How do you talk about your past on LinkedIn? It's easy to look at the Experience and Education sections on your LinkedIn profile as the "resume" part of the profile. There's a slight problem, though. No one wants to read your resume. Even corporate recruiters and headhunters don't want to read a resume. But then how are you supposed to talk about your past work life? Your Profile Isn't Your Resume Much of this confusion stems from the fact that the LinkedIn Profile did start as a kind of online resume. In its early days, LinkedIn was a way for professionals in Silicon Valley to keep track of each other because it was an environment … [Read more...]
Help! I Don’t Have Any Experience! (LinkedIn Profile Advice for Recent College Grads)
If you are a recent college grad, have at some point been a college grad, or have ever tried to get your first job, then you’ve probably run into the circular trap that hits most young people when they enter the job market. “How can I get the experience I need to be qualified for this job when no one will hire me because I don’t have experience?” Well, now we can add a 21st-century twist to the problem. It goes something like this: “I just graduated from college; and everyone says that my generation is totally social media-savvy so I should have a killer LinkedIn profile to help me get work. But what do I put on my “professional … [Read more...]
Hey Recruiters, Here are the 3 Things You Totally Screw Up On LinkedIn
One of the first groups that really wrapped their arms around LinkedIn was the HR crew, and specifically the recruiters. On LinkedIn, where everyone is posting what amounts to their resume on their profile, it's like being a kid in a candy store. If you are looking for candidates, LinkedIn is the place to find them. I've gotten to work with professionals from all fields, industries, and departments on how to maximize their LinkedIn presence. That includes a lot of HR folks. I've even run a booth at LinkedIn's TalentConnect conference to work one-on-one with recruiters on refining their profiles. So I've seen a lot of … [Read more...]
How to Ask For Help On LinkedIn
One of the challenges with using social media for business is that it's so new. LinkedIn has over 500 million professionals on it, but it's not even 15 years old yet. It makes perfect sense that we're still grappling with how to actually use the platform in our day to day business lives. Especially because in business, there's a lot on the line. We know that if we post an embarrassing picture on Facebook, a few of our work friends might see it. But if we make a mistake on LinkedIn, all of our professional connections will see it and it could hurt our career. I was recently talking about how to ask LinkedIn connections for help with a … [Read more...]