LinkedIn is a professional networking site, designed to help people make business connections, share their experiences and resumes, and find jobs.
Over the last few weeks I have offered my career coaching services to (45) professionals who have unfortunately lost their job. My fee is a big fat zero – all I have asked each of my clients is to ensure that when (not if) when they secure there next position they spend my fee at a local restaurant or nursing home.
During my conversations and coaching sessions I have been very disappointed to hear how (some) organisations have been treating those who’s role will no longer be around. This is not isolated to a certain industry but across small business & large players! Not good people……..not good at all….others have been doing such amazing things, really working through things with people offering help, advice and direction (thank you to those who are treating there people well……we live in a society that is progressing well through such global change, lets not forget how we treat people, please…..
I have also experienced first hand that it would be helpful to share some key things to ensure you are using LinkedIn well.
There are some truly amazing technical LinkedIn gurus in the world, I am not one of them just a coach trying to help you. So here we go team……………….
Done well your LinkedIn profile becomes your CV/Resume so lets please not forget the importance professionalism.
You are able to follow organisations that you might be interested in working for, connect with fellow professionals and search for and apply to positions.
LinkedIn allows you to connect with like minded professionals anywhere in the world. So my advice that I have been sharing with people who have been made redundant over the last couple of weeks is please just spend some time on this, get yourself set up and play around with things.. Like anything you can simply take a basic option or you can pay more for added, advanced features…if you are just looking to connect and apply to positions a basic version should be just what you are looking for.
Here are the basic, but important things I would like to make sure you are doing / or checking…..
-
Contact Details are up to date and correct, include phone numbers, email – the aim with your contact details is to make things easy for potential hiring managers to make contact with you! PLEASE CHECK THESE……
-
Photo – they say a picture tells a story and try to remember what LinkedIn is! I point clients to the wonderful Keri Little an amazing lady who will really help you.
-
If you have been made redundant I would simply stick to your current title that goes under your picture!
-
About Section – an important part of LinkedIn, its your shop window as I like to call it. If you have recently written and updated your CV then this is your Executive Summary, Professional Statement, Professional Summary section. In my experience this is the area you will spend the most amount of time and energy on….again if you are struggling with this then reach out to me.
-
Recently LinkedIn added in a section called Featured an area you can upload media, videos, articles etc
-
Then you really get into your Experience section, some people just have company name, dates and title and that is it. Again just think about your audience and think about sharing relevance with people, if you are struggling here, just think about your wonderful achievements those little things that have made an impact on the business or people you have worked for, think about the areas you had responsibility for (try to stay away from just copying your Job description duties……..)
-
Education section here you can add university, qualifications and courses you have attended and completed and this is the same with Certification section
-
Mixed reviews on the next section Skills & Endorsements (so my advice play around with this and see what works for you)
-
The Recommendation section is where you can say thank you to people who have helped you or those who have done good work for you and this is where people can recommend your work. Powerful stuff if done professionally!
There is a great deal more we could share on this blog but as I mentioned at the beginning I am keen for you ensure some of the key aspects are looked at by you.
As we wrap up today, I want to say a big congratulations to those organisations who are really stepping up and pushing all the focus on helping those individuals who have been affected. GREAT WORK.
I hope the above has inspired you to take control and make sure you are representing yourself as best you can on LinkedIn. Nothing is perfect but its a start.
Please do share this onto any friends, work mates who might need a little bit of help navigating this.
Look after yourself and each other,
Nick
Nick Roud | Chief Executive Officer
Roud Career Coaching
Global Head Office
17 Bishopgate Street, Birkdale
Auckland, North Shore,
New Zealand 0626
Office: +64 (0) 21375 630
Email: nick@roudcareers.co.nz
Web: roudcareers.co.nz
