BUILDING A LINKEDIN PROFILE

How Employers use

LinkedIn:- 96% Searching

- 94% Contacting

- 92% Vetting

- 93% Keeping tabs on

candidates

Social Media Drives Hiring

LinkedIn – How Job Seekers Use it in 2018

LinkedIn is where they do most of their

job-seeking activity:• 40% contacts referred me for a job

• 34% contacts shared a job opportunity

• 32% made a new professional

connection

• 32% contacts provided an employee’s

perspective on a company

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/job-seekers-use-social-media-2014-infographic/

What is LinkedIn? Founded in 2003

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network

It has over 259 million members and growing

Why use LinkedIn?

It’s a great career management tool

Network with other professionals

Helps you find jobs and employers find you

Target audience is college students and professionals

Gain access to experts in your industry:

Use the Q&A to ask a network of professionals questions or

advice

Join LinkedIn groups specific to your industry for group

discussions and news

Why use LinkedIn?

How is LinkedIn Different From Other Social Media Sites?

It allows you keep your private life separate from your

professional life

LinkedIn is information rich and not a photo and

personal sharing system

5-Step Quick Guide For Getting Started On LinkedIn

http://www.careerealism.com/getting-started-on-linkedin-quick-guide/#R460TG3D97gOAEwD.99

How to Get Started

• Go to the LinkedIn website:

www.linkedin.com and create a profile

Creating a Profile• Be detailed about your education, internships,

volunteering, jobs, study abroad

• Be authentic and include a strengths summary

• Use key words in your profile that are relevant

in your industry or desired field

• Check spelling and grammar

Creating a Profile• Your headshot is the first impression

• Use a professionally taken photograph

headshot that shows you in the best light

Creating a profileCreate a Headline to grab the reader’s attention• The headline appears under your name and next to

your picture

• Do not limit yourself to the default job title and employer

• Use the 120 characters to market yourself

• Don’t use a title, be creative & describe yourself

Creating a Profile• Complete experiences and use keywords

• Use key words in your profile and experiences that are relevant in your industry or desired field

• Top 10 overused buzzwords on LinkedIn profiles 2013:Responsible Strategic Creative Effective

Patient Expert Organizational Driven

Innovative Analytical

• Be detailed about your education, internships, volunteering, jobs, study abroad

Creating a ProfileComplete an interesting summary (shows up

higher in the profile)

• Take advantage of the 2000 characters

• Tell people who you are

• How to contact you

• Why they should hire you

• Core competencies

• Add your email

• Be sure to use proper capitalization and

grammar

Creating a Profile• Customize your public profile URL

• Make your URL easier to remember

• Can be edited under profile settings

Creating a ProfileJoin Groups

• Create business circles and connections

• Gives you a platform to seek advice

• Gives you the opportunity to showcase your expertise

Creating a ProfileAdd Other Profile Information

• Volunteer Experiences & Causes

• Certifications

• Education

• Honors & Award

• Skills Section – tell things you are proficient in

• Languages, test scores, patents & others…don’t

put in basic courses like Accounting 101

Creating a ProfileCall to Action• Would be different for everyone• Profile shows what you have done and a call to action gives

the reader further instruction on how or why to contact you• Can show sample work or direct reader to your own personal

website

Examples• An author or aspiring writing can show their publications

• An artist can showcase their portfolio

• Tell the reader why to contact you .. Interview, job, advice…

• Failure to include contact information could result in missed opportunities

Quick Fixes To Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

The Minimal-Effort Profile

Add specifics (such as your full work history for the last 10 years, certifications, or skills)

The Default Headline

When you specify the details of your current job, LinkedIn will ever-so-subtly include a checkbox that is already set to “Update My Headline to (your job title)”. If you leave this information as is, site users will see “Bob Jones, Vice President Finance at ABC Company” throughout all your activity.

However, if you uncheck the box and then edit the Headline available when changing your name field, you’ll have the chance to advertise your career level and competencies with “Bob Jones | VP Finance, Controller, CFO | Growth, Capital, Funding, & Technology Strategies.”

The key in altering your Headline is to use terms that will trigger your hit rate for both your job target and current position (and potentially your industry). Inject a brand message related to your success, as in these examples:

Martin Forester, IT Director. SAP, Infrastructure-Building, & User Responsiveness. Manufacturing & Medical Devices

Claire Wilson | Enterprise Account Executive Accelerating Channel Sales to $40+ Million in Managed Services Markets

http://www.careerealism.com/quick-fixes-linkedin-profile/#qPZ4E6xTiPxOcOiX.99

Quick Fixes To Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

The No-Networking-Wanted Approach

Take steps to be findable and reachable

Join groups (a lot of them!) that represent your career goals

Select the types of messages you’re willing to receive option under

Settings to fully open, ensuring you’ll receive both introductions and

InMail (LinkedIn’s internal e-mail)

Look at the contact information -it’s buried all the way down at the

bottom of your profile-it’s important

Did you add a phone number, e-mail address, or both?

Top 3 LinkedIn Profile Errors

1. Failing To Use All The Space Provided

Work history only includes titles, or you skipped sections like Interests

or Specialties

2. Mistaking A Resume Summary For A LinkedIn Summary

Write a more personalized, bullet-point account of your background

and qualifications

Break up the text visually so employers can quickly scan through for

key words, and consider adding decorative bullet symbols for easier

readability

Top 3 LinkedIn Profile Errors

3. Presenting Data Inconsistent With Your Traditional Resume

The problem arises when your job history, education, or

achievements appear differently online than on paper

To spot discrepancies: print out both your resume and your LinkedIn

profile, reviewing the facts you’ve listed

Must deliver the same value proposition message as your resume

Getting hired today requires a strong online identity!

http://www.careerealism.com/top-linkedin-profile-errors/#ug1SsJy5mdvhkDXr.99

Keep Profiles UpdatedMake Any Updates to Your Profile

• As you would update your resume, you should

also keep your LinkedIn account updated with

your updated resume, contact information or

profile information

Be Active

• Participate and interact often, the more you

interact the more contacts you make, growing

your network

NetworkingBegin Establishing a Network

• Your best network is with those you know and trust already

Explore Career Fields (Alumni Paths)

• Search Alumni by major, employer name, career keywords, interests, etc.

Explore and Follow Employer Pages

• Use as a research tool, look for job postings, announcements for opportunities

Connecting to Others

Connect with people in industries that interest you

Limit of 100 profiles to search by

With companies that you want to learn more about

Geographies that you would like to move to

When connecting, NEVER use the built-in message:

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn”

Connecting to Others

Accept everyone, but invite strategically

Don’t just invite everyone who pops up on “people you may know.”

Invite to build your network the way you want to build it

Diversify your contacts

Use your network – announcements or questions are ok

Update regularly

Connecting to Others

State Your Intentions Upfront

Hi Andrea,I obtained your name through the Icesi University MBA LinkedIn Group. I graduated from the School of Management last year and I am in the process of making a career transition. It would be helpful for me to ask you questions about your experiences as an Sales Account Manager for Colombina.I am not expecting to discuss a particular employment position but I would appreciate being able to talk with you on an informational basis.I thank you in advance.Regards,

http://careerealism.com/common-linkedin-mistakes/#BMfGRtflXuCXt3i0f.99

Searches

• Find one person and search their contacts to have a richer

search

• Job search feature

• Search by city

Things To Immediately Do On LinkedIn

Put Up a Photo

Join About 45 groups. You’re allowed up to 50 groups on LinkedIn

Post Discussions on Your Groups on a Regular BasisParticipate in threads with useful remarks not self-promoting

Let It Be Known You Are An Open Networker, don’t’ just connect with the people you know Accept all or almost all connection requests, at least from individuals. (not corporations or those

with no photo)

Get Recommendations (Endorsements)

Proactive recommendation seeking involves reaching out and asking someone to recommend you. Passive recommendation seeking involves recommending someone, at which point LinkedIn asks them to recommend you back. The latter is actually a bit more effective.

If you have endorsements you will appear higher in the search!

http://www.careerealism.com/immediately-linkedin/#hQyzg1SMJ8dDDtP0.99

Example Profile

Example Profile

Example Profile

Example Profile

Example Profile

Example Profile

http://www.careerealism.com/linkedin-strategy-clues/

4 Clues Your LinkedIn Strategy Is Working

Your Search Appearances And Profile Views Have Increased

The People Viewing Your Profile Are In Your Target Industry

People Are Reaching Out To You—Both On And Off LinkedIn

Opportunities Start To Come In

What am I going to

check:

Thank you!

1. Create your profile IN ENGLISH

2. Complete your personal profile, include a profesional photo, work

history, skills, expertise, education, educational

acknowledgements, etc.

3. Build 20 connections: 8 of them must be profesional

4. Join 5 groups

5. Post a question

6. Comment in 5 groups at least 5 separated times.

7. Write one letter of recommendation for a connection

8. Ask for a letter of recommendation written by a connection9. Connect to my profile so I can check yours