Blog

I’ve said it time and again to clients that when it comes to LinkedIn: what you put in is what you put out. It’s not enough to make a gorgeous profile—although that’s important. In fact, I created a 16-page guide in my online store that walks you through all of the possibilities for writing a killer profile! Check it out here: www.careeruprising.com/store.

Beyond the profile though, you need to use LinkedIn as a tool in your job search and career. I’ve laid out six ways you can actively use LinkedIn to advance your career, in the short and long-term.

You have access to over 650 million people. LinkedIn is the number one social network for professionals — and, arguably, the most important website for jobseekers — with more than 650 million members worldwide. Not ...

Get these articles, plus free videos, bonuses and more right to your inbox: Sign up at careeruprising.com/signup

Have you ever been told you’re "overqualified" for a job? Of course, you have. Anyone over the age of 40 will tell you that’s a code word for old.

So, what does conventional advice say to do? Remove the older jobs on your resume. Remove the years from your education. Slap a younger photo on your LinkedIn profile. You’re supposed to play all sorts of games to hide the fact that you are 50 something with 30+ years of experience.

All of this sounds great…until they interview you. You can hide your age all you want on a piece of paper or online, but you’re forgetting one little thing: they’ll figure it ...

It's a new year and for many...that means a new career or job search. If that's you, you're in good company. This is one of the most popular times to job search. As I coach whose worked with 200+ clients, I see job seekers with various levels of knowledge and comfort when it comes to how to navigate the modern job search. I see the differences between those are successful and those who just complain and bad mouth recruiters all day and wonder why they aren't employed.

If you are planning to change jobs this year, consider what's changed in the last few years.

The 2019 job search is...

Digital. We all know how much online job boards have the changed the search process. But the onset of this technology doesn't give you carte blanche ...

 

According to LinkedIn themselves, once a recruiter is on your profile, the summary is the #1 most-read section. As a job seeker, you cannot afford to go light on this section. I tell clients all the time that your LinkedIn summary is your new cover letter. The traditional cover letter is morphing into what's called an "E-note," which basically just refers to electronic communications such as email and LinkedIn messages.

If you are getting overwhelmed in your search and need to prioritize your time (who doesn't?), then I'd rather you focus your time on your LinkedIn profile than your cover letter.

Let me take the stress out of your writing your summary and share three simple tips. These tips will help you write a KILLER profile without being a professional writer.

Keep ...

Everybody likes the "try before you buy" approach to life. Would you buy a car without doing a test drive? I doubt it. Have you ever read an online review before buying a product? Of course. Everyone wants to make sure that they are getting something for their investment. Employers are no different. Employers have numerous ways to evaluate you: the resume, your LinkedIn profile, the interview, etc. All of those methods are self-reported though. They consist of you talking about why you are so great and should be hired.

But....

What if OTHER people were saying how great you are and why you should be hired? That's a whole different ballgame right there. What do you think the benefits would be if you had other people selling your value for you on your profile? Would that add ...

Step one of re-vamping your job search strategy was to research potential employers that you are interested in. The goal is for you to go beyond the job boards and think about where you actually want to work. Yes, you can approach your job search that way. As you may know, the job boards only show about 20% of the available jobs out there. Those are terrible odds!

After you've compiled a list of at least 25 potential employers, I want you to set a goal of finding at least one person to connect with at each company. Who are you trying to connect with? Recruiters, Hiring Managers and especially anyone in your network who works at that company. Always start with your warm leads, which are people that you already know. Your current network is always your best bet because they already know ...

Many people are comfortable with making a LinkedIn profile but don't know how to leverage it beyond that. LinkedIn is a great tool for gaining visibility, expanding your network and much more. However, you need to do more than make a profile and then wait for the phone to ring.

Here are five tips that I've compiled with ideas for how to make LinkedIn a part of your job search strategy.

Conduct Salary Research—LinkedIn recently launched a new feature called LinkedIn Salary. Job seekers need all the help they can get in their negotiations, so take advantage of it. Cross reference what you find on other sites such as Glassdoor.com and Salary.com.

Join Groups—Join groups and participate. This can be good for simply staying active and engaged in your field, but there ...

Most job seekers treat their LinkedIn profile (if they have one) as simply an online version of their resume. They copy and paste everything from their resume and transfer it right to their profile. Or, they simply list their positions with no information to describe them. Neither of those is the best approach.

It’s important to understand the ways that a LinkedIn profile is different than your resume. Unlike your resume, social media profiles are visible 24/7. Anyone can view it at any time. This makes it more difficult to target specific positions with a LinkedIn profile. Your resume is kept private until the moment you choose to send it and therefore can be customized prior to someone reading it. The implications of this are significant. This means that your LinkedIn profile must be well-aligned with the positions that you are applying ...

One of the biggest challenges in job searches is standing out among the competition. This challenge is magnified immensely when you are unemployed. I wish I could say that the bias against the unemployed doesn’t exist, but it does. One of the most common questions that I get is whether or not you should advertise your availability on LinkedIn. There are a lot of mixed opinions on this, to say the least! Let’s make it simple: The answer is NO.

Here’s my recommendation. It’s okay to let employers know that you are open to new opportunities, but don’t do it in your LinkedIn headline! The headline is VALUABLE real estate on your profile and carries the most SEO benefits in terms of getting your profile to show up in searches. Your headline should be used to demonstrate ...

LinkedIn has over 450 million users. Yes, that number is correct. As the traditional cover letter is becoming less relevant, LinkedIn is becoming more relevant. A recruiter or employer is far more likely to view your LinkedIn (or Facebook) profile than they are to read your cover letter. Online profiles give job seekers a more versatile and creative platform for marketing themselves than resumes and cover letters. You can relax your language a bit, and show more of your personality. Information such as volunteer work, interests/hobbies and such that we don't prioritize on resumes, are perfectly at home on your LinkedIn profile.

Let's take a look at the five most critical components of a LinkedIn Profile...

Photo-A photo is critical to your profile. It's estimated that your profile will get viewed 11 times more if you have a photo. ...