Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn Profile’

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Should I Include My LinkedIn Profile URL on My Resume?

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The short answer to the title question is YES!  Your LinkedIn profile address has become a standard item to put in your resume header, along with name, address and phone.

WHY?

90% of hiring managers now use social media, with LinkedIn as a primary resource, to research candidates.  So your email address and LinkedIn URL have become more important information for employers than your street address!  In fact, some people are omitting their street address from the header and including just city and state, since correspondence happens most often by email.

CRAFT YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE URL

Before you put your LinkedIn profile address on your resume or business card, make sure choose an address you want.  You can edit your “Public Profile URL” through the Edit menu on LinkedIn and get rid of all those distracting letters and numbers at the end of the URL.
www.linkedin.com/in/brendabernstein
looks so much better than
www.linkedin.com/in/brendabernstein/16/b93/429
doesn’t it?  And it takes up  LOT less space on your resume!

Remember, if you have your LinkedIn profile URL on any documents or email signatures and then you change it, update your documents and signatures!

HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE LINKEDIN PROFILE

Whether or not you put your LinkedIn URL on your resume, hiring managers will search for you on LinkedIn.  It is therefore essential that you have a LinkedIn profile and that it is written to impress.

My LinkedIn e-book, LinkedIn Power Tune-Up:  17 Expert Tips for a Highly Effective LinkedIn Profile, is just $6.95 and will help you craft a profile that keeps you in the “Yes” pile when a recruiter or hiring manager finds you on LinkedIn.  The Essay Expert also offers individualized LinkedIn Profile Reviews, as well as LinkedIn Profile Construction and Rewriting, for more in-depth service.

Don’t send potential employers to a half-done or sloppy profile.  Get assistance if you need it to clean up —  and step up – your LinkedIn profile.  Contact The Essay Expert for help.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Job Search, LinkedIn, Resume Tips | 1 Comment »

Writing a Killer LinkedIn Profile – Interview with Brenda Bernstein

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You may need to turn up your sound to hear this interview.  Please do!  Here’s a chance to get to know Brenda Bernstein of The Essay Expert on a more personal level.  This conversation about LinkedIn profiles will give you a personable view of both The Essay Expert and the pieces of your LinkedIn profile.  Writing a Killer LinkedIn Profile

The Essay Expert offers $95 LinkedIn profile reviews.  To purchase yours, go to The Essay Expert’s LinkedIn Profile Services page.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, LinkedIn | No Comments »

Your LinkedIn Profile Summary: How to Distinguish Yourself from Your Company

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One of the biggest mistakes I see people make in their LinkedIn profiles is that they do not distinguish who they are from who their company is. I call this “conflating” yourself with your company.

“Conflating” is a completely natural thing to do, especially if you, like so many of us, identify yourself very strongly with your company.

It just doesn’t work for your readers and potential customers.

When I read a Summary on LinkedIn, I want it to tell me who that person is beyond the great professional photo up top. If I wanted to hear all about a company, I would go to the company website or LinkedIn page. I’m looking at your personal profile to learn more about you!

Here’s an example from a profile I reviewed, along with my commentary:

Summary:

Over 17 years of expertise providing social networking strategy consulting and implementation in organizations such as Motorola, BF Goodrich, AT&T, American Express, Medtronic, CNA, UBS and hundreds of emerging companies looking to build key account relationships with large organizations, innovate new products or build their brands through social networking.

Did you make it through that one? It was difficult, wasn’t it? Not only is this otherwise impressive list of credentials a run-on sentence, but it leaves us confused: Is this person talking about herself or her company? Does she have 17 years of experience or does her company? After reading this entire paragraph, I’m still wondering… who is she?

Her next paragraph goes on as follows:

We offer a unique, exclusive and cost-effective process to build leadership, sales and customer networks to grow revenue exponentially. Recently Crains named me the best networker in Chicago. I am also the author of eleven books (just working on book twelve)….

Do you see where in the middle of a paragraph she switches from the subject “we” to the subject “I”? Again, who is she vs. who is her company?

The above networking expert has stellar credentials and recommendations and is up to big things – but we might not ever get around to reading past the first two lines of her Summary.

Now, here’s an example of someone who does a great job of distinguishing himself from his company, and who succeeds in selling both:

I am a research professional and LinkedIn trainer with more than eight years of combined market intelligence, competitive intelligence and Internet recruiting experience. My focus has been on deep web sourcing, executive interviews and online social networking. I enjoy networking with professionals from any industry on a global scale and encourage you to contact me at any time…. Thanks!

See how this entire paragraph is about the person himself? It works! We’re right there with him!

His second section reads as follows:

Current Phelps Research Services Initiatives:
* Networking with business professionals in the greater Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago areas
* Selling and conducting targeted LinkedIn training to corporations.

Here he clearly makes a switch from talking about himself to talking about his company. We get that he is the principal in the company and we know who’s behind these initiatives. We stay engaged and wanting to read more.

I encourage you to look at your LinkedIn profile Summary. Have you conflated yourself with your company? If so, it’s time to re-write that Summary and distinguish yourself and who you are. That’s what we go there to discover.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, LinkedIn | No Comments »

Your LinkedIn Profile *STATUS BAR* – What do you want them to Know?

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As I have been conducting LinkedIn profile reviews for job seekers and business owners, I have noticed that the LinkedIn profile STATUS BAR is often overlooked and underutilized.

Context… and the Danger of Ping

The status bar feature gives you a chance to report on your personal or business-related “current events.” You may recognize the status bar from other social media sites:

Facebook users change their status regularly and can be rather creative with the things they report. You might see anything from “I was rudely introduced to the hungry Pothole from Hell in Boston which ate my tire” to “Delayed in Atlanta. Renewing vow never to take connecting flights” to “…is saving lives one shopping mall at a time.” You probably would not want any of these status updates to show up on your LinkedIn profile.

Then there’s Twitter. How can you sell your wares, report important news, or, better yet, say something pithy, in 140 characters or less? Yesterday I saw this one:

“This dream today embattled with its back against the wall, to save the dream 4 one, it must be saved 4 all” Langston Hughes (2nd time/ #fb).

Wow, was that really Twitter-compliant? Guess Langston was ahead of his time.

So what about the LinkedIn status bar? What to do with this one? Well, we know off the bat that you are on LinkedIn for business networking purposes. We also know that a Twitter-proof status update like “Discover the Best Anti Aging Vitamins That Will Change Your Life… http://tinyurl.com/xlr52pz” might not cut it on LinkedIn’s information-sharing and networking-focused site. Or would it?

To all you Pingers out there, Ping, if set up properly, sends out the same status update message to all your social media groups.  Be careful if you’re including LinkedIn in your Ping targets!

Report on your Business-related Activities

LinkedIn suggests the following starts to your status: “working on…”, “traveling to…”, “looking for advice on…”, “looking for a job…” or “reading…” I personally have taken a bit of a direct selling posture in my status bar, at least sometimes. When I first started offering LinkedIn profile reviews, for instance, I kept track of the countdown in terms of how many LinkedIn reviews I had remaining at a bargain price. The reviews flew off the shelf!

I think the most effective status bars report on current trainings, travels, ideas, etc. that show your readers that you are serious about your profession. Or you can post a link to your blog if you want to send people there. After all, you’re on LinkedIn because of your profession right?

If you were looking for an SEO optimization specialist, and you were browsing LinkedIn profiles, wouldn’t you like to see that your prospective SEO optimizer is at a conference that week in the field, or that she is leading a webinar or writing a blog on the subject? You probably wouldn’t care about this person’s flat tire or shopping plans, or even about the person’s visits to see the grandchildren. It is imperative as you update your status that you consider what your audience would want to read about you.

Update Frequently

Make sure you don’t have a status bar on LinkedIn that is more than 6 days old (and preferably no more than 1-2 days old). Even if you repeat the same information, update it!! It can change from “is at a conference” to “is just back from a conference.” Keep it current and your readers will know that you are serious about your business – not to mention that your connections will be reminded of your status if your settings and theirs permit it.

Your Profile Settings

You can’t do anything about your contacts’ settings… but you can make sure that you have your Status Visibility (under Profile Settings) set to “Your current status is visible to everyone.”

And then go update it! Isn’t it worth composing a few lines every few days to get this visibility?

Frankly, if you are on LinkedIn, updating your status bar is part of your business. Do it often and do it well, and start getting the attention you want out of your LinkedIn profile.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Job Search, LinkedIn | No Comments »

Your LinkedIn Profile *HEADLINE* – What Would Draw You In?

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The LinkedIn profile “Headline” is the line directly underneath your name. Here LinkedIn has given you a golden opportunity. These are the first words in your profile and your chance to draw your reader in.

I repeat: You get to say something about who you are and what you have to offer, right in the first line of your profile! Hello! Wake up! This is an opportunity!

I ask my clients, “If you were an employer or a client looking for you, what would you want to read here? What would draw you in?”

Maybe something different would be the way to go? Something that turns on the lights a little brighter?

I mean, how many IT technicians are out there? How many Administrative Assistants? How many Project Managers?

In the 32 LinkedIn profiles I reviewed, almost 30% of them had no headline at all, or left out half of what the person did! What a waste of a good opportunity! 60% were just boring. Only about 10% actually took good advantage of the Headline opportunity.

Here are some examples to illustrate what makes a bland vs. attention-getting headline:

1. How much does “Senior Management Executive” tell you about a person? Would you be interested in this person more than the next Senior Management Executive in the queue? Probably not. How about: “Senior Management Executive. Ensuring you meet and exceed your sales targets.” Hmmm… Now at least I want to read more and I know the person is willing to step out in the area of sales — now he is at least selling himself!

2. How much does “International Business” tell you? Not much. It’s boring! What would say more is: “High-Powered Financial and Analytical Trainer for International Businesses.” See the difference?

3. Compare “Program, Process and Project Management Professional” (dry) to “Program, Process and Project Manager. Creating and Implementing Innovative Technological Solutions.” Which one would make you read more?

You get the picture right?

Another Headline issue is whether to put “Open Networker” or “LION” there. Some social media experts recommend stating that you are an Open Networker so that people know you will accept their invitation. I don’t think it’s necessary unless you have a goal of amassing as many connections as possible on LinkedIn. I don’t. I prefer to build a network of people who know me, have worked with me, or have potential to become ongoing relationships in the future.

Ask yourself when you are writing your effective headlines: What would your readers want to hear?

What would draw you in?

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Job Search, LinkedIn | No Comments »

Your LinkedIn Profile *PHOTO* – Projecting the Right Image

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I have now conducted 32 in-depth reviews of people’s LinkedIn profiles and one of the most common things I tell people is “Consider getting a new photo.”

Some people have privacy considerations and choose not to post a picture to LinkedIn. If you do have confidentiality concerns, I respect your choice.

However, there are reasons to include a photo in your LinkedIn profile. It builds trust and credibility and makes you a real person rather than simply an electronic profile. And it’s the first thing people notice.

If you do choose to post a photo on LinkedIn, the first question to ask yourself is: What image do I want to project?

Most of us will answer this question, “A professional image, of course!” Remember, this is LinkedIn. It’s not Facebook for your friends or a dating website for your cute and sexy look.

Yet here’s what I found in many business people’s pictures (and I may be talking to you):

  1. Cars, computers, and random objects in the background (these draw attention away from you)
  2. Dark backgrounds that make it hard to see your face
  3. Other people:  girlfriends, kids, and drinking buddies (are you planning to bring them to your interview?)
  4. Dogs (are you planning to bring them to your interview?)
  5. Obvious cropping, creating an amateur look (maybe okay for Facebook, but not for LinkedIn)
  6. Long shots where we can?t see the person’s face (what’s the point?)

If you were an employer or a client, what would your reaction be to these photos?

To avoid these common blunders, I recommend to most people that they get a professionally done head shot in front of a plain light colored background. That’s the kind of photo that builds business credibility. (If you don’t want to go to a studio, a white house will do the trick as a background… all you need is a friend with a portrait lens.)

There are exceptions to every rule. Perhaps if you are in real estate, you want your picture to be taken in front of a house you sold — or you might just want your company logo in the corner of the photo. If you are in the travel industry, perhaps you want an exotic background. As a general rule, however, if it’s not relevant to your work, don’t include it in the photo! And make sure we can see your face.

Ask yourself: What image do I want to project? Then create a match for that image in your LinkedIn photo.

Remember, a lot of people are looking.

Click here for your $95 in-depth LinkedIn Profile Review.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Job Search, LinkedIn | 2 Comments »

Your LinkedIn Profile: 10 Most Common Errors and Omissions

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Your professional image is largely determined by what’s on your LinkedIn profile. Don’t think for a minute that any — and I mean any — employer who considers hiring you won’t Google you and vet your LinkedIn profile.

What would you like them to find there?

I recently offered to review 20 people’s LinkedIn profiles for free, and I got an overwhelming response to my offer. What I learned through the process of conducting these reviews rather astounded me.

Here’s what potential employers and clients will see in most profiles:

1. Spelling, grammar and punctuation errors in the main profile. Don’t let this happen. Find a good editor to review your profile!

2. Recommendations containing spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. Have someone check these and if there are errors, ask your recommender to replace the recommendation. Most people are very cooperative — I’ve made these requests myself!

3. No picture, a blurry picture, a picture with 2 people in it, or a picture with a busy background. I understand some people have privacy considerations that raise concerns about posting a picture on LinkedIn. If you do choose to post a photo, however, make it a head shot with a plain, light background. We’re shooting for the professional look here!

4. Websites like “My Company” and “My graduate school.” These titles don’t provide much information. Thankfully, it’s easy to personalize your URLs – just choose “Other” and write in your specific website description.

5. Public profile URLs with lots of numbers, letters and slashes at the end. You can customize your URL to end with your name. Is that name taken? Try last name followed by first name, or use an initial or two, or insert dashes — you can figure this one out. (Read more about this in my post Should I Include My LinkedIn Profile URL on My Resume?)

Here’s what potential employers and clients will NOT see in many cases:

1. Consistency. From one job description to the next, there are often discrepancies in format and structure. Consistency is extremely important in any resume-like document! If you have a heading that says “Major Accomplishments,” use it in all positions where you had major accomplishments. If you are writing in the third person (which I recommend for your profile), write everything in the third person. If you use periods at the end of your bullets, do it everywhere. Capisce?

2. Recommendations. If you own a business or are looking for work, it is especially important to use this opportunity to have people sell you!

3. Descriptions of your job duties and accomplishments — why would you leave these out? It’s okay on your 10th job in the list to leave out the bullets, but make sure you provide a description of what you did at your jobs. Start your phrases with verbs (past tense verbs for past positions, present tense verbs for present positions). Let us know not just what you did but what you accomplished. The more concrete and quantifiable the better. You can also attach a resume for this purpose if you download the application Box.net.

4. School activities and sometimes degrees. If you got a degree or participated in activities while in school, list them!

5. Applications. I recommend checking out the partner applications available through LinkedIn. You can attach documents, recommend books, and do many other things with these useful tools. Find out what’s available — and use it!

If you avoid these errors and omissions in your LinkedIn profile, you will stand out in a positive way to the people reading it. Why would you take a chance by doing anything else?

As Featured On EzineArticles

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Job Search, LinkedIn | 2 Comments »

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