Thursday, January 21, 2010
How to Use Your LinkedIn as Your Resume Profile
Today,
there are several innovative ways for job hunters to attract potential
employers. One way to help get your virtual resume viewed by employers is
through LinkedIn …But first, your LinkedIn profile has to be up to par. The
following are six methods to use to help boost your resume’s visibility on
LinkedIn.
- The first thing you should do is
scan through your profile to catch any punctuation and spelling errors.
There's nothing worse than an employer scanning through an applicant’s
profile only to discover spelling errors and mistakes. Remember, it only
takes one mistake to completely sabotage a resume profile.
- Get a second opinion about your
LinkedIn profile. Have a friend or someone you trust (with a critical eye)
to review your profile and check for mistakes.
- Only include experiences and
skills that your potential employers will find interesting. In other
words, create a scenario of what it will be like if they decide to hire
you to work for their company.
Don’t forget to stress upon your accomplishments and skills. Make
sure you use attention-grabbing language.
- Avoid using huge blocks of text.
This makes it difficult to read. For readability, your profile should be
scannable. For an easy read, use
small paragraphs in your LinkedIn profile.
- Hook your potential employers by
making your profile exciting and conversational. Unlike a traditional
resume, it is okay use more relaxed language such as "me, my or
I" once in a while -- but not too often. You don’t want to give the impression
that you’re conceited.
- Ask people you know to write a
well written review about you. For example, you can ask past employers to
write a review about you. However, make sure their review is well written.
Many employers frown upon recommendations that are poorly written.
Hopefully
these six tips will help you improve your LinkedIn profile and get hired!
