Welcome to Resume Tip Tuesday! Come to CareerBliss every Tuesday for a brand new resume tip to help you in your job search! Check out the archive for more tips.
Have you ever applied to a job and saw that someone from the company at which you applied looked at your LinkedIn profile?
Sweet! They’re interested.
If they like what they see, there’s a good chance that you’re a strong candidate. If you never hear back from them again, it might be time to rethink your LinkedIn profile.
If your LinkedIn profile wasn’t a smooth, consistent extension of your resume, a hiring manager might lose interest.
So, what do employers want to see when they land on your LinkedIn profile?
1. Written Recommendations from Relevant Professionals are Worth a Lot
Having someone vouch for your work is one of the best things you can do to impress future employers. Smart employers are going to be looking at just how credible the writer is.
2. Detailed Descriptions of Projects and Published Works will Impress
Here’s where you can offer employers a deeper understanding of your resume. Add your top projects, published works and websites that go above and beyond what’s mentioned in the few bullet points in your resume.
Take full advantage of LinkedIn’s latest Visual Portfolio feature. Rather than listing boring links, offering a visual snippet or thumbnail allows you to really catch employers’ eyes with your work.
3. Your LinkedIn Summary Should be 'Sticky'
Most people make the mistake of making their LinkedIn summery entirely about them. CEO and co-founder of Boom! Social Kim Garst wrote a great post on "How to Write a Sticky LinkedIn Summary" that we really recommend.
"Most people’s profile summaries say something like, 'Hi, meet me, I have 10 years experience. This is what I am about. This is what I like to do. I am so great, and I think about myself all day long…yay!' Just imagine running into someone like that in real life," she says in her blog post.
Rather, you should think about what would appeal to your target employers. Add a little bit of your personality to boost!
BONUS TIP: Skill Endorsements are Worth Less Than you Might Think
This year-old feature has been widely used, but we investigated just how much LinkedIn endorsements are worth from an employers’ perspective. Many managers agree that the quantity of skill endorsements you have aren’t a direct indicator of your true skills. One reason is because it’s easy to inflate those numbers. Check out the full post here.LinkedIn should neither mimic your resume entirely nor too bare. Rather, it should be a consistent, detailed and robust extension of your resume.
Until next week!