Constructing a professional LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to be extremely difficult. In fact, just by taking a few simple steps, you can make yourself more recognizable without being overly pushy. When it comes to LinkedIn profile development, you have to understand it needs to be constructed differently from a resume. It’s not a bad idea to upload a resume to your LinkedIn profile, but the rest of the information should be different. This is just one simple tip, but here are some of the best secrets for surviving and thriving on LinkedIn.
Avoid Being Annoying
Have you noticed all of the alerts you receive when your connections have a job change or edit their skills? Your connections also receive those alerts when you make a change! However, you can change the settings to ensure your connections don’t see every little change you make. You might want to broadcast a job change or other important piece of career information, but most people don’t care when you receive a new endorsement.
Take Advantage of Opportunities
Any LinkedIn profile service will tell you to join groups related to your career or prospective career. These groups allow you to make additional contacts and give you the ability to reach out to them without having to upgrade to LinkedIn Premium. Joining several groups will only help you expand your personal brand and get your name recognized among people within your industry.
Be Active
Joining a group is a good step, but being active in the group will make you more recognizable. However, you’ll want to avoid being the annoying person who responds to every thread and has an opinion on everything. As long as you have insightful comments periodically, people will notice you and it will significantly boost your LinkedIn profile development by giving you more connections.
Don’t Use Resume Language
Resume-speak should be limited to your actual resume. Any LinkedIn profile writing service will help you rewrite anything that sounds like it came straight from a resume, especially the career summary portion. That should be unique and a bit different from the career summary on your resume. While your LinkedIn profile needs to be professional, it also has to sound conversational and tell people exactly who you are. Look at LinkedIn as an opportunity to showcase your communication skills and other skills that aren’t necessarily as apparent on your resume.
One of the toughest things people experience with LinkedIn is making their profile look professional. It’s easy to slip into casual behavior since it’s an online social network, but LinkedIn isn’t the place for making friends. If you just can’t seem to find the right language or don’t know how to construct your profile, consider reaching out to a LinkedIn profile writing service. You will always benefit from having another set of eyes on your profile and you may find out some other secrets to help take your profile to the next level!
By Erin Kennedy, MCD, CMRW, CPRW, BS/HR, a Certified Professional & Executive Resume Writer/Career Consultant, and the President of Professional Resume Services, Inc. She has achieved international recognition following nominations and wins of the prestigious T.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award. Find Erin at http://exclusive-executive-resumes.com.