Employees are looking to make strategic moves for a variety of reasons. Money, power, title, peace of mind, whatever it is, they will need a LinkedIn profile. Experts now say that a profile on LinkedIn could supersede the importance of a good resume. While LinkedIn marketing is not rocket science, it is an evolving trend that everyone should be taking advantage of.
Forget the Cut and Paste
The “cut and paste” resume strategy of building a LinkedIn profile has been deemed a poor strategy by experts. Instead, think larger scope with your LinkedIn profile. You are allotted 2,000 characters for a summary, job description, and have the flexibility to show off graphics, videos, and a fully portfolio of your work. More importantly, everything is in one place. Have you ever sent a resume to an employer but felt like it only represented a small portion of your accomplishments? LinkedIn literally “links in” your target audience.
Search Tools
The LinkedIn search tool is important. If you are an “Andrew” but people know you as “Andy” label your name as Andy. People will not waste time trying to find you so make sure they can default to your common name when searching for a profile.
Headlines, Headlines, Headlines
LinkedIn professionals will tell you that the headline of your profile is the most important element of your page. You are allotted 120 characters to explain who you are, what you do, and where it aligns with future goals. A good example would be seen as:
John Smith
Digital Marketing Analyst w/ 7 Years’ Experience in Oil and Gas Related Fields
This entry will allow Google and LinkedIn optimization to obtain your profile easier. A bad example of a headline would be:
John Smith
Digital Marketing Professional
Remember with LinkedIn often times it is the more the merrier.
Contact Information
This one is self-explanatory. Let’s say you have just wowed a recruiter, prospective employer, or someone you do not even know. They need to find a way to contact you without a lot of searching. Include your email, phone number, Snapchat username (just kidding, youngsters).
LinkedIn is not meant to be rocket science. Make it easy on yourself and potential employers to figure out where you have been, plus where you are going. Do not be afraid to be a little wordy and research common trends with the developing platform.