If you're an executive and you don't have a presence on Google, recruiters and employers are likely to dismiss you as a lightweight. Increasingly, if you're not on LinkedIn, the same thing happens.
LinkedIn, a so-called "social networking" site, is really a business networking powerhouse that is a fertile sourcing device for recruiters, a solid business-to-business connector, and a showcase for your career, brand, and value.
Yet the majority of executives a) haven't heard of LinkedIn, b) have heard of it but don't use it, or c) have built a sketchy profile, connected with a few people, and then forgotten about it. If this is you, prepare to lose opportunities.
While Your Competitors Sleep...
If you're a savvy executive who's on LinkedIn and doing it right (or intends to be) other executives' ignorance or inertia is good for you, since your competition is just not playing on the same field. You're in the big leagues and they're on the sand lot team. If you were an employer, recruiter, or board, whom would you want as a star player?
Every executive who is serious about career momentum and job effectiveness needs to build a LinkedIn profile and use LinkedIn's features to build an on-line presence.
Consider this: do you…
- Need an executive resume and network, fast?
- Need people to know more about you than they could find on a resume?
- Need an 'automatic' way for people to access references?
- Want a way to connect to potential clients or employers?
- Want to have a resume on-line, without having a resume on-line?
- Want to draw recruiters and employers to you?
- Want to meet people you don't know through trusted introductions?
- Want to have a career-related URL to list on letters and emails?
As a career-minded executive you can do all the above, and more, in just four steps:
- Build a branded, authentically "you" LinkedIn profile,
- Invite colleagues and connections to join LinkedIn and link to your profile,
- Provide endorsements for your connections (many will then endorse you) and,
- Use LinkedIn's many features (including 'questions/answers') to build visibility and credibility.
Building a LinkedIn profile is an opportunity to project a vibrant personal brand and value proposition while concurrently displaying your career impact, work history education, and activities. In other words, everything that would appear on a resume, but packaged with an interest-attracting infusion of personality and passion.
The most successful LinkedIn profiles are not dry "job graveyards" – they are enthusiastically and courageously differentiated, with a lively style that builds chemistry and a sense of potential.
Don't be afraid to use your own voice (no corporate-speak!) so that the profile really sounds like you. Think about what drives you, why you are successful, what colleagues and bosses have always said about you – and how that translates to concrete, bottom-line value. Then prove it with impact statements that show your most valuable wins in each position.
If you're uncertain of your impact, think about what you did that would not have been done had you not been there to do it – and how it affected the company's performance. Then simplify it to a statement that shows immediate result and strategic importance. Do that for every job and you'll be looking very attractive (and competitive, too)!
Your Branded Value Proposition
Can't figure out your brand and value for your LinkedIn summary? Try this formula:
- Identify your personal brand -- your CORE, unchanging, hardwired, "who you are,"
- Identify the business application for your brand,
- Connect the two — what you do and what happens when you do it.
The result is your Branded Value Proposition – what your brand looks like when you take it to work and use it to create value (profit/productivity) for your company. Saturate your LinkedIn profile with a branded value proposition and proof of performance that illustrates it and you'll stand out as a beacon of light in the sea of banal profile platitudes that typically litter LinkedIn profiles (and resumes, too).
Be bold, play, have fun, sit with it a few days and tweak it. But don't make it too 'corporate' or you'll sound like everyone else, and that's not what social networking is all about. 'Sameness' doesn't attract opportunities and build careers!
Check out these examples of branded, vibrant, value-driven, authentic- voiced LinkedIn profiles and then try out your own. You'll notice that some are long, some are short, some have many connections, and some are still working up to many connections. Yet each shares authenticity, a personal voice, clear value, and a sense of excitement.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mbeckford
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmullenceo
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonalba
http://www.linkedin.com/in/megguiseppi
http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcopcutt
http://www.linkedin.com/in/debdib
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmnesbitt
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marktreshock
LinkedIn Secrets
Once you've built your profile, you can do something really cool that most people never think to do: if you need a resume you can convert your profile into a close cousin just by using LinkedIn's PDF feature. Convert the PDF to plain text, import it into Word, edit a bit, reformat a bit, and you've got a serviceable resume.
LinkedIn limits the number of words you can use in each section, so it breeds the kind of precise, tight writing used in the best resumes. And if you've built your profile to be big on brand, value, and impact, your 'LinkedIn resume' will be better than serviceable; it will out-compete.
Another cool 'hidden secret:' If you're in a very confidential job search, testing the waters, or just want some visibility, your LinkedIn profile acts like a web resume without having a 'real' resume online.
Many employed executives are fearful of using LinkedIn – they think they will look like they are looking for a job. Not so. No employer can fault you for using LinkedIn as it's a business networking site, NOT a traditional job search site.
Increasing numbers of companies are embracing LinkedIn as a corporate tool for building visibility, prospect pipelines, and thought leadership. In fact some companies are using LinkedIn as a type of 'corporate FaceBook' or intranet to keep employees connected and knowledgeable about each other. Even presidential candidates are using LinkedIn's question feature to garner hundreds, even thousands of opinions on issues and policy development. If you're on LinkedIn you're in good company.
LinkedIn Resources
For much more on LinkedIn, read the seminal guide to LinkedIn, 'I'm on LinkedIn - Now What???' by Job-Hunt's own Social Networking Expert, Jason Alba. Be sure to read Jason's companion blog, too.
For an "insider" view of how recruiters are sourcing candidates from LinkedIn, check out "Happy About LinkedIn For Recruiting" by Bill Vick and Des Walsh. Use it in reverse, so you, as a candidate, know how recruiters can find you—and then make sure you are positioned for that to happen.
For an array of LinkedIn strategies and insider tips check out these
blogs:
© Copyright, 2008, Deb Dib. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About this author: Deb Dib, Job-Hunt's Executive Job Search Expert, has been a careers-industry professional since 1989. For the last few years, Deb has focused on coaching CEO's and other C-suite executives in finding their next opportunities. Deb is the founder of Executive Power Brand, and co-author of best-selling Twitter Job Search Guide, Find Your Ideal Job and Build Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day (March 2010, JIST). Connect with Deb at her website at www.executivepowerbrand.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/debdib, on Twitter at @CEOcoach, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DebDib, and via email at info at executivepowerbrand.com, or at 631-475-8513.
