What’s Wrong with This LinkedIn Advice?

This morning, I accepted a LinkedIn invitation from someone who fits into my connection strategy on LinkedIn.  Yes, I’ve had a LinkedIn Strategy for many years that I’ve stuck with on my way to a nearly full LinkedIn network.

Immediately after accepting the new connection invitation, a LinkedIn page popped up suggesting that I send invitations to 436 people. Not only was this a suggestion, 436 names with titles and photos popped up with the connect box conveniently checked 436 times.

If I were to click the “Add Connections (436)” button, what do you think the odds are the LinkedIn would freeze my account for sending connection invites to 436 people I don’t personally know?

• If you’re going to use LinkedIn, create strategies for your personal use of LinkedIn and stick to them.

• I like shiny objects just as much as the next person. In this case, LinkedIn offered up a “shiny object” that on the surface looked great. Once I thought about the potential penalties that would likely be levied against my LinkedIn account if I were to add 436 people to my account all at once, the “shiny object lost its luster.

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Get a New Resume…Get Job Offers…Right?

Get a new resume and get interviews.  Is that all there is to it?

Having a clean, clear, logical resume that can be scanned by a human being in a matter seconds is absolutely a requirement in in the world today where attention spans are short. 

But is a great resume alone a strategy?  Not so much. It’s only part of a well-thought-out job search strategy.

Recently, I saw something on one of my client’s on-line applications that you should know about.  Next to the place on their application where a candidate could upload a resume, the on-line form asked for a candidate’s LinkedIn URL. 

This was a new request that I hadn’t seen before. I knew that companies were looking candidates up on LinkedIn but I’d never seen a company directly ask for a candidate’s LinkedIn URL.

What’s The Big Deal?

Employers are looking at job candidates on LinkedIn.  When your LinkedIn profile is reviewed by anybody, you’re making a first impression in a matter of seconds.  I don’t know exactly how many seconds it takes to form a LinkedIn first impression but I can tell you from my own experience in searching for talent on LinkedIn that most of my LinkedIn visits aren’t long visits.

• If you’re not currently leveraging what I call the header portion of your LinkedIn profile, the space above your name and your photo, consider doing so.  Here’s what leveraging the header looks like.  This move alone will differentiate you from the crowd.

If you decided to build a header similar to this one for your own LinkedIn profile, be aware of the pop-ups LinkedIn occasionally places over your headers pace and avoid putting an image or text in these areas.

Tips For Building a Great LinkedIn Profile

• LinkedIn is a business platform. For best results, your LinkedIn photo should be a business photo that presents the best version of you.
• If your LinkedIn profile can’t be visually scanned (not fully read) in a matter of seconds in order for the visitor to your profile to determine who you are, where you are, what you’re great at, what kinds of problems you solve, what kinds of opportunities you create and what kind of value you create for employers or clients, it should be built to do so.
• If the message on your LinkedIn profile isn’t strategically built to align with the message carried in your resume and the message you’ll share when you interview, it should be aligned.
• Just like writing a great resume, writing an effective LinkedIn profile requires a blend of business writing, technical writing and creative writing combined with strategy.  If writing in this manner is not your gift, consider asking for help from someone who does LinkedIn Profile Optimization Coaching.  Be sure that this person actually knows what a recruiter looks for when they visit a LinkedIn Profile.

What Else is Part of a Job Search Strategy?

If your resume or your LinkedIn profile grab someone’s attention and you’re invited to a telephone interview or a face-to-face interview, be sure that the message you’ll share when you interview aligns with your resume’s message and your LinkedIn Profile’s message.

For over 26 years working as a recruiter, it is common that the verbal message a job candidate shares with me tells one story and the story I read on their resume is another story. 

Today, LinkedIn plays a part in a person’s messaging.  More often than not, I see a gap between a job seeker’s resume and their LinkedIn messaging and I hear another disconnect when they pick up the phone to call me.

This alignment I’m referring can and should be addressed.

Jeff Snyder’s, JeffSnyderCoaching.com Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

LinkedIn Job Search Coaching Results

My LinkedIn Coaching clients are taught how to build their LinkedIn profile so it is attractive to recruiters and hiring authorities.  These results belong to a Resume Writing client who also took advantage of my LinkedIn Coaching services.  Out of 1,599 people in his company, his LinkedIn Profile sits in the top 1% of profiles viewed.  

This top 1% ranking has everything to do with the LinkedIn Coaching this particular client received from Jeff Snyder Coaching.