First a quick true story, followed by a few LinkedIn recommendations.
A guy—we’ll call, Tom—schedules an afterhours
appointment to have his résumé created. During the appointment, I discover that
Tom has been with the same employer for 20 years, and that he has no clue about
conducting a job search. In terms of seeking new employment, he is stuck in the
1990s.
That aside, Tom is an employment mensch! He possesses a trove of highly
technical, stationary engineering skills that will require his current employer
to hire no less than three people to replace him. Even at that, those new hires
won’t have the depth of technical knowledge and expansive specialized training Tom
has acquired.
While there is zero chance of Tom being
terminated, he is functioning in job-panic mode. He is scared some mindless HR
person will call his employer, seeking an employment reference. Tom’s fears are
not unfounded. Apparently, his employer values loyalty over competency.
Convincing Tom to create a LinkedIn account would
be fruitless. If he did, however, Tom’s applied technical skills and knowledge
of industrial equipment, piping systems, schematics and complex building
automation systems (BAS), EPA, DOT and OSHA would take an employer’s breath
away. And these are only the highlights!
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If you have an employment situation that remotely
mirrors Tom’s situation, you may need to rethink how job searches are conducted
in our post-modern world. We are totally integrated into the info-age. Your
privacy is merely an illusion. Raise that privacy-illusion tenfold if you
possess a driver’s license, credit cards and any type of bank account.
Those not in Tom’s situation, but less worried
about others finding out, need to spruce up their LinkedIn account. If you
don’t have one, it is easy to create. A basic account only requires your name,
an email address, where you work and what you do.
Once you move beyond those basics, things become more
invasive and sticky. Completing an in-depth profile often poses a challenge—especially
for the passive job seekers. (Passive job
seekers are defined as available and interested in new employment, but not
actively seeking employment for various reasons.)
To achieve a completed profile on LinkedIn, you need to rank in the 95%-plus range. This
requires the user to furnish information on eight sections: 1) Your current position/employment
status, 2) two previous positions, 3) education, 4) a profile summary, 5)
a presentable headshot photo, 6)
your special skills and talents, 7)
three written recommendations, and 8)
an uploaded current résumé (preferably in
pdf).
The more info you share, the better your odds a
potential employer will notice you. A well-structured, completed profile ranks
high on LinkedIn’s search algorithm, which appear to be using Google logic.
Without going into a technical dissertation on the various aspects of
artificial intelligence, let it suffice that a carefully crafted profile will
get you noticed.
Naturally, if you have a well-written,
professional résumé, you have the option of cherry picking the skills, talents
and disciplines you desire to showcase. Unfortunately, this is where many job
seekers incur a self-inflicted injury.
Initially, the two most important parts in your
LinkedIn profile is your photo and
how you describe yourself in the headline.
This is tantamount to the image you project when you first walk through the
employment door. In the quest to get noticed, and taken seriously, job seekers
often resort to pushing the boundaries.
According to LinkedIn insiders, the most overused
words and phrases appearing in the Profile
Summary and Headline sections
are: Innovative, motivated, extensive
experience, dynamic, proven track record, team player, fast-paced, results
oriented, problem solver and entrepreneurial.
Now that you know what insiders know, it is time
to apply that knowledge.