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Making the Most of Your LinkedIn Profile
By
Elizabeth Lions
Why are so many people
confounded by today’s rapidly changing social
media landscape? Like eating vegetables, we all
know we need to be online and have a
professional presence, but it gets confusing
when it come to content, frequency and
engagement. The most popular presentation I gave
this year was on social media — how it works and
why we should even bother.
Mostly, I get a lot of questions
about using LinkedIn. Questions such as:
-
What should be on my
LinkedIn profile?
-
Do I have it filled out
enough?
-
What else should I put on
there?
-
Should I have
three recommendations?
-
Does my picture look ok?
-
Do I have to have a picture
at all?
-
What do people look at when
they read my profile?
-
How will a recruiter find
me ?
To make it very easy, your
LinkedIn profile should mirror your resume. Take
out your resume and start there. Employers will
look at your LinkedIn profile and it needs to
match your resume or potential hiring
authorities will be confused. As you can
imagine, confusion isn’t the desired effect, and
you may not get a call to interview.
Begin with the basics. Where you
worked, how long you worked there and job title
is fine. More than that, people will not have
time to read, and won't be inclined to do so. My
suggestion is to have a short page. Less is
more. Being too detailed on LinkedIn could be a
hindrance, rather than a help. Remember, this is
just a snapshot of your professional skills and
what you have to offer.
Which brings me to my next
point. What do you have to offer? What
unique skills and qualities do you have that a
reader would be interested in? When you write,
consider the reader at all times.
Ah, the dreaded picture. What
should the picture look like? The picture should
be simple and current. Carefully look at the
background. Don’t allow the background to
distract the reader. Think of it this way: if
you met someone you didn't know at a coffee
shop, would they recognize you from your
LinkedIn photo?
Recruiters will find you by
titles and by key words. Fill out the skills
section of LinkedIn from the drop-down menu’s
skill words. Be creative. Use as many as you can
to trip the search engine. Be broad as well. For
example, if you are a software engineer, include
words such as design, de-bugging, create, code,
etc. As simple as that sounds, break it down for
the reader and trip the search engine. Use a
little industry jargon and pepper that in the
profile as well.
Thirty-nine percent of LinkedIn
users are managers, directors, owners, chief
officers or presidents. The industries with the
highest concentration are high tech (14.3%),
finance (12.4%) and manufacturing (10.1%).
Seventy-five percent use it for business
purposes, and of all social media, it has the
oldest users at an average of 44.2 years old.
Above all, remember you are
writing your profile for others. There are real,
live people on the other end of the
computer screen.
For more on making the most of
your LinkedIn profile, see also:
Pollak, Lindsey, "How
to Showcase Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn: 8
Tips," LinkedIn blog post, 26
June 2012
IEEE-USA Webinar,
The Power Formula for
LinkedIn Success, Presenter:
Wayne Breitbarth, Recorded 10 May 2012
 Elizabeth
Lions is an author, speaker and executive coach and
leadership expert. Her second book, I Quit!
Working for You isn’t Working for Me, will be
released in late October 2012. She specializes
in working with engineers and high tech
professionals in coaching practice. For more about her work, please
visit
www.elizabethlions.com
Comments may be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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