Kate Seidametova provides solid, spot-on advice for using LinkedIn for your job search, and suggests some useful groups to join if you are a job-seeker! Job Search Networking on LinkedIn
Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’
The Essay Expert Interviewed on EmploymentDigest.net
What’s the difference between a resume and a LinkedIn profile? Brenda Bernstein of The Essay Expert answers this question and more on a recent interview posted on Bill Vick’s EmploymentDigest.net. Interview with The Essay Expert
2 Lazy LinkedIn Invitations That Can Burn Bridges – from Susan Ireland’s Job Lounge
One of the most important things to do as a job seeker or a business networker is to build your connections on LinkedIn. Susan Ireland provides key advice on how to write effective invitations that will succeed in building your network… and she also warns against lazy invitations that can turn people off. 2 Lazy LinkedIn Invitations That Can Burn Bridges – from Susan Ireland’s Job Lounge
Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job – from How to Change the World
Are you looking for a job and wondering how to use LinkedIn as a resource? Although the writer of this article might require counting lessons (there are 11 tips in the article), the advice he gives is solid. The one tip I would add is to make sure your profile is stellar so that when a prospective employer looks for you on LinkedIn you will make a good impression. Contact The Essay Expert for help in crafting a professional and effective profile. Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job by Guy Kawasaki.
2 Ways to Add * Bling * to Your Facebook or LinkedIn Profile – from Susan Ireland’s Job Lounge
Ever wonder how people get special characters into their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles? These instructions will dispell the mystery! 2 Ways to Add *Bling* to Your Facebook or LinkedIn Profile
Writing a Killer LinkedIn Profile – Interview with Brenda Bernstein
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.
Your LinkedIn Profile Summary: How to Distinguish Yourself from Your Company
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.
LinkedIn – 22 Ways to Dominate – by Jason Baer
Here’s a short list of important ways to use LinkedIn. I recommend doing everything in Jason’s list, or if not then as many as you can muster. LinkedIn – 22 Ways to Dominate
It All Started with LinkedIn. The Essay Expert Blogs on HomeBusinessWiz.com
Read my guest blog about how one LinkedIn connection started a chain of publicity events for The Essay Expert. It All Started with LinkedIn: How A Business Took Off From One Simple Connection on LinkedIn
Your LinkedIn Profile *STATUS BAR* – Tips for Job Seekers
Last week I wrote about the best way to use your LinkedIn status bar (Your LinkedIn Profile *STATUS BAR* – What do you want them to Know?). This week’s question is: What if you’re looking for a job? What’s the best way to handle your status updates?
If you are a job seeker and want recruiters to find you on LinkedIn, you might fall into one of two categories:
1. You are currently employed. (In this situation, you might not want your employer to know that you’re looking for a job.)
2. You are currently unemployed. (In this situation, you do not want to sound desperate as you let the world know you are out of work and looking.)
Before I talk about the status bar, a word on your Headline: Hopefully you’ve taken my advice about your headline (Your LinkedIn Profile *HEADLINE* – What Would Draw You In?) and have that marketing tool in great shape. Perhaps you’ve mentioned in your headline that you are a job seeker or open to new opportunities.
For purposes of this article, let’s assume the headline is all set. Now, moving on to the status bar:
What if you are currently employed?
Never fear! Use your LinkedIn profile to make yourself stand out. Luckily for you, recruiters do not just browse the profiles of the unemployed. They have a time-honored tradition of finding not-completely-happily-employed people and enticing them to move elsewhere!
The good news for you? Your task is simple. Just write a great profile. Keep your status bar updated with interesting business news that will catch potential clients’ attention or let your boss know you’re doing a great job where you are. You will by default catch recruiters’ attention as they search through LinkedIn!
The boss never has to know.
What if you are currently unemployed?
Keep your language positive and engaging. Important note: You do NOT have to say anything in your status bar about looking for work! If you just attended a conference, or if you are studying the latest trends in your field, tell us that! Example:
… is ravenously reading up on Health Care reform debate and stimulus package issues.
This job seeker shows anyone who’s looking that she is keeping up to date on current issues in her field. She makes herself marketable that way.
If you do choose to write that you are looking for a position, here are some things that DON’T work:
…is enjoying acting in her first theatrical production! [Why would you have this update posted for 12 days (at least)? What about your job search?]
…is looking for a job in IT. [boring and too broad]
…Any help would be appreciated. [desperate?]
…1 month ago [update please?]
…3 months ago [really. Update. Please?]
Some better updates:
… is seeking full time employment as an HR Manager in the Boston area. [If your headline is strong, this update will be a nice complement and will present itself as an opportunity for recruiters!]
…is actively networking and researching opportunities with established and growing architecture practices [This one shows you are doing your part to create a great position for yourself, without looking like you need help or are desperate for work.]
Let’s take a look at one that tries hard but doesn’t quite do the trick:
Accountant looking for next great opportunity!
There’s some desperation coming through here. “Great opportunity” is a catch phrase that might not land the way you want it to land, especially with an exclamation point at the end. Use your headline to state what sets you apart from every other accountant. In your status bar, state what kind of position you are looking for, what sized firm you are targeting, or something about what activities related to your field you are doing day to day.
There is a fine line between enthusiasm and desperation. Get someone with a professional eye to check which side of the line you are on.
Timing is Everything!
No matter what your update, make sure it is no more than 2 days old! How would you react if you were a recruiter and someone’s status update were a month old? Or even 2 weeks old? How would you know whether their status were still current?
If you’re not going to update your profile every few days, you’ll be better off not using the status bar at all. Put what you’re doing in your Summary statement so it stays the same and doesn’t look like you’ve neglected it.
Summary:
Keep it specific. Keep it positive. Keep it current.
And get professional assistance with your profile. It makes a difference.
