by Rob Seaver
Right off the bat, I want to say I’m not sure anything I write will help you get hired. But, I have found that LinkedIn was THE major tool in successfully landing me a decent (and potentially rewarding) job!
Oh sure, I’ve been promoting and pushing my friends and co-workers to use this tool for some years now. And, I’ve been using it on and off for the same period of time, but after finding myself unemployed for the better part of last year, I knew I needed to try something different… AND FAST!!!
A friend of mind pointed out that she looked up my “social footprint” and found my story wasn’t being told. What she meant was, what I was saying wasn’t matching up with the person she knew I was. And, the one area she felt I needed to really spend more energy “fixing” was LinkedIn. At the time she first told me, I didn’t fully realize the impact this one site could have (not only) on my job search, but eventually me finding a job!
I wanted to share a few quick and simple tips I did that had tremendous impact.
Here’s what I have done:
- A Great Tagline – Come up with something short and catchy that really says who you are and what you are looking for. For me, I needed to emote my marketing experience and ability to generate leads. “Creative Marketing Guru / Lead Generator Extraordinaire” (sure I know it’s corny, but it immediately generated comments from my connections)
- Frequent Updates – This is something I recently saw the cause and effect. Every time I made a change to my profile (no matter how small), the number of people who would view my profile dramatically increased. This resulted in not only increased exposure for me, but also an increase in people contacting me directly. Some of the comments were “Wow…It looks like good things are happening”, “Maybe it’s time we should talk”, “I’ve noticed you have a lot going on”
- Be Relevant -Make sure your profile and experience match the target audience. If you worked at a printing company, but want a marketing position, say something about direct marketing instead of print. Also ensure you list any software (online or offline) you are comfortable working with. Show actual accomplishments. If you grew business through your efforts by $1,000.00 maybe say “I’ve grown that division of the company by 400%”
- Grow Your Network – It’s been said you can handle really only 150 members in your network. If this is true, you should really be selective about who you invite. Do a search for leaders and management in companies you would like to work for and see if you can get them to connect with you. Once again, only do this when you believe your profile matches who you are and says what you want them to hear.
- A Great Photo – This might be the single most important part of your of your LinkedIn profile. No matter how badly we want to believe appearances shouldn’t matter, believe me they do! I’ve been in meetings where management quickly does an online search for the applicant online to see “what they look like”. The comments “He’s too old”, “She’s too fat” have unfortunately been said all to many times. So make sure when posting your photo (and I believe you must have one) spend a little money and have a professional take both a “corporate” shot as well as a “fun” shot of you. Something that says who you are as much as what you look like. One final note: no photo = no interest.
Overall, these tips are quick and easy. They aren’t everything you could be doing, like blogging and using Facebook and Twitter in tandem with LinkedIn, but they have worked for me. I just landed a new job at a fortune 500 company… all through my LinkedIn page.
Happy Hunting!
scratchinmyhead 