A Search Firm Insider’s Tips for How to Use LinkedIn for Career Visibility

Almost everyone maintains a profile on LinkedIn to advance their career visibility. But very few people are being coached by a search firm insider like Kelly Dingee.

Now you can get the inside scoop on how to create your profile to attract more career opportunities.  Just click the play button to watch the entire series on how to use LinkedIn more effectively.

Or, click here to watch the entire series on YouTube.

Being Digitally Approachable in Your Job Search

 Job searches rely on making lots of great first impressions. And once upon a time you could control your first impressions, by actually being there when they happened. It may surprise you to learn that, a long, long time ago (back when I was 40), humans introduced themselves to one another in person. Face to face, not on Facebook or Facetime.

Those days are long gone.

Today, job seekers make most of their first impressions online. You can’t get through a dinner out with friends without someone pulling out a smart phone to look something up. When I recommend a restaurant, or movie, or a beer, where do you go to check it out? You go online. In the office, when you mention you are looking for a solution to an IT problem, and I recommend my IT vendor, what do you do? Do you leap to the phone to call them … or do you check them out online first?

When you Google your own name, what do you see? There is your first impression. Google is the new business card.

Every time someone refers a candidate to me, I check them out online. If they are on the hunt for their next position, I assume they paid some attention to their digital first impression. And I’m often disappointed.

If you are a business professional about my age, and your LinkedIn profile is bare bones, you are sending the message that you are behind the curve with technology. It is assumed that you either don’t understand it, or perhaps you are afraid of it. Like it or not, that’s your first impression, and it is darn hard to shake. The fact that you have not yet found social media relevant to your work, or that you find it a silly waste of time only confirms the suspicion.  You may think that not having a robust online profile confirms that you are a mature, secure, serious professional who has no time to waste on YouTwitFace. But among people who use Google to form a first impression, rest assured, that’s not what they think.

Conversely, if you are an early career business professional, and your LinkedIn profile is bare bones, it is assumed that you know your way around social networks because you are young, so the absence of a professional profile means you are either lazy or perhaps you just don’t understand how things work in the real world. Not good.

So if your current job is quite secure, and if you have no interest in being contacted about a new job, then by all means, feel free to remain digitally anonymous. Put out a big old “Beware of Dog” sign online. No problemo.

But if you are even thinking of making a first impression with someone who is in a position to help you, like an HR professional, or a headhunter, or someone who is well networked … well then, you would be wise to make yourself more digitally approachable.

Could Facebook help more in a job search than Linkedin?

Linkedin is a professional network. Facebook is a social network. So which will get you your next job? Turns out, they both can!

Bryce Christiansen from Balanced WorkLife brings us an interesting perspective on how Facebook can be more useful than Linkedin for landing a great job. Bryce gives lots of ways that Facebook can help, even if your security settings are Private.

Here are some of the highlights:

• It’s more engaging. Businesses can create a page, entice users to it, and then communicate with anyone who stops by.
• More users. Facebook has over 800 million active users; Linkedin only has 120 million… And, most update Facebook far more frequently.
• Ads you want. Businesses are paying for targeted ads to Facebook users who match the profile.

Check out the article if you want to learn what Facebook habits you should adapt to have it land you a job.

Ways to Get Online Recommendations

Want a way to boost your online credibility?  How can you make your Linkedin profile more impressive without adding content?  Ask for recommendations! If you want to, but don’t know how to request them, you’re in luck… John Sumser  gives us 10 tips for how to ask for and get great recommendations you’ll be proud to show on your profile.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Ask people who truly know you – Preferably someone you’ve worked with; someone who knows you personally instead of only online.
• Write one for someone else first – Often, they will return the favor and post one for you (without you even having to ask).
• Offer a sample of the type of recommendation you would like – Especially when people are busy, they may gladly welcome the suggestion.
• If you don’t like it, don’t post it – You get to approve (or reject) it before it goes public, so feel free to ask for revisions from the writer.

Be Easy to Connect with on Linkedin

Privacy on the internet is definitely a concern (we talk about it frequently related to Facebook).  But making your information so secure that employers can’t contact you will not be of any use to your job search.  Recruiters use Linkedin to find candidates. And once we find a candidate we are interested in, we try to contact them to give them more information and set up an interview.  However, if your contact settings are blocked so we can’t reach you, you’ll never find out about this great position you might love.  Barry Deutsch gives us 5 ways to set up your Linkedin so that you are easily accessible to future employers.

• Include a phone number on your LinkedIn Profile
• Include a direct email on your LinkedIn Profile
• Check your settings “open to career opportunities”
• Check the settings for “open networker”
• Set group settings to allow group members to send you a direct message

How to Shine Up Your Linkedin Profile

Has your linkedin been created, but not updated in years? Does it contain common phrases like dynamic, results-oriented, and team player but nothing really outstanding or unique?

Vickie Elmer from the GlassDoor.com has 7 great tips to “power up your Linkedin profile“.  Here are 3:

1. Add a great photo. Take one that shows joy and energy. People will feel they can connect with you more personally through this photo.
2. Fill in the summary section with information about who you are, what you look for, what you’re great at and what you believe in.
3. Add stats and solutions.  When writing your content, answer these questions about all your past experiences: How do I make or save time? How do I make or save money? And, how do I solve problems? Include $ and % to show how you made a concrete impact.

5 Linkedin Disasters to Avoid

I love Peggy McKee’s description of Linkedin:
“It is the online world’s equivalent of a first impression”… It’s true. We recruiters search Linkedin first when we’re looking for job candidates – and if your profile is terrible, we won’t put you forward.

McKee gives us 5 Linkedin disasters to avoid:

• Avoid Typos – Proofread!
• Pick a photo that is professional, attractive, and appropriate.
• Be specific with places, dates, and names.
• Don’t lie – stick the facts! (In this day, it’s easy to discover your lies)
• Make it clear and easy to read – stick to the relevant facts … you don’t need to include your whole life story.