When I put on my Hiring Manager hat at Elevator Up, I find myself hanging out on LinkedIn a lot. Over the past year, I have gotten familiar with what makes a strong LinkedIn profile. Today, I’ll share my process for utilizing LinkedIn in order to get to know applicants, and what a profile typically tells me. My hope is that this might help an applicant or a fellow hiring manager. Let’s get started!
The 5-minute Scan
It doesn’t have to take very long to get a first pass on a profile and tell whether someone has the right background, experience, and skill set for a position we’re looking to fill. It just helps to be aware that a LinkedIn profile will not tell everything you need to know about a person.
Here is a bit more detail into my 5-minute scan process — what I like to see, what grabs my attention, and what might be a red flag.
Photo
Photos can be tricky. There are still many businesses with a more conservative, professional environment (suit and tie every day) and a growing number with a casual environment (suit and tie never.)
Overall, I like to know what someone looks like so that I can put a face to a name, I want to feel confident that I could put them in front of a client, and I want to get a feel for their personality. Profile photos exist to provide a first impression, and what people choose to share as their first impression, is often said through their photo.
What doesn’t work: In the top photo, we can’t see her face. Who is it? Have I seen her before? Although her interests show in this photo, make sure your face is visible. In the bottom photo, avoid having more than one person in your photo. In this example, it is hard to tell who the profile belongs to.
What works: A clean headshot that looks casual yet professional.
Title
Does their title match the position I’m looking to fill? Sometimes the title explains what level they are at in their career. Some people may have the right title (”Project Manager” for example) but they have been managing a nonprofit organization’s program rather than digital products. The scan helps me determine this.
Number of connections
- 500+ — My assumption is that they are very involved in their community.
- 5 — Maybe they’re not up-to-date on social media (something that Elevator Up utilizes a lot) or maybe LinkedIn just isn’t their thing.
Number of connections is not a deal breaker. At Elevator Up, we like to see community involvement, and connections helps us determine this at a glance.
Current employers
Are they currently employed? If not, I make a mental note to ask why. Does their summary give me a good understanding of what they do here? Hopefully!
Past employers
Does their summary give me a good understanding of what they did there? How long have they worked at each place? If it looks like they leave a company every year, I make a mental note to ask why. However, I also take this information with a grain of salt. Since so many people are contractors and consultants these days, their projects might last 3–6 months forcing them to change every few months or every year. Employment history also tends to show whether someone has been promoted in an organization which is nice to see.
Attention Grabber! Have they founded or co-founded a startup/product/company? Since Elevator Up has an entrepreneurial spirit, this kind of involvement catches our eye.
Top Skills
Do they have a lot of endorsed skills that I’m looking for? This will also tell me where they might be at in their career. If shared connections have endorsed them for skills, it serves as a vetting process for the person too.
Education/Certifications
Did they go to school? Where and what for? Higher education is not a deal breaker, however, it helps depending on the position. It is sometimes nice to see a Computer Science or mathematics background in developers because it says they have a good background in the basics and have experience solving problems. But it is also fun to see if someone has taken a coLearning course, DevBootcamp, General Assembly, or similar program. Relevant certifications, like Certified SCRUM Master certifications, will give someone a leg-up as well.
Attention Grabber! Non-industry certifications also turns our head. It gives us an insight into someone’s interests and personality and therefore whether they might be a good culture fit for us. For example, if someone was a certified “Cross Country Ski Expert” (does this even exist?) that might bump them up to the top of our list.
Volunteer Experience
Volunteer experience shows someone’s involvement in the community. Since community engagement is important at Elevator Up, this is something we really like to see. If someone is involved in the tech community, that’s a plus, but volunteer experience with any cause is exciting.
Shared Connections
Do we have any shared connections? Who? I might make a mental note to talk with a shared connection to hear what they know about a person. Its another vetting opportunity.
Attention Grabber! If someone has recommendations from people we know and admire, that’s a plus.
Following
What companies/groups are they following? Do they follow our company? Do they follow similar companies as Elevator Up? For example, if someone is following Zurb orDigital Telepathy, it says to us that they’re keeping up on tech trends, and that they might admire the same industry leaders we do.
Contact information (back up at the top of the page)
The last thing I check is their contact information. Usually this is where people will put links to their personal sites or social media pages. I will check out their websites, Twitter, GitHub, etc. Exploring these pages usually extends past 5 minutes, so I’ll save the links to go back to later.
Attention Grabber! If they have their own blog or side project, whether related to their career or not, we love to see this. It shows that you’re curious and indeed have a life outside of work.
So, there you have it! The story behind what we look for in a LinkedIn profile. Hopefully this helps you ramp up your own profile, review profiles more quickly if you’re a hiring manager yourself, or get noticed, for those who want to work for Elevator Up. (We’re still hiring Software Developers!)
~ Tori VanDragt, Studio Manager at Elevator Up
