Matching Your LinkedIn Profile & Resume

It’s either a game-changer or game-ender, guys!

If you’re a strong candidate, then it’s likely a recruiter or hiring manager will review your resume whilst checking your LinkedIn profile.

In fact, count on it.

Your LinkedIn profile will be the next stop in a recruiter’s quest to learn a little more about you as a candidate.

I do it every day.

If I review your resume and consider you a potential match for a position, then I will search for your LinkedIn profile almost immediately. Often, it’s the other way around as I search LinkedIn for candidates before I ever see their resume.

So, from a recruiter’s perspective, here’s the recurring problem: discrepancies between the information listed in the experience section of candidates’ LinkedIn profile and their resume immediately raise questions.

So, why is that a big deal?

Because whether we review both your resume and LinkedIn profile, or we only review one and not the other, the information must be accurate. Discrepancies will only raise unnecessary questions and may even cost you an opportunity for an interview.

Here’s the thing. We don’t have time to try figuring out why the start date of your current position is November 2014 on your resume but February 2015 in your LinkedIn profile. It’s your responsibility to ensure the information is the same in both formats:

• the employers
• positions/titles
• start/end dates
• cities and states
• duties and responsibilities
• achievements

And once that’s done, proofread as many times as necessary to ensure there are no errors.

Remember, one advantage of your LinkedIn profile is the amount of space available to include additional information (2,000 characters for each experience section entry). So, use that space to detail

№1 what you did,

№2 how it positively impacted your employers,

№3 and the recognition you received.

This can include uploading certificates, degrees, awards, letters of recommendation, publications, videos, and photos. Also, feel free to include personal pronouns like “I”, “me”, “my”, “we”, and “our”.

You also want to ensure your positions are listed in reverse chronological order in both formats (unless you’re using a functional or hybrid resume). It’s much easier for a recruiter or hiring manager to verify your work history if the order in which the entries are listed is the same in both.

In essence, make it easy for us to establish that you’re a great candidate (help us help you). Take some time this week to check the experience sections in your resume and LinkedIn profile to ensure that what we see in one will be the same in the other.