Tag Archives: LinkedIn

3 Reasons Why LinkedIn is Important for Job Seekers

LinkedIn helps job seekers

By definition, every job seeker is a seller of self. The recruiter and the hiring manager, on the other hand, are the buyers. Buyers are obligated to perform due diligence before making commitment to sellers. Now, I’m sure that you the reader do not stretch the truth, exaggerate the facts, or even occasionally lie on your résumé about certain facts, skills, or accomplishments, but I know that some others do. According to surveys such as Jobvite, 93% of recruiters use social media to check out candidates. A recruiter’s professional obligation is to make sure that résumés submitted to companies factually represent the job candidates. Otherwise, the recruiter’s credibility is on the line. Recruiters compare the content of candidates’ résumés with other facts they are able to find online. To make those comparisons, 94% use LinkedIn, 66% use Facebook, and 52% use Twitter. But what are they looking for?

Validation of expertise and experience

Recruiters and hiring managers compare, for example, your skills, experience, and accomplishments—as stated in your résumé—with any evidence found regarding your participation in communications with others who belong to the same groups you do. If, for instance, you say you’re very qualified at the expert level, well, your claim should be evident elsewhere too. If you say you’re a leader who communicates well, then that should be apparent via your blog that is linked to your LinkedIn profile. Furthermore, recommendations validate your expertise, and endorsements speak specifically to your professional skills.

Evidence of consistency between the resume and social media

The basic things a recruiter validates are the matching of dates of employment and names of employers. They also search for any gaps in titles, college graduation date, academic degrees, and so forth between your LinkedIn profile and your résumé. Even though it is advised that a résumé be tailored to the job being applied for and that your LinkedIn profile be more generic in nature, the basic information has to otherwise match, or the discrepancies will raise questions. Significant varying information between the two could cost you the opportunity to continue in the selection process for further review of your candidacy.

Assertion of technological savvy

Those who have complete and attractive LinkedIn profiles affirm their understanding of the online business. Such profiles also serve as differentiators against more-mature people who, typically, are less savvy about new technology.

In summary

Online presence not only is helpful to the job seeker but also makes the recruiter’s job easier when it comes to the processing of your job application. In addition, candidates who are not perfectly honest about their professional backgrounds will come to regret the deceit because sooner or later, the truth will surface. A problem that some job seekers face is their posting of some information online years ago, at a time when such information was not important to them but it helped them impress their friends and peers at the time. That information may backfire now if found—even years and years later.

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.