This is my second installment to a series of posts about how to use Linkedin to network with recruiters or hiring managers, so that you can be contacted about career opportunities. In part one, I talked about the importance of leaving a way for someone to contact you. Today my post is about something almost useless as a profile without contact information- namely a profile with little to no information. See the example* below:
This profile is great if you don’t want to be contacted! Ironically it says this person is interested in career opportunities, and all sorts of professional contacts! Let’s look at this from two perspectives. First the perspective of a person who somehow comes across the profile. Let’s say a hiring manager from a major company is looking for an auditor from a big four company with nonprofit experience with an accounting degree from a respected university, and they find this profile. How will this profile help the hiring manager know if this person has the experience required? All it tells us is that this person is employed at Deloitte as an Audit Senior. Most sourcers, recruiters, and hiring managers would probablyput this profile to the side (to possibly come back to) only if they don’t find a better (more detailed) profiles; chances are they will find better ones. So if your profile looks similar to this one, you are probably out of luck!
If you are interested in being kept aware of potential career opportunities, think of your profile as a resume. You wouldn’t just put your job titles on a resume would you? You’re smart, you’re a university grad! You would at least put your achievements, areas of responsibilities, degrees and majors on your resume. A little advice: look at profiles of others in your field- they are your competition. If you want to get the first crack at the hiring managers’ attention show them what they are looking for! Give them details. You’re good, you have accomplished something, let the world know it!
Now, I promised to share another perspective- the perspective of a search engine. Without going too deep into this, let’s just say that search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, and even the advanced search option in Linkedin) hit on key words in files stored on web sites – like Linkedin. So if someone types “nonprofit” in the keyword field in Linkedin, or in a search string on Google, the files containing the word “nonprofit” will show in the results. If you are in “nonprofit” but didn’t list it on your profile, you will not show up. You won’t hear about the opportunity. So again, if you want to be found (in this case by the search engine) you need to put the keywords relating to your industry and experience in the profile.
If you truly are interested in leveraging your background to get contacted about opportunities, you truly need to spend a little time and add some detail to your Linkedin profile. Part three of Help Us – Help You! is coming.
*- ( the profile shown is not an actual profile, but a simulation of profiles that are actually out there, with names on, any similarity to a specific profile is coincidental)
Lustig, ich hätte garnicht gedacht das das *wirklich* so funktioniert. Komische Welt. translation: Funny, I would have thought it not at the * really * work that way. Funny world.
Good points, I think I will definitely subscribe! I’ll go and read some more! What do you see the future of this being?
I don’t really know what your asking “What do you see the future of this being?” I am merely trying to address the very basics of using Linkedin – that many people don’t understand. I think part three will be about connections. I think that will cover all the basics.
Thanks for the comment. Your contention may or may not be true but my experience is that there are thousands of profiles like this, where no information about a persons experience is listed and the profile is useless.
The example shown does not have a name on it, because I did not want to put one on. To my knowledge, Linkedin does not post profiles ” kind of in mass with names blinded ” names are “blinded” when the person is not in your network or groups.
The overall intent of this to encourage people interested in being found on Linkedin to provide some information to make it easier to be found. Very simple, but many do not.
I have a contention about this type of individual in your part 2 article – when he/she filled out the intitial LinkedIn paperwork they either weren’t sure and checked everything or they were very cautious just in case someone from the office was looking.
The other thing is I wonder about is did LinkedIn post it for them kind of in mass with names blinded or did an actual person do it and then have second thoughts?
I will agree with you if people want to be found for new employment the addition of a private email, or a contact phone number, would increase their possibilities, of being found.
However many list a company’s email box – (which only the most confident or the totally naive set themselves up with the company email address box as their main email address on LinkedIn) which leds me to believe they aren’t what we as recruiters look for, as many of them won’t consider an opportunity for any reason or own the company.
In my case I own MH Executive Search Group so posting my email and phone on my LinkedIn site is a good additional source. But in the packaging and flexographic printing industries – recruiters have to dig deeper than what Linkedin provides for top of the line candidates.