My honest opinion on LinkedIn Profiles
Hey ZenCareerist!
Wild week already eh? A solar eclipse in Aries on Monday is enough to rattle a few cages. I’m no astrologer, however I follow many and have found some clarity by digging into my own chart. That said, a big takeaway from this astronomical configuration - be your own person and ask yourself what you’ve been hiding behind in order to “fit in.”
Over the past year I’ve morphed my LinkedIn profile to be more reflective of ME and my values - and I’m about to undergo another update as the reality of my pursuit of speaking truth to power no matter what comes to light this week.
What about you? Does your LinkedIn profile need a little dusting off?
Here are three things to do today to make sure your LinkedIn profile aligns more closely with the job you really want.
A clear picture of you - not necessarily a posed head shot, and not one of you tossing back a few martinis with your friends - unless that’s integral to the job you want. Let potential employers and recruiters get a feel for who you are. Remember that in the early days of photography some people believed that a photograph would capture your soul. Instead of a nefarious thing - how about ensuring your photo captures the essence of your gifts that you’ll bring to a company? No need for fancy photo shoots, just head out with a friend and take some shots.
Clarify your Headline. This is the space immediately below your name. Use this to demonstrate your results, your expertise and/or highlight your awards, certifications and skills that set you apart from others in your field. If you’re a writer, this a great place to highlight “published in Forbes, The Atlantic & NYTimes writing about dog-care tips for senior citizens” (I’m riffing, but you get the idea). This is going to be the first thing the recruiter sees when you come up in their Boolean search. Make sure you stand out.
Turn on the Banner. If you have been let go due to a reduction in force, or recently left your job for any reason, go ahead and turn on the Open for Work green banner. Don’t listen to the “gurus” who tell you otherwise. The first people I ALWAYS reached out to when I was recruiting, were those that appeared to be a fit and had “open to work” on their profile. Why? They were most likely to be …. wait for it….open to work if the role I had was a fit for them!
The truth is, there are people who want to sell you expensive classes on finding jobs and there are people like me that know job hunting is hard enough - no need to over-complicate it!
These are three things you can do TODAY to make it easier for recruiters with jobs you’ll love find you and start conversations. I know you can do this. Don’t overthink it - just do it. You can always tweak it again in a few weeks to see what’s working!
Big hugs,
Peggie
P.S. You deserve to be happy at work.