Write Your LinkedIn Profile for Your Future
I was speaking to one of the best upcoming tech bloggers the other day about LinkedIn, and how I view it. To me, LinkedIn isn’t a place to dump a snapshot of where you’ve been. It’s an opportunity to stay connected to people, and to demonstrate where you are now, and where you plan to go next. To that end, I’ve got a little advice for you to consider applying to your own profile.
Write Your LinkedIn Profile For Your Future
First Impressions
First, your headline matters. It’s what people see when they accept your invite, and it’s probably the fastest first impression one receives. If you work for a company, put that name in the headline. When I don’t see a company name, I wonder if you’re solo.
Your Summary
Here’s where I think the most work can be done. When I look at my profile, I think it’s a bit long, but otherwise, I’ve done the following:
- Lead with what I do most.
- Lead with the type of business I want to do.
- Move into the reasons why you’d do business with me.
- Move from there into all the nuances of what I do.
In every case within the summary, your plan should be to write from the mindset of the prospective employer (or client), such that when they read it, they think, “I need to hire this person.”
Tip: refresh your summary every two weeks.
Your Work Experience
Here, I do something you might not expect. I make sure my past experience still supports my current and future aspirations. I write the past work experience summary to highlight those functions I performed that will still be useful to the current and future goals. Why? Because if you’re still reading that far down my summary, you want to kick the tires a little on my experience.
Tip: Refresh your past work experience sections every four weeks or so.
Power Moves: Recommendations
Ask people for recommendations. Be smart about it, though. Ask people who can vouch for your abilities.
I receive a few requests for recommendations a week from people I know from Twitter. I’m sorry, but I can’t really vouch for you. And this, to me, the reputation engine part of LinkedIn, is the most important part of the product. I will only recommend people that I would hire for myself, or that I would work for. At the time of this writing (August 2008), I’ve written 146 recommendations.
In both cases, I feel that recommendations are powerful.
What’s Next?
A list of next steps:
- Review your LinkedIn profile. Look at it as if you’re a prospective new boss, or a client. Would you hire YOU to do something? If not, rewrite it. Keep it tight. Do as much editing as you can.
- Enter your blog’s RSS feed on the profile page. People want more color.
- Add a photo. Not one of those weird grown up versions of a school class picture. Find a good candid. If you don’t have one, go to a social media meetup. Someone will snap you a good one. Worried about discrimination? Guess what: they’ll figure it out eventually. Get it out of the way up front.
- Start writing quality recommendations for people you can vouch for. If they can do the same for you, ask for one back. If not, hold off. No sense making someone feel awkward.
- Grow your network. LinkedIn and I don’t agree on this. I say connect to whoever. It helps you build a network. (I only recommend people I can vouch for, and to me, that’s where who you know or don’t know really matters).
- Keep looking at your profile as it applies to your future.
My own LinkedIn profile is here. If you want to connect, I use linkedin at chrisbrogan dot com as my address.
And you? What’s worked well for you?
The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
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Comments
Great thinking, Chris! As a student, I haven’t been paying as much attention to LinkedIn as I should be– I guess I’m echoing the sentiments of Todd here.
Hope you and Corvida had some brilliant insights together!
Looking forward to the next article. In the meantime, I’ll be scrounging for a recommendation or two…
I love to read your blog posts. You always teach me something that I can apply. I’ve neglected LinkedIn but I plan to change that now. I’m also glad I follow you on Twitter.
yeah, I’ve been thinking I need to look over my profile / pay a little more attention to the linkedIn… I suppose it’s that I feel a little.. well mixed about if I actually want work right now… I guess it comes down to needing to kinda find the right balance..
I’m finding that, to the degree to which it’s possible, I’d prefer to do work for folks whom I have some sort of a relationship with.. Which social networking / media is making more and more viable for me. So I suppose if I look at my profile from that perspective, well, I think it’s a little different then how you would normally think about a resume because it’s really more about relationships… It’s not “hey look at me, aren’t I the sexy thang.”
The other part of it is that I’m basically crazy: I’m a sucky contortionist when it comes to fitting into the boxes that are a part of the prerequisites of the usual job search.. I’m a screaming red flag to the sain human services person “how can you say you’re a mix engineer, composer / music producer, animator, interactive designer, painter, video artist, social media person.. who knows something about marketing and communications… and what’s all that jive talk about psycho-social dynamics, jungian psychology…”
It’s a lil like I took a giant dive into R&D, to the extent that.. well I’m kind of a contrarion product… so I probably need to work out a different sorts way of selling myself, and with this, where linked in fits in that mix. In a lot of ways I’m really just waiting for social media / the new web stuff to mature to a level where… well a level that’s probably a few years off still
Great post.
I found my job through Linkedin and I cannot stress enough the importance of joining and possibly running Groups. I run a group of 2500 members and it has given me great chances to meet and contact directly like minded people.
Thank you
Julius
Your LinkedIn profile entry for Grasshopper Factory (November 2005 – June 2007) shows this line:
“I’m not seeking full time employment. I’m very happily employed.”
Is that line intentional for posterity, old information, or reflective of your own future?
Good ideas. Another one is to join groups to network with others. For example, I joined the Pro Marketers Group - http://LinkedIn.ProMarketers.com to network with other marketers.
I totally agree with you about the reputations part of the entry Chris. I also recieve requests for recommendations but feel that I don’t want to weaken this aspect of my profile. I feel that when people read my recommendations I want them to know that the people I have recommended are genuinely excellent and that I have enjoyed and learned from my experience of working alongside them. Great post.
Thanks for the reminder to go back and clean up my profile…I originally used it as a resume dump but have gone back a few times to edit. Now I will go back one more time to see it from the eyes of a prospect. I also use the Q&A a lot to raise my profile.
My trouble with LinkedIn and resumes in general is that not everyone fits into a neat box, like one of your earlier comments said. Example - I own/run a contemporary art gallery but I am also seeking freelance marketing work. I tried to convey that I wear two hats but not sure how it comes across. If you or anyone else is interested in giving me their feedback, it is at http://www.linkedin.com/in/amritachandra
Thanks again Chris!
Enjoyed the post. It inspired me to revamp my profile (although I’ve still got some work to do). Here are my two cents:
If you have a strength that is typically a weakness in the field, emphasize that above everything else. For example, I’m in the computer science field. I also have a minor in creative writing. So I pitch my writing abilities. If someone works in a field with apples, it may sound strange to pitch oranges, but it works. Writing and communication is generally weak in the computer science field. By emphasizing my writing accomplishments first, I’ve already distinguished myself from %90 of the competition.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned was about moving into LinkedIn Answers and proving insight and help there, to gain a good impression and further connections.
It’s good to monitor questions in your own field on a daily basis (I’ve got an RSS feed for LinkedIn’s internet marketing questions on my Google homepage, for example) with the twin aims of learning new techniques from others while answering queries. I’m trying to make it a virtuous circle, in other words.
While I’m not saying I’m great at answering questions - the usual excuse, “lack of time” tends to preclude me from spending hours on there - it has opened more doors to connecting with like-minded folk; and usually ones who then also link up through Twitter etc.
I think LinkedIn is for showing - without being overconfident - that you understand a new dynamic in the jobs market, and that “Brand Me” is vitally important nowadays.
As with Chris, I’m happy to link up with all via my /peerlawther profile - peerlawther at gmail dot com.
Good post, Chris. What’s striking is how much of it echoes sound resume-writing advice: write it to fit your goal and target audience rather than as a chronology of your professional life.
In connecting with someone like you who I’ve first met via social media such as Twitter, I struggle with the ‘How do you know Chris’ question. You’re not a colleague, classmate or business partner. Groups & associations is closest to accurate but only works if we have a group (LI or other) in common listed on our profiles. Friend seems presumptive - you’re a nice guy I’m sure, but not a friend at this point. So I go with ‘Other’, but it seems inadequate.
Chris, as always in my experience - you are TIMELY and appropriate. It really IS the time and place to update my own profile on LinkedIn and i will do that over the weekend. And…in some of the very ways you’ve pointed the way to in your current article.
Writing from Austin Texas USA on a lovely (if hot!) summer day in Hill Country paradise…
Great tips, thanks a lot. I’d registered with LinkedIn a few months back and done a little bit on it, but my profile was still @ 60% completion. Guess it’s like everything, the more you put in - the more you get out?
That was a great and very timely post, Chris. I, like others, signed up with LinkedIn ages ago, but never put much into it. Your post has inspired me to revisit my profile and apply your tips.
Excellent tips. I’ve been putting off getting a LinkedIn profile, even though I’m starting a career in the interactive industry, and I’ve now gone and signed up. I still have to take some time to go spruce up the profile with your recommendations, though.
[…] took Chris Brogan’s advice today and beefed up my LinkedIn page a bit. I added a bit of a summary and linked out to the RSS […]
[…] Chris Brogan, a Social Media Specialist, wrote a great post detailing how to create a LinkedIn profile of the Future. […]
This post is on the right track. To me the obvious uses of LinkedIn are:
1 - Keeping track of all your contact, you no longer have to update their contact information, they do it on LinkedIn and as long as they keep their profile current, you’ll never lose touch.
2 - It’s a place to quickly create a profile about yourself that search engines pick up and if your name isn’t too common will show up on top of searches for your name.
3 - Give you an opportunity to organize some information about yourself and hopefully present it as this post recommends.
I’m not certain if the recommendations are useful. Everyone knows that a recommendation by its nature is going to be positive, since you can ask people for them, the whole thing seems inauthentic to me. I’m not sure if potential employers and gullible enough to give these recommendations any weight in their decision making.
[…] my previous post I was extremely stressed out about today working out, our visit to the BBC to see Last Choir Standing. This was mostly due to a blog entry someone had wrote in the Daily Telegraph, this made us wise […]
[…] posted about how to make the most of your LinkedIn profile and he’s spot on. LinkedIn is far more valuable than facebook. I see facebook as something […]
Chris - I’ve not used LinkedIn for employment opportunities so much as reconnecting with my Rolodex. People move around quite a lot these days. LinkedIn has provided me with updated vCards I would have spent untold hours acquiring.
Most importantly for this stage… It’s acted as a pseudo-intro to a few VC I’d otherwise have had different, less interesting approaches to.
Thanks for the tips, Chris.
I’ve been using LinkedIn for a few months and have found that by adding the link to my profile page to the bottom of each email I send at work, helps me better network with current and potential clients.
Also, I’ve found that describing what your company or you do is less important than describing how you work *with* them to find solutions to *their* problems.
Your thoughts?
Keep up the great work!
Dead on, Chris. I have worked to keep my profile up to date and I have actually been able to develop business from my it. Some of your tips I will be applying ASAP. I will be posting my interview with Chuck Hester this week. Chuck is a renowned LinkedIn proponent and has had remarkable success with the tool.
I really love all of your suggestions and I, like you, am pretty open to link up with anyone who wants to connect (you can find my LI link on the Lijit widget on my blog - just click on my name above!). Heh, there’s some link bait for ya.
However, I can think of one serious reason to do what LinkedIn suggests: this allows you to create a “spam free zone”.
Theoretically, if you do actually only accept invites from those you trust, you now have a perfect white list of trusted contacts and a pretty decent multi-function messaging system (messages, InMail, Q&A, etc.) with which to contact them.
This, combined with some tweaks of the Settings, should provide at least one Inbox that has nothing but desirable messages (or at least messages from desirable people).
Nice tips, Chris. I’ve been a big fan of LI since it started and also use it also to connect to people I don’t know, but who I’d like to know.
My tip is to update the “What are you working on?” box frequently. It has helped me get a lot more views on my profile.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncarson
Cheers,
John Carson
Senior Digital Media Specialist
GCI Canada
I work as a recruiter for a Boston based staffing agency, Hollister (www.hollisterstaff.com) and we encourage our clients to use Linkedin as a resource for their job hunt. This is great advice about creating an excellent profile, and I plan to share it with some of my clients!
Thanks,
Diane
LinkedIn has proven to be a powerful online networking tool. It continues to increase by 1 million+ per month, and when someone searches your name on Google, it is one of the first things that pops up.
Having a clean, professional, well written profile that describes your personality and work ethic is essential for your future. Chris does a great job in this post about how to make sure we stay on track.
Nice work Chris!
Great tips! I’m just starting in on revamping my LI profile and the timing of this article couldn’t have been better. Danke.
Nice commentary Chris, and I particulary liked your points on recommendations and Power Recos. The number of recommendations you have listed out here is quite impressive.
But yes, by and large I have stuck to your idea of giving recommendations sparingly, and only to those who matter and are good guys to work with, plus when you give, you give it full and well so that it should stand out, and make the recipient feel that this is a truly professional Power Recommendation.
Do keep writing - your article has invited plenty of good comments and thanks and I thought a good recommendation here is the one of the best way to keep the good work of endorsing another’s good work :-) God Bless ya !
Regards
Alex
[…] Chris Brogan har skrivit ett bra inlägg om vad man bör tänka på när man skriver sin LinkedIn profil. […]
thanks Chris …
this prompted me to spend a little more time on my LinkedIn profile - although it’s not at all complete.
Thanks, Chris. You’ve made me completely relook my LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/djcruse I also used your prior suggestion of including my email address in my profile name. Lastly, thanks for letting me be one of the recommendations you’ve written!
I really liked the advice that you gave to people writing their profiles because it is important to represent yourself in a professional way. I just started working at a staffing company in Boston, Hollister Staffing (www.hollisterstaff.com) and I think LinkedIn is a great way to connect with people. I always encourage my clients to join to get their name out there and grow their network. Thanks for the tips!
Louisa
[…] Write Your LinkedIn Profile for Your Future - Chris Brogan Chris makes a case for using your linkedin profile to showcase not only where you are currently, but where you aspire to go next. He provides some solid tips on how to make a good first impression, spice up your summary, and how to approach work experience and obtaining recommendations. […]
I agree 110% - LinkedIn is a wealth of connected information and opportunity if you use it correctly. I suggest joining the BDI group if you are interested in connecting to like-minded professionals immediately. LI doesn’t facilitate conversation very well, but it definitely facilitates hundreds of connections for me every year.
* Lead with what I do most.
* Lead with the type of business I want to do.
* Move into the reasons why you’d do business with me.
* Move from there into all the nuances of what I do.
Tip: refresh your summary every two weeks.
———————————————————
So, just how flighty are you that these things change every two weeks? Do you stick to anything?
[…] what you’ve done and how it ties to what you intend to do, I’ve covered that in ” write your LinkedIn profile for your future.” I mean that you should give people a sense of why they want to do business with […]
Solid advice.
I think it’s important to add personality to your profile. Like you said about the photo, they are going to find out anyway…
I use the summary section to talk about who I am and why you may care. People are far more likely to help you once they give a rip about you. Establishing common ground helps in that endeavor. All that being said, I will be editing/re-writing some of my summary based on what I read here.
Thanks for the Tips Chris.
Terry Bean
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Brilliant. Great ideas. Will be working on my profile ASAP. I have actually been extremely lazy about LinkedIn and need to turn that around. This post should go a long way in helping my get my act together. Glad I am following you on Twitter!