
I will also point out the changes to the former LinkedIn that have led to the new LinkedIn Lite.
In an Entrepreneur article, author Thomas Smale stresses the importance of having an online presence: “Do you have social media profiles? If so, are they fully fleshed out with all of your information? Do they present you in the best light possible, and make you look professional? Are you using high-quality professional photography? Are you interacting with others and sharing their content?”
Change: By now most of you have the new LinkedIn user interface (UI) and have noticed that you cannot move your sections about as you were able to do with the older version. This change is disconcerting because LinkedIn has unilaterally decided how your profile is structured.
As a professional, your LinkedIn profile is a critical component of your online personal brand. Let’s look at the major sections of your LinkedIn profile and how they can contribute to your brand:
Background Image
The background image is what visitors will see first. It can serve to brand you, let people know about your personality, what type of work you do, and that you actually care about your profile. The option would be using LinkedIn’s default image which is light blue and has dots connected by lines.
Change: LinkedIn used to provide its members with a selection of stock images, albeit a small selection.
Snapshot Area
I call this section the Snapshot because that’s exactly what it is: a snapshot of who you are. The Snapshot section of your LinkedIn profile includes your photo and your Headline. Failure to impress viewers in these areas will hurt your brand.
A photo that is unprofessional is an immediate turnoff. Perhaps more damaging is a non-photo. It’s believed that a profile with a photo is 14 times more likely to be read than one without a photo. Your photo is the first area of your profile that brands you.
Headlines that say things like “Seeking Employment” or “Finance Manager at Company X” are ineffective, as they fail to show value.
Rather, your Headline should be something like this: “Finance Manager at Company X | Financial Planning and Analysis | Auditing | Saving Organizations Millions.” This headline shows your value and brands you. It also adds to your keyword count.
Changes: The photo is no longer square and situated to the right; it is in the center and smaller. Therefore you need to make sure your face and shoulders are captured in your photo.
We only see a person’s current place of employment, instead of current and previous. The relationship section has been taken away; there is no longer the ability to tag your connections, among other features.
Most notably is that the Summary section is located at the bottom of the Snapshot. More on that below.
Summary
Support your brand with a kick-ass Summary. This is where you tell your story, which can include the passion you have for your occupation, a statement about your expertise, or some talk about how you’re changing your career.
You’ll want to use close to the 2,000 characters allowed in the Summary in order to include the keywords your profile needs to boost your visibility. But your Summary must also be compelling. It should mention accomplishments that will capture the reader’s attention.
Common mistake. Failure to show creativity or your personality are huge mistakes. You should write your Summary in either first or third person point of view. Don’t simply copy the Summary from your resume for this section.
Change: As mentioned above, the Summary is now located in the Snapshot area; it no longer has its own section. Also, only the first two lines (approximately 50 words are revealed); visitors must click See more to see the full-blown Summary. Therefore, these lines must immediately sell you. I suggest a branding statement.
Don’t blink when your looking at these sections, because there’s a lot of information packed in. In “Highlights,” visitors can see mutual connections, as shown above. However, in order to see all my connections, one must click on this area and choose “All.”
A great deal of information is located under the “Posts & Activity” heading, including my articles, posts, and all activities. Articles are the ones I’ve written on LinkedIn; this is straightforward. What is not straightforward is the difference between posts and activities. As far as I can tell, they’re one and the same.
Change: Unlike in the older version, only one article is displayed. In the older version, three were displayed, which meant you had to have written at least three articles if you didn’t want to be embarrassed, but I’m sure LinkedIn’s motive here wasn’t to save you from being embarrassed.
Experience
I’m often asked by job seekers how they should address the experience section of their profile. I tell them they have two options: They can either write a section that resembles the work history found on their resume, or they can use their experience section to highlight only their most important accomplishments.
I favor the latter approach, but some think their profile might be the only document an employer sees, so they believe showing all is the way to go. What’s most important in building your brand is listing accomplishments with quantified results.
Good:Increased productivity by implementing a customer relations management (CRM) system.
Better:Initiated and implemented – before deadline – a customer relations management (CRM) system that increased productivity by 58%.
It’s a good idea to use bullets to highlight your accomplishments. One of my LinkedIn connections, Donna Serdula, has created a handy list of bullets and symbols you can copy and paste for use on your own profile.
Change: In its effort to truncate the profile, LinkedIn expands only a few of the positions. For the others, visitors must click See More. This is great news, as previously the Experience section showed in full detail only the current or most recent position.
Education
Many people neglect this section, choosing to simply list the institution they attended, the degree they received, and their date of graduation. This might be the norm for resumes, but LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to further support your brand by telling the story of your education.
Take Mary who completed her bachelor’s degree while working full-time – a major accomplishment in itself. If she wants to show off her work ethic and time management skills, she might write a description like this:
University of Massachusetts, Lowell Mechanical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude
While working full time at Company A, I attended accelerated classes at night for six years (two years less than typically expected). I also participated as an instructor in an online tutoring program, helping first-year students with their engineering classes. I found this to be extremely rewarding.
Volunteer
Build your brand by showing visitors that you are utilizing your skills and developing new ones. It’s fine to volunteer for what I call “a good cause,” but to show people you’re serious about your occupation, you’ll volunteer at a host agency that requires your expertise.
(If you volunteer for a significant amount of time, I feel it’s fine to list this experience in your Experience section, as long as you write “Volunteer Experience” beside your job title.)
What surprises me is that this section comes before Skills and Endorsements. This section hasn’t changed much, save for the fact that visitors must expand each volunteer experience. I wonder what LinkedIn was thinking when they made this decision for me.
Featured Skills and Endorsements
A healthy Skills section consisting of 30-50 skills is another way to strengthen your brand. The skills you decide to list should demonstrate your expertise. Do not list skills you are simply familiar with.
To further enhance your brand, the skills may be endorsed by your first-degree LinkedIn connections. If you’re unsure as to which skills to endorse, here is a previous article of mine that can help you.
Change: Now the Skills section shows only your three top skills and one person who’s endorsed you. Previously it showed your 10 top skills and more than 10 people who endorsed you. Visitors need to click View (the number) more in order to see all yours skills.
Recommendations
This is a section I talk about in my LinkedIn workshops, and I always stress how valuable it is to receive recommendations from and write them for others. By receiving recommendations, you show the value you bring to employers. Meanwhile, writing recommendations shows your authority and what you value in workers.
Change: This has to do more with your Experience section, where previously visitors could see two people who endorsed you for a particular job. Now there are no nice miniature photos of the people who endorsed you. There is also no link that brings you directly to your Recommendations section. Oh, this also applies to Education. Bummer.
Accomplishments
Certifications, Organizations, and Projects are listed under Accomplishments. Prior, they had their own real estate, but now they’re buried under this header. And yes, they must be expanded like most sections.
Change: Do you remember painstakingly listing your professional and personal interests under Interests? Well forget it; that section has been retired, as far as I can see. Shame.
Following
This section includes your Influencers, Companies, Groups, and Schools you’re following. These used to be their own sections but have been truncated to save space.
Change: In order to see the above sections, you must click (you guessed it) See more. Unless visitors are aware of where these sections are, they will go missed.
These are just some sections on your LinkedIn profile that contribute to supporting your strong personal brand. In the next post, I will talk about maintaining strong personal brand via connecting with others on LinkedIn. Stay tuned!
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
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At this point I count roughly 10 posts and a few videos explaining the differences between the old (or for some, current) user interface (UI) and the new and improved one. I hope this isn’t the 11th post you’ve seen on this topic.
Having played with the new UI—no I don’t have it—there are some very nice features and some disappointments. For this post, I’m going to focus on the profile.
My first thought is, be careful what you wish for. One nice thing about the new profile is it is slimmed down and more visual. However, it will take a learning curve for some to find the various sections of the new profile. Let’s start at the top.
1. The Summary
I was warned ahead of time that the Summary section of the new profile is no longer titled Summary. In fact it’s not in the body of the profile; rather it’s in the Snapshot area (photo above, boxed in red), and…a visitor can only see the first two lines of it. Therefore, it’s important that you utilize these two lines to grab the reader’s interest.
My only concern here is that visitors won’t realize that they need to click “See more” in order to…see more. Get used to clicking “see more,” as LinkedIn has done its best to condense the profile as much as it could.
I heard there was talk about removing the Rich Media areas (under Summary, in Experience and Education), but LinkedIn held off on that silly idea. Rich Media is still there.
2. What About Those Three Dots and Contact and Personal Information?
The Three Dots. The placement of actions like removing connections, unfollowing, requesting and writing recommendations will take some time for recipients of the new UI to get used to, but the information is nicely placed.
Note: your profile only shows the top two commands. To remove a connection, request a recommendation, etc. you must go to that person’s profile.
The same applies to the Contact and Personal Info section which drops down to reveal the information visitors would see if they choose the Info tab on the older version. Unfortunately the public URL for someone is located in this area, instead of in plain view just below one’s photo.
3. Highlights and Posts and Activities
Don’t blink when you near these sections because there’s a lot of information packed into these sections. In Highlights visitors can see our mutual connections, as shown. However, in order to see all my connections, one must click on this area and choose “All.”
Bob’s Posts & Activities. This is where a great deal of information is located, including my articles, posts, and all activities. Articles are ones I’ve written on LinkedIn; this is straight forward. What is not straight forward is the difference between posts and activities. As far as I can tell, they’re one in the same.
Note: Unlike the older version, only one article is displayed. In the older version, three were displayed, which meant you had to have at least three written on order not to be embarrassed, but I’m sure LinkedIn’s motive behind this wasn’t to save you from embarrassment.
4. The Experience Section
UPDATE
How often does LinkedIn reverse its decisions? Not often is the answer.
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 pad. Now we can see most of the positions expanded.
This is great news, as visitors to your profile might not have known that they had to click “See More” in order to see your other positions.
Have you noticed that I’m talking about the new profile in a specific order, e.g. Summary followed by Experience. With the new profile, you cannot move the sections around.
This is a problem for me, because I prefer to follow my Summary with my Skills and Endorsements. I also have a problem with authority, and this is a total power play by LinkedIn, in my opinion.
Note: When I asked LinkedIn why it prevents its members from moving their profile sections, they said the way it’s structured is the way recruiters prefer it.
6. Education
Not much to report here. Because this section can’t be moved, this may cause a problem for students and recent grads.
7. Volunteer Experience
What surprises me is that this section comes before Skills and Endorsements. This section hasn’t changed much, save for the fact that visitors must expand each volunteer experience. I wonder what LinkedIn was thinking when they made this decision for me.
8. Featured Skills and Endorsements & Recommendations
Finally we see the skills and recommendations. First, visitors notice that only the top three skills are displayed. Secondly, only one endorser is displayed, whereas with the older UI, at least ten endorsers were displayed. This is not detrimental. In fact it can be seen as a positive when we’re talking about slimming down the profile.
What I find very promising is that Recommendations are just below Featured Skills and Endorsements. This is significant because in the older version, Recommendations was anchored at the bottom of the profile, giving me and others the feeling that perhaps this section was on its way out. At the very least, it was given less prestige; much like skills are given now.
One of my valued LinkedIn connections, Rich Grant, points out that in the older UI we were able to see from which companies the recommendations came. Further, in the Experience section recommendation givers were displayed with a link to the recommendation section for said people.
9. The Rest
Certifications, Organizations, and Projects are listed under Accomplishments. Prior, they had their own real estate, but now they’re buried under this header. And yes, they must be expanded like most sections.
Do you remember painstakingly listing your professional and personal interests under Interests? Well forget it; that section has been retired, as far as I can see. Shame.
Following includes my activities and interests. This is redundant information because visitors will see the section called Bob’s Posts & Activity directly below my Highlights section.
It makes sense that LinkedIn shows the influencers, companies, groups, and schools I’m following, all of which visitors must expand in order to see more of each.
Is Less Better?
I think you’ll agree when you receive the new UI that in some cases less is better. However, the inability to move sections around as you once had the ability to do; and making you have to expand most sections, including the Summary–you might find the older version more to your liking. Or you might appreciate the lighter version of your new profile. The jury is still out for me.
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
Many articles talk about how important it is to create and maintain a strong personal brand. Doing this requires consistency across your written, verbal, and online communications.
In an Entrepreneur.com article, author Thomas Smale stresses the importance of having an online presence: “Do you have social media profiles? If so, are they fully fleshed out with all of your information? Do they present you in the best light possible, and make you look professional? Are you using high-quality professional photography? Are you interacting with others and sharing their content?”
As a professional, your LinkedIn profile is a critical component of your online personal brand. Let’s look at the major sections of your LinkedIn profile and how they can contribute to your brand.
Snapshot Area
I call this section the snapshot because that’s exactly what it is: a snapshot of who you are. The snapshot section of your LinkedIn profile includes your photo and your headline. Failure to impress viewers in these areas will hurt your branding.
A photo that is unprofessional is an immediate turnoff. Perhaps more damaging is a non-photo. It’s believed that a profile with a photo is 14 times more likely to be read than one without a photo.
Headlines that say things like “Seeking Employment” or “Project Manager at Company X” are ineffective, as they fail to show value.
Rather, your headline should be something like this: “Project Manager at Company X | Financial Planning and Analysis | Auditing | Saving Organizations Millions.” This headline shows your value and brands you. It also adds to your keyword count.
Furthermore, the Headline is ideal real estate for keywords. Next to one’s name, it is believed that keywords are weighed heavily here.
Summary
Support your brand with a powerful summary. This is where you tell your story, which can include the passion you have for your occupation, a statement about your expertise, or some talk about how you’re changing your career.
You’ll want to use close to the 2,000 characters allowed in the summary in order to include the keywords you profile needs to boost your visibility. But your summary must also be compelling. It should mention accomplishments that will capture the reader’s attention.
You should write your summary in either first or third person point of view. Don’t simply repurpose the summary from your resume for this section. For a little guidance on what your summary should read, read “Put a Human Voice in Your Summary” by Liz Ryan of Human Workplace.
Experience
I’m often asked by job seekers how they should address the experience section of their profile. I tell them they have two options: They can either write a section that resembles the work history found on their resume, or they can use their experience section to highlight only their most important accomplishments.
I favor the latter approach, but some think their profile might be the only document an employer sees, so they believe showing all is the way to go. What’s most important in either case is listing accomplishments with quantified results.
Good: Increased productivity by implementing a customer relations management (CRM) system.
Better: Initiated and implemented – before deadline – a customer relations management (CRM) system that increased productivity by 58 percent.
It’s a good idea to use bullets to highlight your accomplishments. One of my LinkedIn connections, Donna Serdula, has created a handy list of bullets and symbols you can copy and paste for use on your own profile.
Back to keywords. Your titles are another place on your profile that are weighed heavily, so instead of Project Manager at GE, something like, Project Manager at GE | Process Improvement | Business Development | Brand Marketing.
Education
Many people neglect this section, choosing to simply list the institution they attended, the degree they received, and their date of graduation. This might be the norm for resumes, but LinkedIn give you the opportunity to further support your brand by telling the story of your education.
Take, for example, the hypothetical job seeker Mary, who completed her
Take Mary who completed her bachelor’s degree while working full-time – a major accomplishment in itself. If she wants to show off her work ethic and time management skills, she might write a description like this:
University of Massachusetts, Lowell Mechanical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude
While working full time at Company A, I attended accelerated classes at night for six years (two years less than typically expected). I also participated as an instructor in an online tutoring program, helping first-year students with their engineering classes. I found this to be extremely rewarding.
Skills
A healthy skills section consisting of 30-50 skills is another way to strengthen your branding. The skills you decide to list should demonstrate your expertise. Do not list skills you are simply familiar with.
To further enhance your branding, the skills may be endorsed by your first-degree LinkedIn connections. If you’re unsure as to which skills to endorse, I have a previous article of mine that can help you.
Recommendations
This is a section I talk about in my LinkedIn workshops, and I always stress how valuable it is to receive recommendations from and write them for others.
By receiving recommendations, you show the value you bring to employers. Meanwhile, writing recommendations shows your authority and what you value in workers.
How my guilt over being an impostor forced me to change my photo.
Will the real John Smith stand up? You’ve probably seen it before. You see someone’s photo on LinkedIn, you meet him in public, and notice that he barely resembles his photo. A bit older. Somewhat heavier. He’s an impostor.
We’ve all been there. People look significantly different than they’re portrayed on their LinkedIn profile, almost to the point where we don’t recognize them in a crowd of people (one reason to have a photo is to be recognizable). You feel like you’ve been duped…hoodwinked.
An Impostor I met
I tell a story to my LinkedIn workshop attendees about a time when I met the real John Smith (not his real name). Weeks before meeting him I saw his photo on LinkedIn. I thought that the man portrayed on LinkedIn was young and muscular, but when I saw him in person he was older and thin.
Whether out of spite or because it just popped out of my mind, I said, “John, you don’t look anything like your LinkedIn profile.” Shortly after, I noticed that his photo changed to one that was more recent.
The Impostor I am
I experienced the other end of the Impostor Syndrome when I was leading an Advanced LinkedIn workshop. I showed them my profile pointing out that I have a photo, and one attendee told me I look older in person than I do in the photo. Ouch.
I passed off being an Impostor by telling the group I hadn’t had the time, nor resources to get a professional photo taken. It still stung when I was told I look younger in my photo. Maybe it’s because my current photo is at least four years old.
What makes one an Impostor?
Four possible thoughts cross my mind when I encounter an Impostor.
He is vain. This is the worst kind in my mind. Pride is listed as one of the 7 deadly sins. Vanity is a form of pride. As my father said, “We enter this world naked and we leave it naked.” As Popeye said, “I Yam What I Yam.” Why should we pretend to be someone different?
He doesn’t realize that eventually he’ll be outed (as in my story). I’ve entered many a room where someone says, “Hi Bob.” Not caring much about etiquette, I respond by asking who they are. I learn that they’ve seen me on LinkedIn. It’s flattering, while at the same time a little creepy. People do recognize you on social media, so you will be outed, if you don’t update your profile.
He doesn’t realize that honesty is the basis for networking. One point I make in my Advanced LinkedIn workshop is that those who don’t have a photo on their profile will not be trusted as those who do. To gain complete trust, don’t put up a photo of you in college when you’re 20 years beyond those golden years. What does this say about your trustworthiness?
He isn’t concerned about branding himself. Your photo is a way to brand yourself in a positive light. It can tell people about your personality; it really can. My photo, old and new, I’ve always felt it tells people that I’m caring and nurturing, and, hopefully, wise. Others can brand people as authoritative, creative, serious, intelligent, etc.
Lately I’ve been struggling with the Impostor Syndrome. You see, I have a photo that is at least four years old. Since getting it taken, I’ve added some wrinkles and gained white facial hair. Oh, I’ve also gained some weight (gulp).
I’m no longer an Impostor
I’d like to say that I haven’t gotten my photo retaking because of financial reasons, but who am I kidding? I haven’t gotten it retaking because I’m vain. I don’t like how I look and don’t want my ugly self being part of my branding—I mean everyone looks so great.
So recently I had a colleague take the photo of the real me. He took it with his own camera in plentiful lighting, and he even blurred the background. I appreciate his willingness to do this, as well as his encouragement, but I’m not too fond of my true image.
Here’s why: the faults I mentioned above show brilliantly clear. His camera is of great quality. He has a steady hand. Basically there’s no excuse for why I look like I do. I guess I’m vain. One of the seven deadly sins. I’m doomed.
So what do I do? Do I continue to go with the older me, or do I present the real me (the photo included)?
If you’ve read anything I’ve written in the past three weeks, you probably know that I’m now on Facebook. I’ve written ad nauseam about this, to the point where I’m tired of writing about this insignificant factoid. Nonetheless, I’m glad I finally made the plunge; Facebook is drawing out my personal side, much to the chagrin of my family. (They think my posts are embarrassing.)
You may also have seen me share a record shattering 25 updates…today. Not really, but I think I came close to 10 updates. Again, I’m tired of sharing updates, fully aware that many of my connections have hidden me. Now it’s called “Unfollow Bob McIntosh.” So, oversharing is one thing that makes LinkedIn tricky. When do you stop and shut down your laptop?
Following are six other LinkedIn faux pas.
Posting Irrelevant Content
Some people confuse their updates, photos, political statements, or mathematics games with content that is relevant to members of LinkedIn, a purported professional networking platform. Lately there has been some outcry, including from yours truly, about this irrelevant content.
“Go to Facebook,” they say. This is a legitimate request. As I said earlier, I joined Facebook. I joined it because I want to know what I’m talking about when I compare LinkedIn with Facebook. What I’ve learned from my short stint on FB is that it’s a place to “let your hair down.”
A video of a parent’s first child’s birthday party is relevant on FB. A political statement is relevant on FB. But these examples are NOT relevant on LinkedIn. When there are “R U a Genius” games, photos of butterflies; LinkedIn’s purpose becomes diluted.
On the other hand, too much professional content on Facebook dilutes its purpose, which is to give people the forum to know each other’s personal lives. When I posted articles I or others have written, I’m sure Facebookies were thinking, “This is boring.”
I posted photos of my family, a snow storm, chickadees eating out of my kids’ hands, my son at his basketball game, and various other personal matter. It felt refreshing. Again, nothing that belongs on LinkedIn.
Not Keeping Your Cool
This continues to be a problem for some LinkedIn members, who take every opportunity to disparage, say, employers who they feel have done them wrong. I wrote a popular post on this, Some advice for my angry LinkedIn connection. I don’t expect this behavior to cease immediately, but I’m hoping to cause some awareness.
In some cases the people of whom I describe demonstrate excellent writing ability; however, ruin their post for me with one sentence that shows their true nature. They’re not keeping their cool. The climax of their post is the one statement that bashes the entity of which they’re writing.
People like this remind me of children who are tempted by a cookie jar sitting on the counter, and while other children can refrain from taking a cookie, this person just can’t resist, so he grabs that cookie.
Damn, so close.
Not Following Etiquette
We’ve all read enough about how sending the default invite message to people with whom you’d like to connect is poor etiquette. Frustrated LinkedIn members have written about this over and over, yet the majority of default invite messages I receive, 19 out of 20, keep rolling in. Default messages do suck.
I’ll admit that one etiquette rule I break is the limit of updates one is “allowed” to update. The number of updates is purported to be four a day at most. I’m clearly an offender of this. I once tried to keep my update number down, but to no avail. I mention this in the second paragraph of the post but thought it warranted repeating.
On the flip side of overdoing it with updates, is not doing enough. I can’t tell you how many people who begin a strong LinkedIn campaign only to leave LI or resurface twice a month. They have, essentially disappeared. I wonder if Facebook as sucked them in…like LinkedIn in has sucked me in.
The last violation I will mention is what many people have been complaining of lately; spamming their newly acquired connections. No sooner does a person accept an invite when WHAM they’re hit with, “Will you buy my product or service now that we’re trusted connections?” This causes a violent reaction from some LinkedIn members.
Letting it Control Your Life
Sometimes we learn best from our mistakes. Letting LinkedIn control my life is a reality I struggle with; I’m on the platform everyday at least half an hour or more each day. This, to me and others, seems twisted.
Think to yourself what is the purpose of my LinkedIn engagement? Is it to find a job and am I do it right? To generate leads? To disseminate information? Build brand awareness? A little bit of both? Do you have a plan? Are you using LinkedIn to fill time? Is LinkedIn a marathon?
I sometimes envy the people who have a balance between their LinkedIn involvement and daily life. They seem to have their priorities correct. I’ve also come to realize that the people who are on LinkedIn four times a week are also on Facebook a good amount of time. Is that any better?
LinkedIn does seem to me to be a marathon I haven’t stopped running since I joined it seven years ago. Despite all this, I’ve seen some of my connections maintain my insane schedule and even exceed it.
Loving LinkedIn and Leaving It
The adverse to Letting LinkedIn control your life is leaving LinkedIn high and dry. I run across job seekers who admit that the only reason they’re in my workshop is to pick up where they left off.
Secretly I’m thinking these people are committed one of the most egregious faux pas of all time. They opened an account, set up a profile, and once they found work they abandoned LinkedIn. Dropped it like hot potato.
How could they do this to LinkedIn? Don’t they understand that LinkedIn is at its best when they’re working and have the leverage to build the network they need for the rest of their career.
So what’s worse, letting LinkedIn consume your life like it has mine, or treating it like a friend you use? I say it is the latter.
Thinking LinkedIn Alone Will Get You Your Next Job
For job seekers, I have this bit of advice for you: yes, you must put effort into your LinkedIn campaign, as well as utilize Facebook and Twitter; but it is not the elixir some believe it is. In other words, LinkedIn alone will not garner you a job.
A successful job search must combine personal with online networking, online networking to reach out to connections who then become personal connections. Personal networking is supplemented by LinkedIn and perhaps Facebook and Twitter. That said, you must put the effort into your LinkedIn campaign.
This belief that social media alone will land you a job can be tricky for those who fear personal networking like they fear a dark cellar, so they feel LinkedIn is the answer to easing their fear. As I’ve said before, LinkedIn won’t do it alone.
Final Thoughts
I’m thankful for LinkedIn, and other social media, as they have given me the opportunity to meet and learn about interesting people—both online and in person. It has allowed me to share information from me and other bloggers. And my engagement has resulted in side business in the form of LinkedIn profile writing and public speaking events.
While LinkedIn has been kind to me, there are still some problems that need to be fixed. But that’s half the fun, strategizing on how to collaborate with others to mend the negativity, and reminding others of proper etiquette and relevant content. For job seekers, I again stress that LinkedIn alone is not your answer to landing your next job.
For my growth on social media, perhaps I need to grow at a slower more consistent manner. Instead of logging 45 minutes a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks out of the year…yes, even on vacation. There is a lot I need to learn about using social media.
I’m interested in hearing about some faux pas you’ve committed or have thought of. Please leave a comment. And as always, please share this post if you enjoyed it.
If you want to learn more about LinkedIn, visit this compilation of LinkedIn posts.
I was warned ahead of time that the Summary section of the new profile is no longer titled Summary. In fact it’s not in the body of the profile; rather it’s in the Snapshot area (photo above, boxed in red), and…a visitor can only see the first two lines of it. Therefore, it’s important that you utilize these two lines to grab the reader’s interest.
You’ll want to use close to the 2,000 characters allowed in the summary in order to include the keywords you profile needs to boost your visibility. But your summary must also be compelling. It should mention accomplishments that will capture the reader’s attention.
While working full time at Company A, I attended accelerated classes at night for six years (two years less than typically expected). I also participated as an instructor in an online tutoring program, helping first-year students with their engineering classes. I found this to be extremely rewarding.
For job seekers, I have this bit of advice for you: yes, you must put effort into your LinkedIn campaign, as well as utilize Facebook and Twitter; but it is not the elixir some believe it is. In other words, LinkedIn alone will not garner you a job.
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