Looking To Amp Up Your Career? LinkedIn For Job Hunters

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LinkedIn remains the top professional networking and job-seeking digital platform. For job seekers it is a place to promote your professional story, network, access training courses, and, for the ambitious, be a content creator and power user. The insider tip is that every recruiter mines LinkedIn for candidates or immediately visits a potential hire’s LinkedIn profile after reading their resume.

If you do not have a LinkedIn profile, you may consider setting one up as soon as possible. If you already have a LinkedIn profile, it never hurts to review your existing page to see if can be improved, or commit to those updates you know you need to make but haven’t. Here is a refresher on the LinkedIn basics.

1.     Your LinkedIn profile is not your resume. While your resume and LinkedIn profile will share the basic facts of your work history and education (e.g., company/school names, dates), the content should read in a much different way. If your existing profile is a mirror of your resume, it’s time to upgrade. The recruiter or hiring manager already read your resume. If you’re creating a new profile, think of it as a billboard on the job market.

2.    EVERY recruiter uses LinkedIn to look for talent. Keep in mind that the professional social network and job market is only one side of LinkedIn’s business. The other is catering to recruiters and the people hiring their users. They are the most powerful power users on the platform and they are actively looking for people like you. That is the #1 reason professionals should have a LinkedIn presence. Not only that, but if you have a premium membership, you can contact recruiters or hiring managers directly through LinkedIn‘s InMail feature. A friendly succinct note to a recruiter may make the difference when pursuing an open job.

3.     A good head shot is essential. You must have a current professional profile photo – a good one. LinkedIn is not the platform to experiment with your look. Your profile photo is the first impression people have of you when they visit your page. Keep it simple and professional. No hats.

 4.     Have a full profile. Fill in EVERY applicable field. Provide as much additional information as possible. A packed profile increases your profiles searchability for all those recruiters, hiring managers, and potential professional contacts to grow your network. You want to be found. You’re a billboard, remember? For example, certifications, languages, volunteer organizations, sabbaticals, side hustles, certifications, are just a few examples. Don’t leave any of your hard work and accomplishments out. LinkedIn likes “completeness.” Anything less than a full profile looks lazy, which is not what you want to project.

 5.     Grow your network. It is a social network after all. Grow your network strategically. Don’t be shy! Step one: Perfect your profile. Step two: connect to as many people you already know and want to follow on the platform. That will trigger an organic process through you will slowly grow your network. You will receive invitations to connect from people with a few degrees of separation, or are in LinkedIn groups you join, and you should be open to accepting them. Step three: Be proactive. You can reach out and follow your peers, companies, people who inspire you, and the list goes on. Be judicious but open. Even if you’re a long time LinkedIn user, you should periodically review your network and see if it aligns with your current circumstances and long-term goals.

 6.     Create a Headline That Pops. Your headline needs to impart significant information in 240 characters or less. You may consider this tip when creating your headline.

Format: Position type ♦ About Yourself ♦Additional Info.

 Samples:

 ·      IT Solutions Architect ♦ Systems Designer ♦ Recent Graduate – The Academy

·      Network Design & Management Analytics Lead | Pursing CCNA

·      Human Resources Business Partner ♦ Employee Relations ♦ Available Immediately

7.     Write an Effective Summary. Here is where you really have to commit. For your summary, you have 2600 characters to use and each one counts. Your summary is a high-level explanation of who you are and what you have to offer. It should include your top skills, key accomplishments, and the value you add to any endeavor. Conclude with your call to action - what is the next thing you want to do?

8.     Write a Position Summary. Once again, you need to pack a lot of focused information into only 2000 characters or less. Summarize your position, detail what you’ve done, and punch the value you added in each case. An easy formula to get your started is the Three “W”s.

a.     W-ho is the company?

b.     W-hat are you doing, or what did you do, for the company?

c.     W-hat are your key accomplishments?

9.     Write About Your Education: Reminder: your LinkedIn profile is not your resume. The key phrase here is “write about.” Tell the story of your educational experience as if you were describing it in detail to a friend. Go beyond what you studied. Think about and express its impact on you as a person, not just as a student.

·      Format

o   School Name

o   Degree

o   Years Attended

o   Activities

 10.  Skills and Endorsements

·      You can select up to 50 skills for which to be endorsed.

·      Select and prioritize your Top 10.

·      This is searchable, and will help your results!

·      Include skills in your summary.

11.  Target recruitment firms. As long as you’re growing your network, include prominent recruitment firms. They’ve got access to jobs, and it can’t hurt to build a relationship online.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

When Your Resume Just Isn't Enough – Other Important Tools Of The Job Search

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When it comes to looking for a job, a lot of emphasis is given to the big three – your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile are some of the most essential pieces of your search. But job seekers have many other tools at their disposal. Each job process has its own challenges but are united by one thing, when you’re in the room you’re a salesman and the product you’re selling is you. Elevating yourself over other candidates is the ultimate upsell.

Other than your dazzling personality and confidence, when you want to leverage more than the big three, you may consider adding the following arrows to your quiver:

• References Lists – References matter. If references aren’t requested during the application process, they are optional. It is to your advantage to have a list of references ready and waiting to go. Your references are professionals you’ve worked with or for and will attest you’re a find.  Having people advocate on your behalf means something and the fact you’ve volunteered to provide references does too. Be assured, recruiters and hiring authorities often call your references so be sure you’ve had a conversation with them in advance so you know what they’re going to say – don’t assume a former boss or co-worker will give you a gushing review. Make sure.

• Reference Letters – Not to be confused with a list of references as described above, this a hard copy letter you have on your person that you can hand over in a job interview. That means you have to ask a potential reference to sing your praises in writing. That’s a big ask but if you can get it, that says a great deal about your character and reduces the recruiter or hiring manager’s task list (which is appreciated, remembered, and factored in). In the US, reference letters aren’t prevalent among professionals, but in Europe, for example, there are places a written reference letter is common, even expected, so if you want to work overseas you may want to consider going this route.

• Portfolios – Portfolios are a must for creatives, such as graphic designers. It’s essential to show your best work in the best ways. You should consider creating a traditional portfolio you take into the interview room and a digital version. This is another opportunity to expose recruiters and hiring managers to your work and skill sets. It’s also to your advantage to exploit the best aspects of both formats – traditional and digital. Naturally each version should include a mix of your best and most recent work, but the formats are different so use their unique strengths to your advantage. If you want to take a deeper dive on portfolios check out this past article, “The Portfolio.”

• Presentations – During the course of your professional career, you may have worked on a special project, executive presentation, or some act of gravity that had a direct positive impact on achieving whatever goals had been set out. If you have metrics to support that narrative, any related documentation can be an asset. If, for example, you have professional proposal (e.g., business proposal for funding), a power point (e.g., marketing strategy), audio/video recordings, lectures, etc., that may advance your candidacy nobody will fault you for using them to demonstrate the value you will add to whatever role you pursue.

• Work Samples – If you’re in a field that makes stuff, like product design and development, you may have played an integral in producing goods that amount to three dimensional portfolios. Maybe you’re an architect with a model of one of your designs that was built, a product developer who created or worked on a best-selling product, or are in specialty industry like robotics (yes, robotics) or 3-D printing (most recently projected to be a $67 billion year industry by 2028) and have impressive toys to share with the class. Use it all.

• Day One Plan: This is the casino special. A high risk, high reward special assignment you undertake just for this employer to present at your interview.  You create, for example, a plan specific to the role you’re trying to get that details what you would do on Day One and beyond. Think 30-day, 60-day, 90-plans. Whatever you can legitimately represent as a realistic pathway given the limited information you may have. You can’t know the inner workings or strategic plans of a potential employer and to assume that position would be overplaying your hand. What you can offer is the methodology you will employ in the role, the tools you will you use to measure your progress, and the benchmarks (e.g., KPIs) you hope to achieve.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

'Tis The Season! How To Quickly And Effectively Secure Holiday Employment

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‘Tis the season for seasonal work. If you’re looking to earn an extra buck or two over the holidays, the time to lock down a seasonal job is now. Businesses are ramping up for the end-of-the-year economic juggernaut  and staffing up is priority one. On Indeed.com, over 289,000 jobs come up when you search “seasonal worker” and it is only September. As the holidays approach, that number will ramp up and there will be a frenzy of hiring.

The rules for seasonal work are a bit different from those for a full-time, long-term career role. You need to start early, be aggressive, and consider the following recommendations:

1. Generalize your resume. “Revise your resume” is advice that risks killing the genuine desire to get a job, but in the case of seasonal work there are no shortcuts. You want your resume to be broad strokes. Remove specific objectives. Punch up general transferrable skills such as customer service. Employers want to know you’re competent, you will actually show up (on time), and that you will spend more time working than on your phone. This is a short-term arrangement, not a marriage; remove anything that is superfluous to the type of position you plan to pursue.

2. Go door-to-door. As you can imagine, there is a lot of competition for seasonal work. While there are no guarantees, the best way to quickly get a holiday job is to go door-to-door and hand-deliver your resume. Your goal should be to give it to the hiring manager. This gives you an opportunity to give them a quick pitch and allows them to put a face to your name. Regardless of who accepts the resume, be professional, kind, and thankful to everyone you encounter. Leave with the name of the person to whom you can follow up and their preferred method of contact.

3. Be ready for an on-the-spot interview. Another advantage of hand delivering your resume is you may be asked to interview right there and then. Be prepared. When you head out to drop off resumes, operate as if you are going to an official job interview. Dress to impress. Smell nice. Have minty fresh breath. Look and act professional. An impromptu interview may be more likely to go in your favor if you already look the part, which separates you from the (obviously much inferior) pack. Don’t get rattled. Answer every question with confidence.

4. Be as flexible as possible. If there is one code word for seasonal jobs it’s “flexibility.” A temporary employee who is flexible about their schedule, shifting duties, overtime, rotating supervisors, and will come in at a moment’s notice, is an employer’s dream. On your resume and in interviews, emphasize your flexibility. Can you work weekends? You’re flexible. Are you willing to rotate departments? You’re flexible. Will you bring doughnuts in on Fridays? That’s right. You’re flexible.

5. Follow up immediately. The regular job search process demands patience. Recruiters are overwhelmed juggling many open positions and hiring managers are focused on their day-to-day business duties. It takes time and both job seeker and recruiter/hiring manager should strive to see one another’s perspective. Job seekers are either unhappy in a current position or unemployed with its accompanying financial pressure. Seasonal work is no different. You want to cash in on the holidays and employers need extra hands and it’s all happening right now - and the window won’t be open for long. Your perspectives are the same and nobody is going to be penalized for following up on an opportunity in a couple of days instead of weeks.

6. Play the online numbers game. Once again, the best way to lock down seasonal work is to hit the pavement and drop off your resume in person. However, you may recall the 289,000 + jobs on Indeed. Some businesses require applicants go through an online process regardless of the job. Go to the job boards, search for “seasonal jobs” or “seasonal worker” or whatever the specific platform suggests. If you see an interesting opening and it does not require an online application, put it on your in-person list. If it does, do the online dance and play the numbers game. Apply to as many openings as you can.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.