Get your LinkedIn LinkedOn
Words to avoid in your profile: Lit, Savage, Turnt, AF
As my corporate friends are fond of saying, LinkedIn is your pre-background check background check. Whether you apply for jobs and internships through LinkedIn and they see it then, or you include it on your resume (suggested), or you have an account, they’re checking it. Not only are they checking it, they are reading it closely. As my friend Sam, who is a hiring manager for an international consulting firm, says “No projects, no recommendations, no interview.”
If they google you and you don’t have a LinkedIn account… well that won’t happen because you’re making one for class. You’re welcome.
A few tips for you, that you won’t find in the book/s:
- Be sure your name matches the name you call yourself on ALL of your job materials. If you go by Chuey, then all of your stuff should say “Chuey” along with your last name.
- Pay close attention to writing. One hiring manager told me that because they have 800 applications for one job through LinkedIn, they only read until they hit the first technical writing error.
- Be sure your writing voice is consistent with the standard language and writing of your career.
- If there are keywords in your industry, be absolutely sure that those are included in our summary and subtitle and everything. Some samples are Strategy and Response (PR), Ethnographic and Positioned Research (UXR), User-Side Analytics (Social Media and/or advertising), Mixed Methodologies (Media Research). There are more, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head. And be sure you actually have those skills before including them on your profile (they should also be represented in your projects)!
- Don’t forget to include this blog in your projects!
And with that, good luck this week on your LinkedIn Profile.
Oh yeah, don’t forget to clean up your social media presence! Don’t let Lindsey Pollack find all of your embarrassing photos!
