Your LinkedIn Profile Is Not Your Resume
In executive job search, your resume AND LinkedIn profile are the new cost of entry, but they shouldn’t be identical.
The LinkedIn profile is a tool that allows the job seeker to be found. The resume allows the job seeker to customize their experience to specific roles and companies.
As an executive recruiter, I’m evaluating the LinkedIn profile against the position requirements — industry, years of experience, management responsibilities and skill set. The LinkedIn profile of a job seeker should highlight these areas quickly and concisely. Recruiters use a number of search methods to narrow down the number of LinkedIn profiles they have to view and in a given day may read over a hundred profiles, it’s the top of the candidate “funnel”. Profiles with enormous amounts of details are more likely to be discarded.
The resume, on the other hand, is a tool for a job seeker to emphasize accomplishments over the course of a career and how they are relevant to the company and position the job seeker is applying for. With 20+ years of experience it’s impossible to capture everything in a resume and no two companies will have exactly the same interests in your accomplishments. I recommend that as an executive, every resume submittal/application should be customized for the position.
There are some important things to be wary of, Hiring Managers and recruiters will compare your LinkedIn profile and your resume, mostly for accuracy of dates and specific details. It’s understood that the resume will have more details, but be sure these things are identical on both the resume and the LinkedIn profile:
- Dates of employment
- Employer Names — this can be unnecessarily confusing if you were at a company that was acquired or went through a name change — it’s fine on both LinkedIn and the resume to make note of the circumstances
- Titles
- Budgets
- Size of teams managed
Being sure you have consistency in these areas will avoid creating issues or doubts in the minds of hiring managers during the interview process.
About the Author | Matt Gill
Matt Gill is the Managing Partner at MICA Consulting Group, a consulting and recruiting firm connecting people in Marketing, Interactive, Creative, and Advertising. He is a marketing recruiter across industries. If you think he can help with your job search, connect with him through the email, Twitter, or company links below.
