Posts tagged: Online Profiles

How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile: Job Search Tactic #1

How can you improve your LinkedIn Profile for a more effective job search?

Brad and I have talked endlessly about how much easier your job search is to found than to find a job. I recently wrote a post on this exact subject.

We did a radio broadcast on how to improve your LinkedIn Profile. We posted our LinkedIn Self-Assessment Scorecard on our site a few months ago –  a download that has become one our all-time most popular downloads. You can get the download and quickly understand how to improve your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.

Not only is building an outstanding LinkedIn Profile a job search best practice, but it is also an integral part of personal branding (another key element of an effective job search).

More importantly, every recruiter, HR pro, and hiring manager will google your name and look up on LinkedIn BEFORE they decide to grant you an interview.

Google Profiles will be the focus of our next blog article, Job Search Tactic Number 2.

  • Does your LinkedIn Profile capture a viewer’s attention?
  • What elements of your Profile are they drawn to?
  • Would I as recruiter feel that I just had to call you after viewing your profile?
  • Does your profile scream “you’re not going to find a better person” at me?
  • What are the steps in creating an effective job search LinkedIn Profile?

Below we’ll list the key elements of creating an effective profile. We could probably spend an entire blog post series on each element of your LinkedIn Profile.

Here are the LinkedIn Profile Best Practices (in no particular order)”:

  1. Use a compelling headline
  2. Complete all the details of your entire career
  3. List all your accomplishments in detail with as much quantification as possible
  4. Get a lot of recommendations
  5. Recommend others
  6. Include Slideshare Powerpoint presentations of your accomplishments
  7. List the books you’re ready/comment on other book lists
  8. Incorporate Your Twitter Feed and Link
  9. Include a link to your blog
  10. Include a link to your on-line resume
  11. Pull your blog’s feed onto your profile using WordPress
  12. Include links for audio/video files of you talking about your accomplishments and achievements.
  13. Join Groups that are professionally/geographically appropriate
  14. Update your status frequently – as in daily
  15. Dramatically build your network with appropriate contacts
  16. Make it easy to connect with you – phone #s and email

These are the elements of your LinkedIn Profile that will differentiate you from your peers. Read a couple of our other blog posts on this subject of leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search, including an article titled “Become a Beacon in Your Job Search” and “Are You Difficult to Connect With on LinkedIn in Your Job Search?

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to learn more about leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.