Activate Your LinkedIn: Your portal to the working world

Two clients in the same week asked me the same question recently about LinkedIn: “What should I put on my profile? Is it just a copy of my resume?”

I like to think of it like this – your resume is two dimensional, and LinkedIn is 3D. While your resume shows where you’ve worked, how you’re skilled, and what qualifies you for a job, LinkedIn can show the world who you are. It has the capability to show a much greater depth of what you’ve done, as well as a whole lot more personality.

I’ve worked since 2004 with clients looking to make a career change or advance their professional lives. They’ll often come just looking for a resume and some interview tune-up tips and are surprised when I say, “Let’s start with LinkedIn.” This is your personal brand, your portal to the working world – and without a bit of polish, you’re missing an opportunity. And you can bet a hiring manager is going to look you up before that big interview. 

So, get ready.

A few things to consider with your LinkedIn profile:

• Your headline. If you haven’t yet distilled your working brand persona, it’s time to do some soul-searching. What are you best at? What do you care about? And, most importantly, what do you bring to the working world that few others do? 

• Your pronouns. It’s 2022. If you’re not telling others how they may refer to you, it’s time to tune that up. It’s a sign of respect and inclusion, as well as a foundational component of introduction. Get with the times and add them.

• Your “About” section. Sum up who you are and what you’ve done. This is not the time to list a whole bunch of places you’ve worked. Instead, it’s your opportunity to add it all up. Have you got 30 years of experience in supply chain? Have you launched brands, built teams, and acted as a revenue multiplier? Share that here.

• Featured section. Don’t overlook this. This free feature enables you to share your portfolio. Did your company get featured in the news for an initiative you brought to life? Have you created websites or multimedia features? Show your work. 

• Experience. If you’ve had a long and storied career, there’s no need to recapitulate your resume here. No one wants to scroll through an online version of your resume. Simply putting where you worked, when you worked there, and what title you held – especially for jobs more than five to 10 years ago – will suffice just fine. Make room for the things that show off your personality. 

• Skills. Spend the time to list your skills – not only will these help you get found by recruiters (provided that you’ve turned on the “Open to Work” feature), it also gives you an opportunity to solicit endorsements from your professional network. These carry a lot of weight when a hiring manager is looking at your profile. 

• Courses, honors & awards. Whenever possible, these should not be blank. Classes you took during undergraduate or when you got your MBA are relevant – but more current continuing ed classes are even more so. Did you get a spot award from your employer for going above and beyond? Share that here. It matters.

• Interests. Are you a devotee of Simon Sinek or Brené Brown? Follow them, and they’ll show up here. A hiring manager might be very interested in knowing who influences your decision making.

Beyond your profile, remember that that LinkedIn is a social media platform. It’s not static – this is not your landing page, it’s your springboard. To that end, you should engage with your professional network often and meaningfully. Rather than just scrolling through your feed and “liking” everything you see, consider writing something personal when a former colleague announces a new job, a mentor shares that her company has gone public, or a classmate undertakes a major volunteering initiative. 

Lastly, share your perspective. If you see an interesting article, share it. If you’re looking for work, share it. And if you have a perspective that could spur a conversation – guess what? Share it. 

Obsidian Coaching provides career, communication, and sobriety coaching services for executives around the world. For job seekers, we provide resume, cover letter, interview prep, LinkedIn overhauls, and career transition coaching.