The Magic of LinkedIn: Making your PROFILE work for you

Preparing for Professions
Preparing for Professions

LinkedIn is so much more than a “resume repository” advised Dean Guadagni and Susan Hanshaw in a presentation to Marin Professionals.

The two social media marketing strategists outlined a host of ways that online networking on this Web platform can play a significant role in your professional life.

One tip sent me home to update my profile . . .

But, first, three facts for you:

1 – LinkedIn provides a pathway for users to connect with the right people beyond their own network connections.

2 – A large network increases your ability to rank high in searches.

3 – 75% of employers are checking out LinkedIn profiles on prospective employees.

Below is my LinkedIn profile page:

I’ll show you what I changed — and how:


LinkedIn Profile top

 

The “change” was on the bottom of the profile page — the SUMMARY portion:

LinkedIn Summary

 

My summary had only been a few key words until Dean & Susan told me what to do:

FIRST PARAGRAPH: Communicate quickly and clearly the type of opportunities you are seeking.

SECOND PARAGRAPH: Highlight 3 or 4 key career accomplishments that demonstrate your qualifications. [Don’t use bullet points. Make it a friendly narrative.]

THIRD PARAGRAPH: Answer the question: How are you UNIQUE? How are you DIFFERENT?

Finally, there is the SPECIALTIES section which is hugely important. Here you put the KEY WORDS that employers are looking for when they search the LinkedIn site.

When you draft your own LinkedIn Summary, think about this quote from Susan:

“Consider your career as a tapestry of different threads of activities and jobs that you have had.”

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12 thoughts on “The Magic of LinkedIn: Making your PROFILE work for you”

  1. Sheesh Shari

    I want to copy and paste your summary.

    Maybe if I acknowledged my sources?

    Didn’t some poor hack at the New York Times have a plagiarism issue last year. That’s the problem with t’interweb, there’s no escape, no hiding place and no point trying to pass off the work of others as your own.

    Just found it
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair

    On a related note. I was proof-reading a extremely turgid brochure for a senior exec in my last company. After pages of irrelevant business buzz words I suddenly found myself reading flowing, intelligent prose. You’ll know what I did next. Yes a quick copy and paste into google found me reading the same text in wikipedia.

    How we laughed when he was fired

    Regards, Lorne Hamill Director

    1. Lorne,
      Too bad I didn’t keep your old summary, Lorne, because your new one is Awesome!
      Here it is folks:

      Summary

      So you are using LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, blogs, Youtube, e-newsletters and telepathy. But are you actually making money out of your social media efforts? Or maybe your are not really sure which platform, if any you need to be on. What I do for organisations is firstly understand their current business model. Next put together an appropriate social media strategy. Then we get the first platform up and running and working properly before we move on to any other social media.

      I’ve been a trainer for nearly 20 years and have worked with everyone from senior executives in FTSE companies to SMEs and individuals, to help improve their effectiveness. I truly believe that social media is tremendously powerful, if used properly.

      I am passionate about bringing about successful change and so provide my clients with on-going support 24/7 to ensure that they get the most out of their investment

      I could go on, I’m sure you get the picture.
      Tel: 07725648089

      Specialties
      Social media consulting, High Level Coaching, Sales Training, Recruitment Training, Management Development, Communication Skills, Marketing Strategy

  2. LinkedIn will be helpful for me in the future because I am still a student in the college. I will save and remember the website. One day, I will have my profile page in LinkedIn!

    Thank You for the presentation 🙂

  3. Shari,

    Thank you for such kind encouragement! We hope that when we present information that each attendee takes home one of the following:
    *New perspective(s)
    *At least 1 tip
    *A outline for a plan or strategy focus
    *New enthusiasm for the subject

    Our challenge is to come as close as possible to making the subject material applicable for audience members despite the different levels of understanding.

    Thanks again for your support!

    dean

    1. Susan, the “perfect” thing about your presentation was your clear Focus — and the exact right amount of information. As I said in the post, I was so excited about your content that I went right home to connect with you AND follow your directions AND write the post. Again, thanks so much for the supremely helpful information. I believe we will be helping lots of people with this information. Looking forward to future presentations. In addition, if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.

  4. “75% of employ­ers are check­ing out LinkedIn pro­files on prospec­tive employees”

    That statistic is astounding, only mom and pop stores might not be looking at LinkedIn.

    Personally I have never given LinkedIn much thought but now I think I might have to work to make my profile stand out.

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