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

What Does Aligning One’s Resume, LinkedIn and Interview Message Mean?

The other day, I created a simple message because I know that most people don’t like to read long blog articles.  On one hand, my effort worked for those who would rather scan than read but on the other hand, someone commented because they didn’t know what I was talking about.

Here you go.  As a recruiter for 25+ years, I have had significant experience in listening to job candidate’s stories on the phone.  Then they send their resume and their resume tells a different story than the one I heard on the phone. 

Next, I’ll look this person up on LinkedIn (as many employers do) and I’ll find yet another story.  You get one chance to make a first impression.  I suggest aligning the message you create on LinkedIn with the message you send in your resume.  Ultimately, make sure both of those messages align with the way you’ll communicate when you have an opportunity to interview.

My coaching clients who have put these three topics in alignment have had significant success all over the world.  Communication that is delivered in a clean, clear and logical manner works for your resume, for LinkedIn and for your interviews.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

A Successful Week of Public Speaking, Resume Coaching and LinkedIn Coaching

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I was busy fulfilling commitments to ClearedJobs.net, the Colorado Springs ISSA and to MBA Research, a company that contacted me to have me sit on a panel related to the future of education here in Colorado.

On Wednesday, on behalf of ClearedJobs.net, I gave resume reviews to groups of primarily Cybersecurity professionals in Colorado Springs.  I did my best in a very short time to teach each group how to create a clean, clear, logical resume that would speak effectively to the resume's audience.  This was fun!

Yesterday morning, I was privileged to work with a group of entrepreneurs and business leaders in Denver.  We were assembled in order to provide information that will ultimately end up in the hands of the Colorado Board of Education with regards to curriculum adjustments that should be made in Middle School, High School and Colleges and Universities in Colorado.  This was fun!

Yesterday afternoon, I was privileged to have been invited back to the Colorado Springs ISSA for second year in a row.  I was asked to speak on the topic of LinkedIn.  It was a relatively full room and I know I had fun delivering what I could deliver in less than an hour to get a highly diverse group of technology and cybersecurity professionals up to speed on the topic of building a personal LinkedIn strategy.

"JEFF, WE MET TODAY AT THE ISSA CONFERENCE. THANK YOU FOR A FANTASTIC TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKEDIN, YOUR TALK WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND I APPRECIATE THE WORK YOU DO TO HELP OTHERS IN MARKETING, MYSELF INCLUDED."

Now I'm back at my desk where I'm providing Coaching Services, Recruiting Services for Security, Risk Compliance and Privacy skills and I'm about to write up several new brand new IT Risks Management and Security Strategist positions.

Jeff Snyder's Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

ISSA Colorado Springs, August 19 and 20, Jeff Snyder Public Speaking

If you're in Colorado on August 20, and you'd like to learn more about LinkedIn as a business and professional networking platform, come on out.  I'll do the best I can to tell you what you need to know.  I've been invited back to speak to this group for a second time.  

On August 20, I'll be speaking on a topic entitled:

LinkedIn Is Here To Stay…What’s Your Personal Strategy?

On August 19, I'll be at the job fair connected to the Cyber Security Training and Technology Forum to provide resume reviews provided by ClearedJobs.net.

Jeff Snyder's Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

What are Jeff Snyder's Qualifications to Provide LinkedIn Coaching?

What Are My Qualifications To Provide LinkedIn Coaching?

This is a very good question that was recently brought to me.  I like questions and I’m happy to give this one an answer.

Back in 2004, I was one of the first 800,000 members of LinkedIn.  That might not sound like such an early-on experience but when you consider that LinkedIn has over 300,000,000 profiles today, I was somewhat of an early adopter.  I've been studying the functionality of LinkedIn pretty much from its inception and many of my early predictions were spot-on.

At this point, I have one of the larger LinkedIn networks in the world with over 29.300+ direct connections.

Its not all about the size of my network. Its more about the relationships I’ve been fortunate to make because of my network and the business I’ve been able to develop through LinkedIn.

My LinkedIn Ranking

As of the writing of this blog, this is where I stand relative to my 29,300+ direct connections on LinkedIn.

“You rank in the top 2% for profile views among your connections.”

My LinkedIn Coaching Client's Results

My last couple of LinkedIn Coaching clients have experienced 27% and 28% increases in LinkedIn visits within 1-2 weeks of implementing the changes I suggested they should implement when I coached them.

Most of my LinkedIn coaching clients are people who are in an active job search mode.  In this case, they want to be found more frequently and they want to be found by the right people.  This is happening for my clients.

Why I Bundle my 1 Hour Resume Coaching services with my LinkedIn Coaching Service

My LinkedIn Coaching is most effective when it is bundled with my 1 Hour Resume Coaching service.  The reason for this effectiveness is that achieving improvement on LinkedIn requires outstanding content and a well-thought-out LinkedIn Strategy.  All of my Resume Coaching clients all have outstanding content.

You're Already Making a First Impression

If you’re on LinkedIn, you’re making a first impression.  That impression is bad, neutral or great.  I know that not everyone thinks like me but I can’t understand why anyone would want to settle for a bad or neutral first impression when you could make a great first impression.

When you’re ready to take your LinkedIn presence to the next level, I’m ready to help you through my LinkedIn Coaching Services.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

A Job Seeker's Question Regarding LinkedIn Coaching

Q: I have a Phd in optical sciences and I would like to have a support in building my profile for apply to specialized companies. Do you offer this kind of support? 

Answer:  

Thank you for your message.  I can definitely help you.  Would you mind sending your resume so I can see how you are packaging and presenting yourself in that regard?

The most effective way my clients have found to leverage LinkedIn is to first create outstanding resume content and then to align their LinkedIn presence with their resume.

 Here is an example.  I hope my analogies make sense.

•  Think of LinkedIn as the “Cliff Notes”
• Think of your resume as the “First Chapter” of the book
• Think of your phone interview or face-to-face interview as the opportunity to walk the interviewer through your entire book.

Getting your Resume Message, LinkedIn Message and Interview Message aligned is where you’ll find success.

Regards,
Jeff

 PS:  I’ve just accepted my next speaking engagement with a group of 500 technology professionals.  I’ve been asked to speak on leveraging LinkedIn as a personal marketing platform.  I’ve been developing my LinkedIn strategies and philosophy since I firset joined LinkedIn back in 2004.

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810