Summary:

• Make sure your LI profile is up to date and tells your career story.
• Create and build your connections before you need them.
• Get and give recommendations and endorsements.

Guess what? Your LinkedIn profile is your digital ambassador. If you’re writing your LinkedIn profile as if it were your resume, then you’re missing the power of LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile allows you the opportunity to share your authentic business story in your own way. It is less structured than a resume format, so go ahead and make yours memorable to the potential connection or recruiter.

LinkedIn is a digital social platform, where you can shape and communicate your career story and build your personal and professional brand. Your LinkedIn profile is all about your story.  What have you done, what do you want to do, what can you do and who are you connected to? It’s all about building curiosity, because curiosity, connection and credibility are powerful motivators for positive human interaction.

As Jeff Bezos (Founder and CEO of Amazon) said; “Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room.” Make sure your profile and brand stand out, like a splash of colour in an otherwise drab corporate world.

We imagine things and people that we are familiar with or fond of, as better. It is a human cognitive bias and it influences how we respond to things. I have to like you, if I’m going to recommend and or employ you. So … the greater the impression that I have of you initially, the more likely that we will move forward together with positive momentum. It’s called the positivity effect … and your LinkedIn profile has the capacity to create or ruin a potential career opportunity. We (you) have to get it right.

As a storytelling and job search tool, when it comes to the selection process that someone is going through, we have to remember that emotion is a big driver behind the decision.  You may be the best at what you do, but if I don’t like you, I am less likely to hire you.  That ‘likeability factor’ does not just happen, it requires an investment in an emotional process, that brings this about. We call this emotional momentum.  Emotional momentum has 4 distinct stages that we need to develop, if ‘likability’ is going to potentially occur. Curiosity, Connection, Credibility and finally, Compulsion.

If there are close to 900 million worldwide (12+ million across Australia) professionals on this social media platform, it would make sense to get on a build a profile that gets you amongst the other professionals, right?  Well, here are just a small sample of great steps and tips to help you craft a great LinkedIn profile that gets you noticed and will accelerate your career path. 

• Choose a great photo.
• Write a headline that rocks.
• Contact info – so guess what, you can be contacted.
• Your summary is your career story.
• Boost your recommendations.
• Gather your endorsements.
• Get Active.

Final tip- Most LinkedIn profiles express what a person is doing, not what they want to do. Change yours in the direction you want your life and career to take, your passions, ideals, beliefs and philosophies. Help me to get to know you! As Tom Cruise (in Jerry Maguire) said, “help me, help you”.

If you want more information or you really want to know how to nail that next opportunity, then contact me at james@yellowboxcareers.com.au or jump on www.yellowboxcareers.com.au and sign up for one of our amazing programs. You won’t leave empty handed and it will change the way that you approach the job search process.