Tag Archives: LinkedIn

LinkedIn Profile Is More Important Than Résumé

LinkedIn profile versus the resume

LinkedIn profile versus resume

Yes, your LinkedIn profile is more important than your resume! Do I shock you with this declaration? Think again. Your résumé is typically being sent to individuals, to recruiters, or as a job application, which has limited exposure. Yet your LinkedIn profile is open to literally the entire world around the clock. Moreover, as I understand it, LinkedIn is now considered the choice tool by recruiters and human resources professionals because it is so user-friendly and searchable.

Having a picture is very important

If you think like I do, then you may want to revisit your LinkedIn profile and make a few easy improvements. For example, upload a professionally produced photo to enhance your image. Make sure the tagline contains a good description of what you do. The Twitter feature should be used frequently and appropriately. The summary section should be your marketing piece. Your current and past positions should be clear. Don’t say too much; rather, make them intriguing. Include a few but strong accomplishments in your bulleted items. Keywords pertinent to your profession should be listed as well. Listing your specialties offers additional, specific information that enhances your chances to distinguish yourself.

Stay active with LinkedIn

LinkedIn lets you upload various applications. Take advantage of that. Recruiters like to see that you have several recommendations. After all, they have to sell you to their clients. Recommendations serve as strong support for your candidacy because they come from others. Everything else you say in your LinkedIn profile comes from you, and in this case you’re a salesperson selling a product, which is yourself. If you have a Web site or blog posts, list them. Belonging to several professional groups also enhances your image. Similarly, if you’ve received honors and awards, they should be listed. You also should include some interests because you’ll be selected not only for your qualifications but also for your fit factor.

And finally, review your personal settings. There may be great qualifications listed on your Linkedin profile, but if you limit those you allow to view the profile, who do you think is losing out?

Job Search: What Changed?

People who haven’t been looking for jobs for a while are in for a real shock. The rules of the game have changed significantly. To be effective at finding a job, one needs to involve everybody one knows. Finding a job while being low-key and discreet like in the past will take forever! Newspaper ads have been replaced by the Internet, and one needs to learn to use company Web sites, online job boards, and online social networks—not to mention extensive use of the computer.

Among the online job boards, some are broad and general, while others are specific to an industry or a profession or other criteria. Most job boards let you post your résumé, search for open positions and, fill out applications online. Often, the communication is one way except for unsolicited spam. Among the most popular sites are careerbuilder.com, careerjournal.com, craiglist.org, and monster.com. And there are several aggregators such as indeed.com, and simplyhired.com, which help make the search more efficient.

Using external recruiters is another avenue for job seekers. At the medium-income level, they are called contingency recruiters, and they’re competing with other recruiters. At higher income levels, they’re called retained recruiters, and they’re paid for the work they do regardless of whether they place people. Recruiters whether retained or contingency typically specialize in certain fields. Developing satisfactory and long-term relationships with some of them is a good investment of one’s time.

Today’s résumés have gone through a face-lift. Generic résumés are lacking and need certain fine-tuning so they match the specifics mentioned in the job description. Last decade’s résumés listed the various activities similar to the job description. Today’s employers want to see quantifiable accomplishments—and in dollars and percentages. One needs to emphasize specific skills and abilities to accomplish results as a member of a multidisciplinary and, possibly, international team. The résumé needs to show flexibility because of the dynamic nature of business today, and it needs to show resourcefulness and expanded responsibilities over time. But probably the most important change lies in the fact that the résumé has to contain the right keywords. Most résumés are scanned into an applicant-tracking system and will never resurface unless they have the right keywords.

I have all the qualifications, so why am I not being hired?

AP-Photo-Chris-Pizzello

For you, the only thing you want is to get a job. For the hiring manager, making the hire is a priority competing with many others at the same time. So what is going on in the hiring manager’s mind? Most hiring managers take no pleasure in the hiring process. It’s just one more thing they have to take care of, and they often feel insecure in making that final decision, since some of their previous hires proved disappointing.

A hiring manager also knows that making a hiring mistake could potentially ruin his reputation and credibility. While reviewing resumes he is asking himself three questions: Why should he interview you? What can you do for him? And if hired, would you be effective in filling the job duties?

Now, provided that you get invited for an interview, the hiring manager has three more qualifying questions to answer before deciding to hire you: (1) Are you particularly good at what he needs done? He is not hiring just average people. This is your opportunity to recite your accomplishments eloquently and succinctly. Do not repeat what you said in the past. Highlight only your accomplishments and the results. (2) Do you fit into his organization? This is the primary area in which you have to be convincing. You may have all the qualifications, but if the hiring manager cannot see you as part of his organization, then nothing will help you. (3) Are you committed? The hiring manager sees in you an investment—hopefully, a long-term investment. And he wants to make sure it’s a good one. He also wants to make sure you are promotable and have the potential to grow within the organization.

As you can see, the hiring process is complex for both the hiring manager and the candidate. Both sides will share in the potential rewards as well as the associated risks. The question for the candidate remains: how to increase chances of getting hired by outshining the competition? The theoretical answer is to network to the max, because statistics have proved that 60 to 80% of people found their jobs via networking. The practical answer is to mock-practice your interviewing skills. You can do that with friends or your spouse or—best of all—with a qualified career coach. The reason that interviewing skills are vital to acquire is simply that hiring managers make their decisions based on how well you interview and not on your job skills.