Job Hunting? Don't Hurt Yourself with a Casual Attitude Toward Online Networks!

Recently I received an email through LinkedIn from a former colleague, stating "I need a job." I went to his LinkedIn profile and was surprised at what I saw. His profile picture was of a very angry man in the process of shouting (and it was not my former colleague). He had very brief descriptions of his work history, no recommendations, and no notes about his various certifications in the technology field. The suggestions I made to him, and to other associates recently, will help you if you are looking for a new position. And if you're not actively looking for a new position, your LinkedIn profile can build your professional credibility in your current position and in the marketplace.

The first and most important suggestion I can make is - Don't confuse LinkedIn with Facebook or myspace. Keep LinkedIn for your professional life and the other sites for your personal life. With LinkedIn, you can connect with all sorts of people who will not ever care to see photos of your recent camping trip, a description of the concert you attended, or whether or not you enjoyed your breakfast. "Friend" the people who would be interested in those things, and limit your Facebook or myspace pages so that only friends can see them, thus avoiding a potential clash between your personal life and your professional life.

LinkedIn can be a powerful, professional tool when used to its maximum potential. Following these suggestions will allow you to put your best e-foot forward when looking for a job.

Profile Tips

1. Make sure your name is correct so that you can be found by the LinkedIn search function. Use proper capitalization. All small letters just doesn't look professional.
2. If you are using a profile picture, use one that looks professional. No swimsuit pics, no pics of people other than yourself. A family photo is an option that you should think through carefully - does it provide a view to a potential employer that you think is important? If so, use it, but only if it looks suitable for a workplace.
3. Don't miss an opportunity. You can put a brief description of yourself that will appear right behind your name in search results. Make it a professional statement like "experienced sales professional with clients in the Fortune 1000" or "Microsoft-certified systems administrator." If you have very specific expertise, drop it in here. Hiring managers and recruiters will search for those terms. Examples in the technology field include SharePoint, developer, Java, SAP, etc.
4. Utilize the Summary field as well as the Specialties field - specifically state any certifications, unique qualifications, and areas of professional capabilities you have. Think of the summary paragraph as a place where you can use descriptive adjectives - "Enthusiastic, well-respected team builder" is a strong phrase that will speak to a potential employer - and the Summary area is the right place for that type of statement.
5. Think of LinkedIn as your on-line resume. Build out your work history accurately, while calling out your accomplishments and your responsibilities in each former position. While you don't want to get overly editorial, you can make this much more complete than a typical resume would be.
6. LinkedIn offers the opportunity to link to other websites as part of your profile. I've seen people link to their personal blogs here. I know a man who got fired because of his personal blog, and he blogged that he could not figure out how his company's CEO saw the "anonymous rant" he posted earlier that week. The answer to that question is - he linked to his blog from his LinkedIn profile. That's how I found his blog and caught up on all this news. So the moral of this story is - link if you want, but be aware that a hiring manager, or your current boss, could follow that link and find whatever you've posted there. This is a very personal judgement call, so be judicious.
7. Be cautious about adding personal information, like your phone number and address, to your profile.
8. Be sure your email address attached to your LinkedIn profile is one that will reach you. My former colleague who said "I need a job" had the email address from his prior employer in his profile.
9. You can now add Applications from LinkedIn featured partners to your profile. Determine whether doing so will help you with hiring managers or in building your professional crediblity. For example, the Readling List application from Amazon is a great opportunity to share what business books you've been reading lately. I do not suggest you use that to show that you just read a murder mystery or The Hobbit. Remember, this is the professional side of you that you are showing here.
10. MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS SPELLED CORRECTLY. I had one former colleague who misspelled so many words in his summary and work histories that there's no way a potential employer would believe him when he said "I am very detail oriented."
11. Groups and Associations, and Recommendations will be covered in the Activity Tips, below.

    Activity Tips

12. Link to everyone you know professionally. Past and present colleagues, mentors, fellow members of professional associations, clients, even professors and others who can comment about your work habits, ethics, and/or past responsibilities.
13. Join LinkedIn groups that have a bearing on your profession or your professional interests. Display the group logo in your profile. If you are in a professional association, use the group search function to se if that association has a LinkedIn group already. If they don't, you might consider if you want to start one. See if your former employers have an "alumni" page.
14. Request recommendations from people who can recommend you professionally. Try to get recommendations across most of your work history and most definitely from those who can speak to your most recent employment. Be prepared to give recommendations in return - it's generally a two-way street, and LinkedIn wil prompt you to reciprocate when you "accept and publish" a recommendation. A recent job posted stated that candidates would not be considered unless they had at least ten recommendations. While this might be extreme, it is indicative of the growing importance of LinkedIn to hiring managers and recruiters.
15. Participate in groups by posting and/or answering questions. Some people on LinkedIn choose to use groups to post that they are looking for a job. You could do this also; be sure to state what geographic area you are in and if you are prepared to relocate on your own.
16. Start linking to people you meet through LinkedIn. You may find a new mentor, but more importantly you mght find the person who knows the person who needs to hire someone just like you!

Following these tips is not guaranteed to find you a job, of course. However you can choose, through LinkedIn, to look extremely professional, involved, and credible to current and future employers.