FINDING YOURSELF WITH EXTRA DOWNTIME? TIME TO REFRESH YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE.

EXTRA DOWNTIME? TIME TO UPDATE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE | CONNECTOR TEAM RECRUITING.jpg

Millions of people across the country are suddenly finding themselves with downtime in our new reality caused by the CORONA-VIRUS. Here is a very positive way to make use of this time to refresh and enhance your LinkedIn profile.  

Before we discuss how to improve your profile, I want to point out that at the end of this article I’ve highlighted some important LinkedIn statistics. This will show the exponential growth of this outstanding online business social media platform.

So here is a guide to help you refine your personal brand. Your goal is to make sure your LinkedIn profile stands out from the crowd.  

YOUR ONLINE RESUME IS YOUR LinkedIn profile:

LinkedIn profiles have the components of your ‘regular’ resume such as a summary, education, experience and special skills.  The way you present these determines how companies will perceive you as a potential hire. Employers can see LinkedIn profiles 24/7, and if the descriptions are minimal (as frankly most LinkedIn descriptions are), they may not be impressed.

As with resumes, average candidates with superior profiles often get better offers than superior candidates with second-rate profiles. It may be impressive that well-known companies employed you or that you have prestigious job titles, however, by themselves, these factors are not enough.

WHAT MAKES A REALLY GREAT PROFILE?

A solid LinkedIn profile has substance and sophistication. It shows not only where you have worked and for how long, but also gives a persuasive synopsis of what you accomplished, implicitly suggesting how your experience can help potential employers achieve their goals. Great LinkedIn profiles articulately communicate one’s signature value and strengths that positively differentiate a particular executive from other leaders.

Strong LinkedIn profiles also have an abundance of relevant keywords. When employers look for candidates, they usually seek definite talents and skills. Having a profile rich with contemporary industry terms and expressions gives you a competitive advantage and demonstrates that you are a proficient candidate.

Keep in mind Recruiters use Boolean search strings to find relevant candidates and all are based on the industry specific keywords.  This is discussed in item #3 below.

How to build a superior profile:

The easiest and most logical way to prepare a compelling LinkedIn profile is to first prepare an outstanding ‘regular’ resume. Then, you can effortlessly paste the key elements of your resume into your LinkedIn profile.  As a result, you’ll have the best of both worlds – a powerful regular and an online executive resume.

After you paste the components of your resume information in LinkedIn, you can add other personal components such as a photo, memberships, and connections. It’s really straightforward.

In fact, LinkedIn has a wonderful Learning section available to you with experts and thought leaders giving out advice just like this to help users with their online profiles.

Bear in mind that content quality and relevance are the most important parts of your profile, so always revisit and keep it up to date when you update your resume.

1. INVEST IN A PROFESSIONAL PHOTO HEADSHOT

According to a LinkedIn Survey statistics, your profile is 2.1 times more likely to be viewed if you have a photo in your profile.  

Here are some tips: 

If you can afford a professional headshot find a local photography studio and tell them you are doing a Linked in profile headshot.  The photography studios in malls or chain stores are all set up for taking Linked in headshots. They can typically do a great job and at an affordable rate.  Have someone accompany you…that special someone that can make you laugh, feel natural and give you sincere feedback.

Wear the appropriate business outfit, however, make sure that it represents you as a person.  The more comfortable you are in your attire, the better the result.  

We strongly recommend that the picture includes only your headshot.  Including anyone else in your picture including spouse, significant other, pets or anyone else in your business headshot is frowned upon.  From my point of view and based on feedback from hiring authorities this does not present an appropriate business image.

2. ADD A BACKGROUND PHOTO/BANNER

Your background photo/banner is another second visual element at the top of your profile page. It grabs people’s attention, sets the context and shows a little more about what matters to you. More than anything, the right background photo/banner helps your page stand out, engage attention and stay memorable.  You can size it and scale it using resources such as Canva. 

3. CREATE A MORE STRATEGIC HEADLINE

Your Linkedin headline is important for two reasons: It creates the first impression of you and the keywords you select for it are the words that help recruiters find you.  A nice feature is that your headline can change on demand. You can go into your account settings and you can use up to 120 characters to craft your headline. 

To craft a strong headline:

Be specific about who you are and what you do. For example, instead of using a generic title like "Distribution Manager," use Distribution and Logistics Executive | Warehousing and Final Mile expertise.

NOTE: keep in mind LinkedIn limits your headline to 120 characters. There is not currently a limit on changing or updating your headline. You can update your headline from time to time and try different versions. 

Incorporate relevant keywords. To find the most impactful ones, look at job descriptions for positions in your industry and check out your most relevant Linkedin groups.  This is a great way to find industry appropriate terminology.

Avoid using "unemployed" in your headline. If you want to be very active you can use “seeking next opportunity” this is actually a key boolean string in LinkedIn used by some recruiters.

Instead, use strategic keywords that convey your value statement. For example; titles such as 

  1. Motivated Business Development | Leader | Hunter | Sales Generation Expert 

  2. Top Performing District Sales Leader (insert industry and more keywords)

  3. Highly Engaged Sales Coach and Servant Leader in (insert industry and more keywords)

These headlines all demonstrate what you could bring to a company.  If you use keywords you’re more likely to be found by recruiters.

4. ASK FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

By asking for recommendations from your key contacts, colleagues and past Direct report bosses as well as Featured Skills/Endorsements, this allows others to sing your praises and keeps you from appearing boastful.

For optimal results, ask for a recommendation immediately after the successful completion of a project or when you receive an important accolade or award. Make your request in person or by phone, if possible. It's more personal than email and gives you an opportunity to talk about specifics for the recommendation. 

5. MANAGE YOUR FEATURED SKILLS AND ENDORSEMENTS

You know those annoying messages that pop up on Linkedin asking if you'd like to endorse your contacts for a variety of skills? I've always considered that feature worthless. After all, I've had people endorse me for public speaking who've never heard me speak and received endorsements for career coaching from people I've never met.

According to a recent Linkedin study, users who display five or more skills are messaged 31 times more and viewed 17 times more than those who do not! So as meaningless as endorsements seem, they do attract more eyeballs to your page.

6. INCORPORATE PHOTOS AND VIDEO IN POSTS AND UPDATES

When it comes to building a powerful Linkedin profile, remember  the old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. You can now easily post photos and videos to your Linkedin profile under the Experience, Education or Summary sections.

You can also use images in the background banner of your personal profile, where you can feature a logo, photo or image that colorfully enhances your brand. For example, a realtor might display a photo of the city skyline or an executive might use a photo of a conference she recently organized.

Remember, it's far more effective to post a speaking clip that demonstrates how engaging you are than to simply state, "I am a strong public speaker." 

7. SHOW OFF YOUR EXPERTISE WITH SLIDESHARE 

Linkedln recently bought the SlideShare presentation platform and now integrates it within your account. This way, you and your work can be easily discovered through a specific SlideShare search or through Google. It's another dynamic and interesting way to display your thought leadership and draw traffic to your profile. 

8. BLOG WITH LINKEDIN PUBLISHER

Finally, consider posting blogs on Linkedin to build your personal brand as a thought leader. The posts you write will be displayed on your Linkedin profile and as your connections like and comment on them, they'll be seen by your wider second- and third-level networks as well as through Google searches.

9. CONDUCT ONGOING BRAND MAINTENANCE  

Review your company and or personal profile on Linkedin Often!

  1. Compare it to the tips in this article and to your competition

  2. Spend five minutes a day on Linkedin by sharing, liking or posting to increase your presence and profile.

2020 LinkedIn user statistics:    

Bill O’Malley is President of Connector Team Recruiting a firm headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia specializing in the Furniture | Appliance and Sleep verticals. Connector Team is an affiliate office of MRINETWORK, Philadelphia, PA.  Connector Team is a full service Search Firm offering permanent placement recruiting solutions and also contract staffing solutions.

To reach Bill feel free to contact him at bill@connectorteamrecruiting.com

Reference and credit to: MRI Learning and Talent Development - Personal Branding

LinkedIn user statistics (According to a Hootsuite survey) https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/

Candidate Tips, Employer TipsBill O'MalleyComment