Lisa Bruemmer of Cornerstone International Group, Kansas City’s local executive search firm client companies turn to when hiring talented top-tier executives, explores ideas for tailoring your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters, researchers, organizations, and companies to find you on LinkedIn. I’m a researcher for a search firm. I go into the market on behalf of our clients to identify talent for their specific executive hiring needs.
I do this all day. I look for people. While I execute many different research strategies, one is the use of LinkedIn. So let’s talk about your profile….
The first thing I recommend doing when putting together your online profile is to ask yourself, “What do I want my profile to do for me?”
Are you marketing yourself? Are you a business owner looking for clients? Are you a stay-at-home parent networking to return to the workforce? What exactly do you want to tell the business world about yourself?
As a researcher scanning information on profiles, I wanted to share some of the things I look for. Hopefully, this will help you build a profile that works for where you are now in your life and career.
Include a photo.
Not just any photo but one that’s a reflection of what you want your profile to say to the business world. If I don’t see a photo, I’ll often skip the profile because it’s incomplete, indicates an unfamiliarity with technology, and makes me wonder why the person has chosen specifically not to include a photo. (P.S. – Oh, and if the photo is a “selfie” at a party…well I think you can do the math.)
Spellcheck.
Use it! Nothing screams unprofessional (or worse – uneducated) than poor spelling. And no, simply acknowledging that you’re a bad speller doesn’t “fix” the issue. Proofread. Spellcheck. And then have a friend proofread it.
Use keywords.
Why do you want to be found? That’s where keywords come in. If you’re in manufacturing, get that in your profile. If you’re a seamstress, get that in there. Include relevant words to what you do now, your experience, your strengths, and interests. Also, don’t use esoteric terminology. Simply state what you do and how long you’ve been doing it.
Be brief. Get to the point.
I don’t need to know EVERYTHING about you. Just give the highlights of your experience. Make your skills evident. I’m already looking for you. I don’t want to have to search your profile to try to gain an understanding of your skill sets. More isn’t always better. Give me enough to get a good picture.
If you’ve piqued my interest, I will get more detail when I call you. On average, my first glance at a profile is about 15-20 seconds. I look at your photo, your title, your past experience, your education, your location, keywords and make a decision whether to pursue you further or move on. If I can’t find what I’m looking for fairly quickly, I’m on to the next profile.
Recently my colleague, Dan Heiman, wrote in his post What Every Job Seeker Needs to Understand, “….. make sure your LinkedIn profile is well written, and have your resume professionally written and ‘to the point’. If those pieces aren’t in place, recruiters may never find you.”
We’re on LinkedIn every day looking for people like you. Take the advice above and we’ll find you when the time is right.
