Tag Archives: Skills and Expertise

The difference between the résumé’s and LinkedIn profile’s skills sections–Part 2

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resume linkedin

Part one of this series addresses the differences between  LinkedIn’s and the résumé’s first impressions; the photo and Branding Statements. This post will address the differences between the résumé’s Core Competency and LinkedIn profile’s Skills and Endorsements, which are distinct in their own way.

LinkedIn enthusiasts create profiles that are dynamic, while others who don’t understand the purpose of LinkedIn, simply copy and paste their résumé  to their profile and call it a day; done, complete, finito.

That’s not enough if you want to attract visitors to your profile, including potential employers. If you believe your LinkedIn profile is your résumé, you are mistaken; there are distinct differences.

Of the résumés I critique on a daily basis, I notice that many people neglect to include a Core Competency section. This is a mistake, for this section provides an ideal place to highlight the must-have skills for a position, as well additional skills that can be a tiebreaker.

If you’re sending your résumé to large or mid-sized companies that uses an applicant tracking system (ATS), the Core Competency section is a great place to include those keywords. Skills that are easy to scan by human eyes and keywords that will be captured by the ATS are the goals for this section of your résumé.

Here’s an example of a Core Competencies section from an operations manager’s résumé:

Strategic Business Planning ~ Project Management ~ Cross-Functional Team Building ~ IT/IS~Human Resource Issues ~ Employee Benefits ~ Risk Management ~ Hiring, Training & Coaching ~ Negotiations ~ Research & Analysis ~ Financial Modeling ~ Business Modeling ~ Portfolio Management ~ Acquisitions & Divestitures ~ Policies & Procedures

LinkedIn places a great emphasis on skills/areas of expertise as evidenced by its Skills and Endorsements area. This section allows you to list as many as 50 of your strongest skills. In addition, your first degree contacts can endorse you for any of your skills with a simple click. (The jury’s still out on the value of Endorsements).

The most obvious difference between the résumé’s Core Competencies and LinkedIn’s Skills and Endorsements is the quantity you would include on your LinkedIn profile vs. your résumé. The example of the operations manager’s above lists 15 core competencies, a good number for someone in that position.

On the other hand, the Skills and Endorsements example below lists close to 50, which would be far too many for a résumé. This is LinkedIn’s attempt at encouraging its members to tout their skills and expertise, as well as increase the keyword count.Skills and Endorsements

Another noticeable difference are the tidbits of information provided under the covers of LinkedIn’s Skills and Endorsements feature. If you click on a particular skill or expertise, you will be brought to a page that suggests jobs you may want to pursue, people with whom you could connect, and groups to join. I find this particularly useful if I want to connect with someone who has experience with LinkedIn, as well as other expertise.Information from Endorsements

I think you’d agree that LinkedIn’s Skills and Endorsements feature is interactive, whereas the résumé’s Core Competencies
section is not. This adds to Linked”s dynamism.

The next post will address the differences between the résumé’s and LinkedIn’s Summary statements.

2 important hints about LinkedIn endorsements

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endorsemments2When you endorse your connections’ skills and expertise, do you simply click Endorse next to the skills with the highest number of endorsements? You may not be doing your connections a favor by doing this; but it’s not entirely your fault.

Your valued connections should be guiding you through the process, and you should follow their wishes.

Hint 1: guide your connections

Endorsees, you may be unaware that you can move specific skills and expertise toward the top of your list as a way to highlight their importance. Without doing this, your skills will be listed in highest to lowest number of endorsements. Which works out fine if your highest number of endorsements properly brand you.

But in some cases your skills are not being endorsed in a manner that tells others how you want to build your brand. One of my connections aptly illustrates which skills he wants endorsed to better brand him. He lists Social Selling ( a mere 13 endorsements) listed above LinkedIn (98), LinkedIn Training (74), and so forth. He’s obviously sending a message to his connections.

How do you rearrange your skills in the order you desire? In Edit Profile select Edit Skills and Endorsements. You’ll see a field like this:

skills

Now simply move the skills in the order you’d like them to appear. I’ve moved LinkedIn (33 endorsements) ahead of Workshop Facilitation (98+) and Blogging (41) ahead of Interviews (82), as I want these two skills highlighted.

Hint 2: those of you endorsing your connections, take the hint

So if you’re endorsing your connections, take the hint. The skills your savvy connections want endorsed first are the top five to 10, not the bottom 10. Endorse them for those skills first and then endorse them for the others.

People often ask me if I see value in endorsements. I tell them only if the endorsers are aware or have witnessed the endorsees perform the skills for which they’re being endorsed. However, if LinkedIn wants us to endorse our connections–even those we haven’t seen perform–we can only trust their word on their proficient skills.

That said, I feel it’s perfectly fine to ask a connection which skills she wants endorsed–in other words, respect your connections’ order of skills. (Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think eliciting endorsements from others is ethical.)

I asked one of my connections which of his skills he wanted endorsed. His simple response was the top five because those are the skills he is strongest at. I wouldn’t know without asking him because he lives in California, and I’ve never seen him in action. Nonetheless, like Lin Sanity, I was caught up in endorsing people.

Take the hint if you’d like to endorse me by clicking Endorse next to my top five skills, because I’ve arranged them in order of preference. I’m pretty sure I perform those skills very well. I’d do the same for you.

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