
Job hunting is a full-time job; and these are the things on LinkedIn that you can do to jumpstart your job-search or client-search while you're still working.
You already know the basic advantages of a LinkedIn profile:
- All your friends and contacts in one place—updated by them.
- A free website to showcase your skills, experiences, certificates, articles, etc.
...but did you know that LinkedIn supports media? Build your portfolio of work samples:
- Documents
- Photos / screenshots
- Powerpoint presentations
- Excel sheets
- Videos
Before hiring or doing business with anyone, people and companies google a person's name. And the best way to "control" what those people/companies see is by having a LinkedIn profile summarize all the things you want people to read—in the order you want—since LinkedIn profiles are always in the top three Google Search results...
Since my current and six previous companies in the U.S. and Asia found me on LinkedIn (while I was working on my own projects), I'd like to share with you what I learned from other job-hunters, articles, resume workshops, and interview workshops that worked for me and dozens of my friends and clients.
It's a 3-step process:
- Add all your resume info, skills, accomplishments and samples.
- Add all the people you've ever worked with or studied with.
- Eventually, one of your contact's friends (or that friend's friend) will see you while searching for someone with your skills.
This is a long article that details how to make the above third step a reality, so I strongly suggest you read each of the following items at least once.
Turn off Activity Broadcasts
To prevent anyone from receiving emails when you make any edits to your LinkedIn profile:
- Hover over your photo/name in the upper right.
- Click Privacy & Settings.
- Re-enter your password.
- In the Profile section, click Turn on/off your Activity Broadcasts.
- Deselect the checkbox.
Add all of your names
If you speak another language, adding the 漢字, हिंदी, etc. versions of your name will make you appear more international and found by your other name.
Add your close-up, smiling, color photo
To show you're warm, open, honest, and businesslike (in a nice shirt), add a high-resolution, passport-like photo.
If you're shy, find someone to make a realistic sketch of you.
People/Colleges/Companies want to choose a human, not a hyperlink.
Personalize your URL
Replace the long default URL with a personalized one such as linkedin.com/in/myname (the shorter, the better) so it can be used on your resume, business cards, website, any posters or marketing materials--and most importantly, verbally.
- Click Edit Profile from the top menu bar.
- Your URL is under your profile photo.
- To the right of the URL, click the gear icon.
- In the upper right (Your Public Profile URL), click the blue pen icon.
Add all experience info
- All companies, volunteering, part-time jobs, etc.
- Their cities, your job duties, your accomplishments, and value you added.
- Single-line bullet list since bullets are easier to read than paragraphs.
- For overseas jobs, use the company's name in English and its native language.
Never add an experience of "LOOKING"
- "Looking" is not a company.
- Companies want to hire someone working, not idle or unemployed.
- Appear employed: volunteer, teach, mentor, study, advise, or help others in any way—these are also a great way to network and meet a future employer or coworker!
Add "Honors & Awards"
- Add the "Honors & Awards" section to your profile.
- Summarize (re-list) the accomplishments you've achieved in your school/career in single-line bullet points.
- (add the company name in parenthesis)
Add all education info
- All schools back to high school with their degree--and don't forget their city.
- For overseas schools, include the institution's name in English and its native language.
- Years are not needed.
Add all "Languages"
- Add the "Languges" section to your profile and list all those you speak or have studied.
- Add your level of fluency in each--including your native language
- This makes you appear more international and social.
Add all "Certifications"
If you have earned any certificates or completed any trainings, add the "Certifications" section along with all of your certifications.
Add all your work samples
Pictures are worth a thousand words, and employers/recruiters want to see what you have actually made and are capable of!
Buy a domain with your name in it (prices have come way down!) and use PrestaShop or other website-making tool (there are so many!) and then add any type of file that shows your skills for managers to look at any time, especially:
- Your resume in PDF format.
- Reference Letters from previous managers and teachers.
- Samples of anything you've made or written.
- If possible, add Before-and-After screenshots of things you've improved.
- Demos, presentations, statistics, graphs, etc. of your work and skills
Add a Summary
Many people forget this section at the top, but it's a great place to:
- Add a brief paragraph of your skills, career, goals, etc. to show your personality.
- Add your email address and phone number so non-contacts can reach you.
- Add your resume in PDF format.
- Add as your favorite work samples. Each job should also list work samples you did at that job, but copy your favorites to the Summary section to show them off.
- Add your professional email address. If you don't have one, open a new email address that is close to your full name.
Add more "Groups"
Add Groups to:
- meet more people of a certain crowd/industry/company/etc.
- show your strengths in certain skills/tools/languages/etc.
Keep adding more Groups until you reach LinkedIn's maximum of 50.
Add more "Interests"
Sports/hobbies/forums that you like to play/watch/discuss should each be listed and separated by a comma. These are things you might have in common with contacts, and they make great conversation starters.
One man I met at a Seattle Translation event noticed I played badminton in college and lived in Taipei, so he asked if I knew a person he played badminton with in Taipei who went to my college--and that person was a classmate of mine!
List your strongest Skills
In the "Skills" section, add every skill you have so your connections can simply click the "+" button to endorse your skills. This is more meaningful (and believable) than self-claimed skills on a resume.
By default, the Skills are listed in descending order (most to least endorsed), but you can change that order to emphasize certain skills:
- Hover over Profile and click Edit Profile.
- Hover over the 2nd group of also knows about Skills and click anywhere on it.
- Click a Skill and drag it to the position you want it displayed.
Add links
To your publications, personal website(s), blogs, patents, etc.
... after you've done all those steps ...
Add everyone you know
Add everyone you've talked with from every:
- school
- job
- business card
- family activity
- networking event
The more connections you have, the more you will appear social and a team player.
When building a network, you want as many people as you know/trust; and when adding them, they'll appreciate you listing what you've been doing and what you're interested in now.
High school might seem long ago, but we've all had some great friendships back then that we lost touch with and can now easily find. Even the "jerks" in high school are not the same people now--especially if they're parents now--and they're eager to reconnect.
Even if certain friends aren't on LinkedIn now, check again after a few months since more and more people are joining all the time.
Adding people you know is great, but it's their friends they trust that makes LinkedIn such a powerful tool. Whether you're looking for a dentist, a programmer, a teacher, an accountant, a new client or a job--when you search LinkedIn for people, your friends' friends will appear at the top of the search results; so the more connections you have, the more trustworthy search results you'll have.
Send Invite Requests
When sending a LinkedIn Invite Request, never use the default generic message. Be sure to include a personal message with:
- How you know them.
- Anything you have in common.
- An offer to help them in whatever you're strong in.
Get Google Voice
Open a free Google Voice account at voice.google.com:
- to have a phone number that converts voicemail into text messages
- to notify you when you're traveling abroad or are in a place without reception
- to block spam callers
Eventually, many recruiters or hiring managers will be calling you when you don't want to be disturned, and Google Voice makes it easy to "turn off" all calls by sending them straight to voicemail. Having a Google Voice number on your resume that forwards to your cell only when you're job hunting will reduce your stress greatly.
In summary, see my profile at www.linkedin.com/in/klages as an example (feel free to connect with me), and message me if you have any questions.
After setting up your profile with these passive ways, then check out the 13 active ways to make recruiters and clients find you on LinkedIn.