Intheprofessionalrealm,havingaprofileonLinkedIncanbeaboutasfundamentalashavinganundergraduatedegree.Likeearningacollegedegree,thesameistrueforyourLinkedInprofile-ifyoudon’tputmucheffortintoit,youprobablywon’t

getmuchfromit.Helbling&AssociatesareexecuDvesearchconsultantswhospecializeinengineeringandconstrucDon,faciliDesmanagement,andreal

estatedevelopment.WhileLinkedInisnotoneofourprimarytools,dependinguponthelevelofthesearchweareperforming,itcanbepart

oftheiniDalstagesofourrecruitmentprocess.LinkedIncanofferimmediateinformaDonaboutaprofessional,provideinsightpriortoaniniDalcall,andhelpustodetermineifwehavemutual

connecDonswiththatperson.

WhatisthepurposeofaLinkedInpro3ile?

RyanPugh,SeniorManagingConsultant,sumsthisupquickly,“LinkedIn,itself,isavenueforconnecDngwithpeopleinyourindustryand

professionandsharingknowledge,whichiswhyhavingaprofileissoimportant.ALinkedInprofilebasicallyfuncDonsasanonlineresume.

Beyondthat,itshowsthatyouareprogressive,career-minded,andinvolvedinyourprofession.”

EssentialelementsofaLinkedInpro3ile

SummaryandinformaDonbeyondcurrentemployerandDtle

Pughsays,“ThefirstthingIlookforinaprofileisdepthofinformaDon.Iconsiderifthe

individualsimplyprovidedhis/hercurrentand

previousemployersandrespecDveDtles,oriftheytooktheDmetoelaborateonwhattheydo/didatthoseorganizaDons.TocaptureaRenDon,auserwillwanttoprovidespecificinformaDonregardingtheirresponsibiliDes,projects,andother

iniDaDvesinwhichtheyhavehadinvolvement.”

JimLord,ManagingDirector,says,“Notallofus

needanelaborateposiDondescripDononLinkedIn,butifyoudosomethingspecificinyourrolesuchasfocusonaparDcularindustry,

orverDcalmarket,orperformcertainfuncDonsthatpeoplemaynotrealizefromyourDtle,thenthatinformaDonshouldbeincluded.AgoodprofileisrelaDvelydetailedandcoversan

enDrecareer.Itdoesnothavetobeasthoroughasaresume,butitshouldbemorethanjustalisDngofDtles.Asarecruiter,Iwant

toseeaperson’scareerprogressionsoIcanmakeaniniDaldeterminaDonoftheirskillsandcapabiliDes.”

Theprofilesummaryprovidesanopportunitytoincludemorekeywordsandskillsforwhichyouwanttobefound.It’salsoanopportunity

tohighlightyouremployer,whatitdoes,andthemarketsinwhichitfocuses.ThissecDonisespeciallyusefulforprofessionalswhomay

havechangedcareers,posiDons,orindustries.

ProfessionalPhoto

Ashumans,weareinclinedtorelatetovisualsandphotos.Yourprofilephotoisthefirstthingpeopleseeand,asstudieshaveshown,itliterallyonlytakes1/10ofasecondfor

someonetodrawconclusionsaboutyou.TherearemanypsychologicalreasonswhyprovidingaprofilephotoisimpacZul,andwe

won’tgointoallofthosedetailshere.

ARecruiter’sPerspectiveofaStrongLinkedInProfilebySamiL.Barry

RyanPugh

JimLord

TomDunn

A Recruiter’s Perspective of a Strong LinkedIn Profile

Theonlythingyouhavetorememberistoincludeaphoto

withyourprofile.Bythis,wedon’tmeanonetakenofyoudressedupatawedding,vacaDoningatthebeach,orposingforanimaginaryphotoshoot.Whileyoudon’tneeda

professionalphototakenbyaphotographer,aclearphotoofyourfaceoronetakenfromthewaistupinbusinesscasuala[reisrecommended.

Skills

ThinkoftheskillssecDonaskeywordsinhowpeoplewillfindyouinthemassiveLinkedIndatabase.You

willwantyourskillslisttobecomprehensiveandaccurate,includingonlytheskillsthatyoufeelaremostimportantin

yourcareer.Donotlistsomanythatyouwilllosesomeone’sinterest.Ge[ngendorsedforcriDcalskillsbyyourpeersisevenmoreadvantageousasyourskillswill

belistedaccordingtohowmanyendorsementsyouhaveforeachofthem.

ConnecDons

Thelessonhereis“growyourconnecDons.”TomDunn,SeniorManagingConsultant,says,“OneofthefirstthingsthatIlook

atwithinaprofileistheindividual’snumberofconnecDons.A500+connecDonstatusshowsthatthepersonacDvelyusesLinkedInasanetworkingtoolandstrivestomaintainvisibilityandaccessibilitywithintheirrespecDveindustry.While

connecDonsdon’ttellthewholestory(becausethatnumbercanbeinflatedordeflatedforvariousreasons),ifsomeoneisusingLinkedInprofessionallyandhasalargenetwork,it

typicallycorrelateswiththestrengthoftheirprofile.”

RecommendedelementsofaLinkedInpro3ile

ContactInformaDon

WhileLinkedInprovidestheabilityforyourconnecDonsandotherstoInMailyou,it’seasiertohaveyourcontact

informaDonprovidedpubliclyonyourprofile.Evenjustan

emailaddresscanmakeiteasierforotherstocontactyou.

RecommendaDons

RecommendaDonsaredifferentfromskillendorsements.WhileaconnecDoncanjustsimplyclickabuRontoendorseyouforaparDcularskill,arecommendaDonisashort(orlong)paragraphaboutyouandwhythatpersonrecommends

youprofessionally.Pughelaborates,“RecommendaDonsareagreatwaytomakeyourprofile,andconsequentlyyour

capabiliDes,standout.Whensomeone

takestheDmetowritearecommendaDon,itboostsyourcredibility.WhenIseeaprofilewithanumberofrecommendaDons,

ittellsmethatthepersonmusttrulycareabouttheirperformanceandarepassionateaboutwhattheydo.”

PrivacySe[ngs&SharingUpdates

ThewholepointofhavingaLinkedInprofileisbeingvisible.Whilestrictprivacyse[ngsmaybeprudent

forsomehigh-levelprofessionals,itdoesn’tmakesenseformost.

Dunnexplains,“Whenprofessionalshavehighprivacyse[ngs,theyaren’ttakingfulladvantageofthemainpurposeoftheplaZorm,andmaybemissingoutonviablecareerand/ornetworkingopportuniDes.Justsharinganupdatecanlead

peopletoyourprofile.But,ifyouhaveprivacycontrolson,mostwillneverevenfindyouoryourupdate.Thisthoughtextendstoprofileviewsaswell.IfyouareusingLinkedInfor

itsprimarypurpose,youshouldnotbeconcernedifsomeonecanseethatyouviewedtheirprofile.”

TheboRomline

LinkedInisaresourcethatshouldbeleveragedbymosteveryprofessional.ItprovidesnumerousbenefitsthatnootherplaZormcanoffer.Furthermore,aLinkedInprofileisatool

thatshouldbedevelopedtoitsfullestpotenDal.Otherwise,justlikethatcollegedegree,thereisnosenseinhavingone.

Helbling&AssociatesisaretainedexecuDvesearchfirmspecializingexclusivelyinconstrucDon,

engineering,faciliDesmanagement,andrealestatedevelopment.

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