Clients and employers grant
opportunities to people they like and trust. Do they like you? Are you
trustworthy? Yes to both? Do other people know your good points?
As with any social media sites,
you get out of LinkedIn™
what you put into it. Your online profile is, after all, your public identity. When
was the last time you modified your LinkedIn™ profile? Do you even have one, outside of basic
information or a pasted-in resume? Or, if you’ve got a good profile, when was
the last time you updated it?
Are you missing out on golden opportunities?
Your profile is your ethos, your
character, your credibility…your brand. Your profile should be a living,
breathing thing, an organic and ongoing communication between you and your
business contacts, clients, employers and contractors. Any time you achieve a
course credit,
a happy customer or a new position, you can add a line or two to
inform your viewers. Any time you have new knowledge your readers would find useful,
share it (see my post “Be Visible – People Want To Meet You” for more on that).
Your online presence opens doors to new chances for work, and LinkedIn™ is the most-searched professional site.
Replace obsolete data with
current documentation to apprise others of your capabilities and achievements. I
know it’s tempting to keep older items; it’s rather like storing a box of old
treasures in your attic and finding the trunk 20 years later. “Oh, wow,” you
say as you hold up a musty birthday card you wrote to your grandfather when you
were eight. “I remember this – what a wonderful day that was.” Well, that’s
great for personal possessions, but not for LinkedIn™ profiles. No one will spend hours reading minutely
detailed profiles going back decades. Remember, the medium is the message, so
keep it current, clear and…concise. Readers will understand your mastery of
language (and therefore your skills) if you can relay your relevant and
specific points in pithy detail.
The “Key” to Prospects
Add keywords. Your profile, and
similar ones, are searched by those looking for specific talents and experience,
so it’s essential to ensure your profile is indeed found. List keywords in your
summary, headline and job experience. They can be added to your education fields,
volunteer work and other sections. Ensure the same words appear in three or
four places for a better chance of being picked up in searches.
You can be found even in today’s
heavy-traffic market. Opportunities are out there. Being proactive with your
profile and presence is a good place to start. Your credibility is on the line
(of text). So be persistent and “keep at it!”
