Having been launched in 2003, the professional social networking community of LinkedIn has assisted current and future workers with their chosen path in a modern social medium . The website has been known as Facebook for professionals, in that users have the capability to connect and stay in touch with others just like Facebook, but the focus is past experience and skills in a field of work or study. The website that focuses on this particular niche of networking is utilized by more than 100 million people (130 million as of January 2012) and the community continues to grow.
Perhaps you have recently graduated from college, or are looking for a new job. You know how arduous of a task it can be in general just to get a prospective employer’s attention to turn in your direction. Using career sites like Monster, Dice and Career Builder can provide some potential promise, but the problem that I personally had during my search was how condensed and unpromising the leads are.
You can put your resume up on the site, but your information appears to be uniform along with all of the thousands of others, and there really is no guarantee that your resume will get the time of day. This lack of promise only becomes further accentuated with the now infamous bit of information that employers spend an average of six seconds looking at your resume. That is not to say that the resume is completely obsolete, of course you need one, but this is the age of being connected online, and your presence needs to be visible. More employers are looking at your LinkedIn to see what you know, and perhaps just as important, WHO you know.
So while LinkedIn is an essential tool, it is necessary to be scrupulous in the manner that you exhibit yourself on the site. These are some points to consider for you to touch up your page, or as you are building one up today.
1. It’s Not A Resume
One pattern I notice on a lot of LinkedIn profiles is how some users (most of them my age and not too far out of college) treat their page like their resume. All this does is give you the same presence as you would have on any of those job sites, and you won’t stick out immediately. There’s nothing wrong with having this resume-influenced information, but don’t sound so mechanical about it. LinkedIn offers you the chance to reveal your philosophy and values that you have gained from your past experience. Employers like LinkedIn because they have a chance to learn about your character and personality before they meet with you for the interview. Show them not just what you know how to do, but why you love what you do.
2. Get a Picture
You have great content on your page, and it looks like you have a lot of established connections that enhance your credibility as a future employee. But what do you look like? This has nothing to do with aesthetic value as a person, but rather, the picture provides more personality on your LinkedIn. It’s a little disconcerting seeing a profile with just that gray and white silhouette default photo. You wouldn’t walk into an interview with a mask on, would you? Upload a recent high-quality photo that makes a good impression, just as you would face-to-face.
3. Don’t Make Anyone Guess
When explaining your experience, make it to the point, and put all the good stuff on there that the resume tends to prohibit. Being too wordy is no good, unless what you are saying is extremely valuable. Employers want to learn about you, but may not necessarily want your entire collegiate or past professional biography. There is that pragmatic approach that states “less is more.” This certainly applies to the profile as well. Yes, this sounds all too similar to the fixed rules of resume writing, but keep in mind what I said in the first point. You have more liberty in what you can say on your LinkedIn, but just watch how much you’re putting on there.
4. Get A Recommendation
A pivotal advantage of having LinkedIn is that a recommendation can be written for you by someone who can attest to your claims of achievements. This is an extremely powerful facet that you can have on your profile page. Perhaps it’s a professor whose class you flourished in, or a high up co-worker from your previous job, but find someone who has the credibility in the industry you’re trying to enter, and have them speak of all the great qualities about you. The more that there is to back up your word, the more attention you’re going to get.
5. It’s All in the Title
This is bit of a more sensitive point to make, but it is indeed very crucial when someone sees you in a list of LinkedIn candidates. Make sure that your title is relevant to the industry that you are trying to enter. Don’t make your title what your summer job is, or worse, saying that you’re unemployed. A waitress at the local restaurant or “waiting for that call” (something I have seen painfully more than once) as your title will serve you no positive outcome. If you’re a graduate looking for a job, then say that you’re a graduate in the major you chose from the college you went to. Or, if you had a good internship somewhere, then make that your past title. It is possible to make yourself sound good even if you currently are without a position. You know your skills, so make it clear.
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