I recently wrote this article on updating your LinkedIn profile for BizWest and I thought I would share it here. Melissa Luna offered her sage wisdom on the topic.
Happy LinkedIn Profile Updating!
10 Reasons to Update Your LinkedIn Profile – NOW!
When people are in career transition or job search mode, the first thing they think about is updating their résumés. People often spend quite a bit of time and money making sure their résumés sparkle. On the flip side, we tend to slap our LinkedIn profiles together as an after-thought. Now is the time to re-think our priorities.
To be clear, the résumé is not dead! You still need a well-written, targeted résumé in order to apply for posted positions. However, a relatively small number of positions, as few as 20 percent, ever get posted. The vast majority of opportunities are found through networking online and in person.
A key element of our success requires showing up high in searches. According to Melissa Luna, career expert and owner of Strategic Advancement LLC, “Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential with LinkedIn. Professionals must be strategic and build robust LinkedIn profiles utilizing keys words that match their career aspirations. When done correctly, this will increase visibility in the search. The higher you show up in a search, the more likely it is that the recruiter will view your profile.”
The most important aspect for search optimization is having a profile that is 100 percent complete. According to Luna, a complete profile must include:
- Minimum of 50 connections
- Five or more skills
- Headshot
- Title under name
- Location and industry
- Current position with description
- Two previous positions
- Education
Even as you read this article, a colleague, potential client, or recruiter may be looking at your profile. If the thought of this makes you cringe, it is a good sign that your profile needs improving. Still need convincing? Here are nine more compelling reasons why you need to update your LinkedIn profile, today.
1 – LinkedIn is Massive and Growing
LinkedIn boasts nearly 300 million members from over 200 countries. Professionals and opportunities across all industries including Fortune 500 companies, arts organizations, non-profits, government agencies, institutions of higher learning, and small businesses can be found on LinkedIn.
2 – This is Where Recruiters Hang Out
According to the latest LinkedIn survey, a staggering 93 percent of recruiters utilize LinkedIn as one of their primary sources for talent sourcing and recruitment. Long before you are asked to send in your résumé, a recruiter has already viewed and scrutinized your online profile. Even when more traditional hiring methods are used, recruiters and hiring managers view profiles before extending offers. They also report rejecting candidates based on what they find online.
3 – Connect with Ease
LinkedIn allows us to quickly identify and create associations with college alumni, potential customers, vendors, donors, or current employees at a target company. LinkedIn also ensures that you don’t lose track of people when changing jobs.
4– Stay Informed
By “following” thought leaders and influencers on LinkedIn you stay informed about the current issues and latest trends in your industry. You also learn about upcoming conferences, webinars, and workshops where you can take learning and networking to a deeper level.
5 – Become a Thought-Leader
Just having a profile is not enough. You need to participate in your online community. One of the best things about LinkedIn is that anyone can jump into the conversation. You raise your profile and actively demonstrate your value by sharing articles of interest or posting informative comments to online discussions.
6– Enhance Your Brand and Professional Image
Everything from your photo (which needs to be professional and current) to the companies you follow and the groups you join gives people a sense what interests you and who you are as a professional. A strong profile also reveals your creativity, writing abilities, and attention to detail in a way that far exceeds what comes across on a paper résumé.
7 – Get Endorsed and Recommended
On our résumés, we sing our own praises. LinkedIn provides a platform on which other people can attest to our skills and expertise. For example, your connections can “endorse” you for specific skills and areas of expertise. Luna suggests asking colleagues and/or customers to write brief testimonials or recommendations that you can include in your profile. Luna adds, “This increases your search engine optimization and ultimately your brand.”
8– Showcase Examples of Your Work
You can link to your own blog or website as well as upload info-graphics, videos, portfolios, and publications in LinkedIn’s Summary and Experience sections. This further communicates your value and improves your chances of showing up in searches. Be sure that everything you post or upload is professional and consistent with your personal brand.
9 – Show, Don’t Tell, Who You Are
A polished profile directly communicates your job related skills and experience. The overall quality of your profile indirectly reflects your work ethic, attention to detail, and your marketing or social media savvy. They say that, “How you do anything, is how you do everything.” LinkedIn profiles offer a way to show, not just tell, the world that we take our professional image and career seriously.
10 – Continually Connect to New Opportunities
Many people rely on job boards or a small inner circle of personal connections to further their success. Whether you are a leader in a company, self-employed, actively seeking a new position, or a passive job searcher, LinkedIn is a powerful conduit of information and prospects. A strong profile is the first step towards growing a larger professional community in which to give and receive support.
Hopefully you are now convinced and motivated to improve your LinkedIn profile. Luna suggests, “If you want to be found, do your own key word search to see how well your profile is searched optimized. If you see professionals much higher than you after conducting the search, take some time to review their profiles to identify how you can improve your own.”
You know you need to do this so don’t waste another minute. Now is the perfect time to make your LinkedIn profile shine.
Here is what clients are saying…
“I enjoyed working with Carrie. I felt comfortable with her from the very beginning; she’s very warm, supportive, and easy to talk to. She helped me retool my resume and linkedin profile after taking care to learn about my experience, skills and desires. I highly recommend working with her if you have the chance.”
Going in for meetings with Carrie was the best thing I could have possibly done for my education and career. With her tremendous help I was able to figure out what I wanted to do and how I needed to go about my career. I can’t possibly thank her enough for her crucial role in jumpstarting my career and getting me headed in the right direction.
Carrie was an informative, supportive and thoughtful guide during a time of career refinement. She served as a sounding board in assessing benefits and challenges of positions, reviewed application materials, prepared me for interviews and debriefed and supported decision-making. The mock interview coaching sessions were incredibly valuable to me.
As a recent graduate with my master's degree in biomedical sciences, Carrie and Pink Sky Career Counseling were immensely helpful in the process of landing my first "real" job. I was at a loss for how to apply for a position to start my career in such a specialized field. With little to no work experience, Carrie was able to help formulate my resume, cover letter and references, and manage my LinkedIn page as well as provide general career counseling. Thanks to Carrie's help and guidance I recently accepted an intraoperative neurophysiologist position for NuVasive in Minneapolis, MN. I could not have done it without Carrie's help. Long story short - I highly recommend Pink Sky Career Counseling for any career counseling you may need.
Not a day goes by that I don't thank Carrie in my mind on the way to my new job. Calling her was one of the best things I ever did for myself. Carrie is very intuitive, connected in the community, genuinely caring, and a master of her craft. Of course if you sign on for this, you have to dig deep and do things that are outside your comfort zone to get to where you want to be in life. But she held my hand all the way till the end and beyond. I cannot thank or recommend her enough.
I highly recommend Carrie. She did an amazing job helping me with my resume and providing valuable guidance in my job search process. I ended up being offered a great new job and wouldn't have gotten there without Carrie's assistance and support.
Carrie is amazing, I had a position open that I didn't know about until 4 days before it closed, just before the weekend. She went above and beyond to get it accomplished for me. I highly recommend working with her.
Carrie was fantastic to work with. She listened to what I was wanting and she produced a excellent product, responses to my resume increased and just recently landed a great job!