LinkedInAdvice.com

The Sanctity of LinkedIn Contacts

2013-06-18T05:43:00.001-07:00

Sam Fiorella

Partner, Sensei Marketing; Author, Influence Marketing

As a business professional, what is your most valuable asset: Your MBA, your years of experience or the awards on your shelf? Or maybe it's the profit your business made last quarter or the last successful projected you delivered? Each of these is important and each is valuable, yet none are your most valuable asset. A business professional's most valuable asset is his or her contact list and the relationships fostered with each person on that list.

You may be the top operational, marketing or sales exec at your firm today, earning the big bucks and lunching with the CEO. One buyout, restructuring or economic downturn and you're out pounding the pavement. Your key to the executive washroom no longer works.

It's at times like this that you realize the value of your network. Can you turn to your LinkedIn contacts to ask for referrals in your efforts to gain another job?

You Are Who You Connect With.

Growing up, my father often shared this nugget of wisdom: "Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are." We tend to associate with those who have similar personalities, culture, and/or points of view. In fact, we're highly influenced by those we're maintaining a relationship with so it's no surprise that our personal and professional contacts often reveal quite a bit about us.

Professional contacts are similar. On LinkedIn, your network is there for the world to see and says as much about you as the details in your profile. What does yours say? What is the quality of your contacts? How aligned are they with your personal brand and professional experience?

The LinkedIn Rules of Engagement

Do you have a strategy for connecting with others on LinkedIn? Given the importance of networking to business professionals, having a clear strategy here is more important than on other social media channels, such as Twitter for example. Twitter is truly a mass communication tool where we can follow and engage with a wide audience, eavesdrop on others' conversations, and engage with people we've never met or hope to meet.

Do you connect with anyone who sends you a request? Many do, justifying the connection to a person they don't really know or have worked with as "community building." However, LinkedIn is not Twitter. The purpose of LinkedIn is professional networking. There's an unwritten rule that your professional contacts are those you know or have worked with. People that you can either recommend or not -- and provide a reason for in either case.

Arguably, what wasn't planned by the founders of this growing social network is what your connections -- and your engagement with them -- say about you. A large LinkedIn network of people whom you don't really know is counterproductive and a poor reflection on the quality of your network and networking skills.

The Value of Referrals - More tips and the complete Huffington Post article

The 6 Biggest Mistakes Jobseekers Make on LinkedIn

2013-06-17T05:54:00.002-07:00

by Stacy Donovan Zapar

LinkedIn is a fabulous resource for jobseekers everywhere and, when used correctly, can make all the difference in a job search. But if you don’t use LinkedIn effectively, you could be missing out on great opportunities or even do your job search more harm than good.

Here are the biggest mistakes that I see jobseekers make on LinkedIn:

1. Having an Incomplete Profile.

Aside from the obvious disadvantages of looking inactive, unprepared, technically challenged, or worse – lazy!, having an incomplete LinkedIn profile can really hurt you since LinkedIn’s search algorithm sorts results by “relationship” (1st level connections, then 2nd level, 3rd level, group members and everyone else) as well as “profile completeness.” If you want to show up at the top of those search results (and, believe me, you do!), then you need to have a robust network (see #2 below) as well as a complete profile. Being buried on Page 19 of a recruiter’s search is the same as not showing up at all!

To do: Definitely include a profile picture. Customize your headline with something relevant, memorable, and keyword-rich. Include relevant details throughout your profile, making sure to complete each section in its entirety. Add some of those nifty new visual components to your profile. Make it look nice! What’s the point of creating a LinkedIn profile if employers can’t find you or there’s not much for them to see once they get there? This step is a must.

2. Only Having a Handful of Connections.

Aside from the distinct disadvantages from a search perspective (see #1 above), if you have a small network and aren’t connected to every possible lead, then you are greatly limiting yourself and your networking abilities. Every connection is a potential lead to any number of job possibilities. It’s all “who you know” and, with LinkedIn, you are not only connecting with those people, you are also gaining access to everyone they KNOW and everyone THOSE people know!

To do: Connect with everyone you know, even if it’s just peripherally. This includes friends, family, coworkers past & present, clients past & present, neighbors, professors, classmates, etc. And remember, this isn’t Facebook. It’s not as personal as a Friend Request and it’s perfectly acceptable to connect with business contacts, even if it was a coworker from another department or someone you met once at a conference or networking event. Be strategic and grow your network!

3. Waiting Until it’s Too Late.

We’ve all seen this one before and it’s probably the Number One Mistake I see jobseekers make. All of sudden, somebody you used to work with has invited you and 85 of your former coworkers to connect on LinkedIn. They’ve gotten 6 recommendations in the last week (yes, those ARE date-stamped). They’re updating their profile, following companies left and right and joining umpteen groups. Ding ding ding! We have a jobseeker! It’s painfully obvious what’s going on, whether you’ve gotten a pink slip, seen the writing on the wall or simply decided that you hate your job and can’t work there another day. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you can’t build an engaged LinkedIn network overnight either.

To do: Dig a well before you’re thirsty! Build your network when times are good so that it will be there for you if times get bad. Don’t wait until you’re in need to suddenly engage on LinkedIn and take, take, take… asking everyone for help with job referrals, references, recommendations, etc. Be engaged on LinkedIn beforehand, helping others, giving recommendations, making introductions, giving back. Your network will see how helpful you’ve been and will be that much more receptive to helping you in your hour of need.

Tips 4-6 and the complete article

Stacy Donovan Zapar is a 15-year recruiting veteran and CEO of Tenfold Social, providing social media training for recruiters, jobseekers, and business professionals. She is the Most Connected Woman on Linkedin, where she has 30,000+ first-level connections making her the #8 most connected person in the world. She served as Technical Editor for Wiley’s LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day and is a regularly-featured blog contributor on Jobsite.com. Feel free to connect with Stacy on LinkedIn and follow her on Twitter.

3 Ways The New LinkedIn Contacts Can Help You Find A Job

2013-06-14T04:06:00.001-07:00

By Joshua Waldman

Tip: Your more important contacts should hear from you at least once a month. Other contacts might not need to hear from you more than once per quarter. Go into your contact’s list and set yourself these reminders.

2. Pick Up Where You Left Off

With LinkedIn contacts, your e-mails sent to that person can be found in their profile, like this:

This means you can pick up where you left off in your last conversation.
For example, three years ago, this friend of mine and I were talking about building a website together. The project never moved forward but our idea seems to have become popular, kind of an ironic and fun shared experience.

Tip: By linking together past conversations with your latest correspondence, you help your contact see the context of your relationship. They are busy too and may need some gentle reminders about how they know you.

Way #3 and the complete Careerealism article

10 LinkedIn Headline Examples of Recruiters

2013-06-13T06:47:00.002-07:00

Most of us have realised the importance of the LinkedIn headline by now. It is your 120 character hook to people finding you in a LinkedIn search, it should be about what you do as opposed to what you are. It should be memorable and enticing enough for someone to click on your profile and not your competitors.

I have compiled a little list of a few recruiter’s headlines on LinkedIn, partly because we do a lot of work with recruiters (see our LinkedIn Training for Recruiters) and partly because recruiters are all over LinkedIn like a cheap suit.

1. The Informative Headline

Greg Savage does a number of things and has therefore opted for describing himself and his business Firebrand, it’s functional and informative.

2. The Keyword stuffer

Search for SAP recruiter, SAP headhunter or just SAP on LinkedIn and you will get Daniel Patel at the top of the search results – evidence that keyword stuffing works. He even has sap in his customised URL

3. The Overachiever

Stacy Donovan Zapar is a very well connected woman and she wants us to know it. I don’t know about you but I did remember her profile from the first time I saw it.

4. The Numbers Man

Glen Cathey is an analytics man and his subtle numbers indicate he knows what he’s doing – just like anyone reading his blog Boolean Blackbelt can attest to.

5. The Basics and the Great Pic

Melanie Benwell has opted for a very simple description here but her picture is very good and surely gets her more clicks than your average recruiter?!

Profiles 6-10 and the complete LinkHumans article

LinkedIn: When To Say No To Connecting

2013-06-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Debra Donston-Miller

Should you accept LinkedIn connection requests from strangers? Before deciding, make sure you understand the security and reputation risks.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the like make sense professionally for some people, but not for others. Presence on LinkedIn, on the other hand, is a no-brainer.

Although LinkedIn has gone through lots of changes lately, for the most part it is what it is: the leading social network and collaboration space for people who want to make and develop professional contacts and their own careers. What's less clear about LinkedIn is how far your network should extend. Sure, having lots of connections looks good on your profile, but is any connection a good connection? Can some connections actually hurt you?

There are two schools of thought on this issue, according to Ari Lightman, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of its CIO Institute. "If you're an open networker, it makes sense to connect to as many folks as possible -- that broadens your network and gives you reach which might come in handy and provide greater visibility," he said. "The other camp says if you do not know the person you should not connect with them."

Lightman said the arguments for being more selective about the people you connect with are focused on relevance and security. "More people make it more difficult to receive information that really might be of value," he said. "Another argument for no is that you open up yourself to spam from folks who want to sell you products and services. This is commonplace, and many people simply tune it out. But when there is malicious intent -- say, a phishing attempt -- then clicking on a link can load a virus onto your system. There have also been several fake connection requests infecting the unsuspecting user with virus attacks."

And as LinkedIn and other social networks soak up more and more of our personal information, people may be looking to connect to perpetrate identity theft.

"There is plenty of information that someone could mine if they wanted to try and recreate your identity, including work history," said Lightman. "Exposing your information to a wide community gives them access to lots of data about you that could be used maliciously. LinkedIn, as well as all other social networks, are trying to get this under control by allowing people to adjust their privacy settings. It comes down to the classic trade-off of openness/transparency versus risk mitigation."

In addition, indiscriminate connecting isn't just a threat to you; it could be a threat to your company and your colleagues, according to security consultant Brad Causey.

More tips and the complete Information Week article

LinkedIn profiles for the out of work - A guide to keeping profiles honest without sounding desperate

2013-06-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

By Jonnelle Marte

There are no good euphemisms for unemployment. Job seekers often suggest they are “in transition” or “looking for the next great opportunity,” but experts say such phrases don’t really sugarcoat things.

This dilemma has become even more important since the advent of LinkedIn, which has turned resumes into public, living documents. Career coaches are divided on how much job seekers should describe their joblessness. Some argue people should instead showcase what they’ve accomplished and what their goals are. And when the euphemisms are included, many suggest they should be part of a longer sentence about one’s experience. When people broadcast their joblessness “it just sounds desperate,” says Pete Leibman, author of “I Got My Dream Job and So Can You.” “I think they’ll be better off if they say something about what they’ve achieved in the past and how they can help employers going forward.“

The headline field on a LinkedIn profile, which career pros say should be a kind of mission statement as well as a job title, can be an especially challenging slot to fill in when a person has no current employer. Leibman recommends writing a line that says what you’ve worked on and who you’ve helped. For instance, even a recruiter in between jobs can use the space to say they’re “an executive recruiter who helps IT companies find top talent,” which would give insight on what they do and what kind of clients they serve. It might also help to list some previous clients or projects you’ve worked on to give recruiters an idea of the scale of the work you’ve accomplished, he says. “You need to stand out from the pack,” says Donna Serdula, author of “LinkedIn Makeover,” a book that offers tips on how people can optimize their profiles.

hose overwhelmed by the idea of crafting their profiles in a way that maximizes their chances of catching a recruiters’ attention can turn to professional help from people like Serdula, who will create a person’s profile for a fee ranging from $300 to $1,000. (The more expensive package includes LinkedIn group connections and mentoring support, among other services.)

Unemployed job seekers can use the “summary” field, often left blank by light LinkedIn users, to say more about their top career accomplishments, says J.T. O’Donnell, chief executive of Careerealism.com, a career-advice and job-search site. Job hunters should avoid vague platitudes about themselves that don’t offer specific examples about their experience or how their project impacted their last employer, says O’Donnell. And they should sprinkle in keywords that appear frequently in the job descriptions they’re interested in, a move that could improve their chances of showing up on recruiters’ searches, says O’Donnell.

Another warning: never, ever, talk about yourself in the third person. A summary starting with “Bill is an aggressive self-motivated worker,” might make a recruiter cringe, says O’Donnell . Instead, use the space to highlight major skill sets and career accomplishments. If you ramped up a company’s sales, or headed a revenue-generating campaign, say so and provide figures, she says. And be concise, making sure your entire summary takes up no more than two-thirds of a computer screen, she says.

More advice and the complete MarketWatch article

7 Must-Haves to Grow an Audience Via LinkedIn Groups

2013-06-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

By Ryan Jenkins

In our digital paced culture, there are countless ways to grow an audience. But which ones really work? I recently had great success leveraging LinkedIn Groups to boost my subscribers and blog readers (you may be one of ‘em!). Here is how I did it and how you can leverage LinkedIn Groups as your next generation catalyst.

LinkedIn Groups provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content, find answers, post and view jobs, make business contacts, and establish themselves as industry experts. I leverage LinkedIn Groups to connect with like minded individuals who can collaborate over new ideas. I have joined 46 different groups, started my own group and actively contribute to most groups. I post to my blog twice a week and if any of my content is applicable to a particular group, I will post a link to the blog post along with a thought-provoking discussion question.

I usually get a few likes or comments per discussion post. However, I posted my article “What Everybody Ought To Know About…The Myth Of Experience“ into the “Future Trends” LinkedIn Group on Sunday April 28th and (to date) it’s generated 32 likes and 101+ comments. The next closest article in the group has only 39 comments.

I do not share these stats to impress you but rather impress upon you how valuable LinkedIn Groups can be for your brand or business.

7 Must-Haves To Grow An Audience Via LinkedIn Groups:

Value-Add Content. The content that you share must bring value to your intended audience. If the content falls flat, you’re sunk. Nothing else will matter.
Catchy Title. Ensure the title of your discussion is succinct and attention grabbing. My title was: “Is experience irrelevant these days?” And if you choose to add additional details, use it to create more interest. I used: “Before you answer that…consider these trends.”
Relevant Content. The content shared must relate to the theme of the group. For example: Don’t post “How To Perfect Your Golf Swing” in the Future Trends group.
Concise Content. You will capture more readers if your content is scannable, scrollable, and skim-able. Stay clear of long and heavy content. Shoot for less than 500 words.

Tips 5-7 and the complete B2C article

5 Tips For Using The New LinkedIn Contacts Feature

2013-06-07T05:27:00.003-07:00

by Jeff Korhan

LinkedIn is in the process of rolling out LinkedIn Contacts. In addition to several new features that are giving it a new look and feel – if offers enhanced functionality for better managing your relationships and social engagement.

There is no question that all of the major social networks want you to use their service as your social dashboard. However, many social networkers prefer to use an independent tool such as Hootsuite to effectively manage their social networks and build relationships.

One of the challenges is there is a disconnect between public social networking and private means of communication that often lead to sales conversion – namely email. This is where services such as Nimble are leading the way, by bringing social and email into one dashboard, and one reason why I especially like LinkedIn Contacts.

What gets even more interesting is that concurrent with LinkedIn’s rollout of LinkedIn Contacts, Nimble has launched Nimble 3.0, and there are some interesting contrasts and similarities. (More on Nimble in a future article).

For now, here’s how to get the most out of LinkedIn Contacts.

#1 – IMPORT YOUR CONTACTS

You have always been able to import your contacts from other sources into LinkedIn. However, now with LinkedIn Contacts there are multiple options for doing this – while also tracking where the source of those contacts. To get started, just go to contacts in your LinkedIn profile, and then settings.

Some of the possible sources for importing contacts into LinkedIn

What is especially useful is the refresh button. So, let’s say you imported your friends from Facebook a month ago, just hit the refresh button to bring in the new ones.

Incidentally, while Facebook does not let you export the email addresses of your friends, there is a workaround using Yahoo Contacts to import your Facebook contacts into LinkedIn. Since Facebook is not prone to sharing, I suggest doing this now to avoid the risk that this capability will be blocked in the future.

Know that you won’t get all of them, because not everyone has an email address publicly linked to their Facebook profile.

#2 – SET REMINDERS TO CONNECT

It’s easy to make that first connection, but anybody that has ever attended a live networking event knows that often nothing happens after that. In the old days, business cards got pushed into a drawer. Today, connections are made and forgotten days later.

So, a great solution is to use LinkedIn Contacts to set a reminder to follow-up with your connections a few weeks or so later. At the very least, your new connection will be impressed with your organization, and if you can also share some useful information, better yet.

LinkedIn reminders, tags, notes, and conversation history

#3 – MERGE DUPLICATE CONTACTS

Many people unknowingly or not set up multiple profiles on LinkedIn. As a result, you may find yourself connecting with their abandoned profile because they did not delete it.

Now LinkedIn pulls up what they believe to be all duplicate profiles so that you can merge them. You simply unclick those on the list where the same name is actually two different people. Then just click merge and just like that – you have cleaned up your database

Tips 4,5, and the complete article

The 5 Most Powerful Things you Can Do on LinkedIn You Never Knew

2013-06-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

by Vicki Aubin - The Rockin' Career Coach

Do you see LinkedIn as mainly “a place to keep my online resume”….or maybe “connect with some professional colleagues and acquaintances I already know from time to time,” because you think, “there’s such a buzz on LinkedIn, and everyone else I know is on there…so I guess I should be, too”?

Or perhaps you think, “It’s too confusing / overwhelming! Where the hell do I start?”…Causing you to steer clear of it and/or limit your usage to the bare minimum.

If you do, you’re not alone.

In fact, many of LinkedIn’s approximate 200 million users also view LinkedIn from this same perspective. So, is this ‘Good’ or ‘bad’?

Intrinsically, neither…BUT if your intention is to proactively and strategically steer the career of your dreams, then this viewpoint is…extremely limiting to your professional potential and career path as a whole. WHY?

Because LinkedIn:
1. Is the world’s largest professional network in existence with over 200 million members and growing
2. Is the MAJOR method of sourcing talent in global recruitment and staffing today
3. Is used by 98% of recruiters (48% of them use LinkedIn exclusively)
4. Is the most trusted, central, technological resource globally for connecting you to your trusted business contacts, as well as to an almost limitless network of professionals.

I could go on, but let’s pause here for now while we’re ahead…but you get the picture ;)

In other words, this day and age, it’s THE one piece of your multi-dimensional career strategy that absolutely can NO LONGER be ignored.

And interestingly, while LinkedIn (with its over 200 million users) has grown organically into an unthinkably mammoth and far-reaching phenomenon familiar by name, it still by nature remains a barely-to-modestly understood mystery by the majority of people who use it, most of whom have NO idea of how to ‘unlock’ the portal’s HUGE potential to their career or how to use it to their advantage. And since you’re here reading this, chances are you are one of them. And that’s ok.

You see, unless you were personally mentored by a LinkedIn ‘expert’, or you took a formal course/training, it’s a resource that one typically learns on their own as they go…and frankly, we are ALL busy…so successfully carving out enough time in your busy schedule to sit down and really ‘master’ this technological titan is not very realistic.

And having personally worked as a Recruiter and Headhunter using LinkedIn extensively (i.e. living and breathing LinkedIn 9+ hours a day, 5 days a week), I learned pretty quickly the inside and out of it, ‘from soup to nuts’…and this helped me not only as a recruiter, but also as a jobseeker…so I get where you are right now, and how you feel, as you try to decode and figure it all out.

Professionally-speaking, LinkedIn is a literally a limitless GOLDMINE of career potential to you. Yep, you heard me right: 1000%, untapped G-o-l-d-m-i-n-e!

Why?
Because as mentioned above (just to ‘hit it home’):

Recruiters / Potential Employers are looking for candidate like YOU.

And almost all of them (98%) are using LinkedIn to find you.

The list of LinkedIn’s potential capabilities, uses and benefits as a powerful resource and ally to your career runs (VERY) far and wide. And while I cover a deep dive into LinkedIn in my Headhunter LinkedIn Super Secrets ebook and The Rockin’ Career Club, there simply isn’t enough time (or space) to list them all here. In turn, what follows are my special compilation of the 5 fastest and most powerful ways you can start taking advantage of LinkedIn starting today.

Get ready, in 5-4-3-2-1…

1. Look for Jobs
Under the Jobs tab, you can search for jobs, save your searches, and set up job alerts (allowing LinkedIn to do the work for you). You can also search for jobs in LinkedIn Groups (an additional, secret source of jobs on LinkedIn).

An alternative way to get wind of information pertaining to potential employment trends, shifts or job openings in your industry before they happen or are announced formally in Jobs or Groups is to follow universally recognized thought leaders, industry-specific movers and shakers and companies directly. Just click on the “Follow” button on their Public Profile/Page.

2. Get found by recruiters and employers
In order to be found by recruiters and employers, you need to first be visible to them. In turn, ensuring the completeness of your Name, Profile, Contact/Security Settings, and the right keywords do make all the difference in the who, what, why, when and how of potential employers being able to successfully notice you and most importantly, be able to easily reach you.

Set your Public Profile so it is visible (I recommend: to Everyone). You can do this under “Settings”, “Edit Your Public Profile” and then “Profile Content”. WHY? If recruiters can’t find you, trust me, they will move on quickly to the next candidate that they CAN find. Time is money to them.

Contact/Security Settings: ‘Contact Info’ is where you can input your Website/s, Twitter address, Email, Phone, IM and Address. If you DO have a website, blog, Twitter account, Pinterest, etc., be sure to add them in here. You want people to view as vast a representation of you and your specialized knowledge/expertise as possible.

Keywords: The right keywords can make or break your profile effectiveness, visibility AND irresistibility to potential employers. Keywords are those words, phrases, etc. that are relevant to your role, industry, and your desired role/industry. That’s why you absolutely MUST use and scatter them throughout your profile as a whole); the more relevant keywords throughout your profile, the more apt employers will find you via the LinkedIn search engines.

3. Use as a Research Tool
a. Preparing for Interviews
Once you’ve asked for your interview agenda ahead of time (hint!), use LinkedIn to look up your interviewers (and their current colleagues) to learn about them personally as well as professionally; what career paths have they all taken to date (are there similarities or trends?), what schools did they go to (do you have an alma mater in common?) and their interests and hobbies. ALL of these give you a better sense of your interviewers as PEOPLE, and allow you to more easily and confidently build a friendly, dynamic rapport and connection as soon as you walk in the door…and first impression is everything!

As an added bonus, post-interview, you can send connection requests to your interviewers to stay connected and build your network further…even IF by chance, you don’t get the job.

b. Asking for a Promotion

If you have your eye on a better job or promotion, search for your desired job title on LinkedIn, to view the profiles of people who currently have that position. This gives you a good idea what qualifications, skills and experience you need to reach that level, either at your current company, or another company you are targeting.

Things 4,5, and the complete Social-Hire article

How To Pick LinkedIn Skills That Get The Attention Of Employers

2013-06-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

By Joshua Waldman

Most people let their network determine what Skills appear on their LinkedIn profile. Sure, you might pick the first 10 or so before getting bored. Then, pretty soon, you start getting endorsed for things you’ve never even heard of.

The trouble is that many of these skills aren’t searched very much by employers or they are way too crowded for you to get noticed for.

Yes, employers use skills to search. They either use them as keywords, or through the LinkedIn Recruiter product where Skills are a search parameter. Therefore, in order to improve your chances of 1.) getting found by employers, and 2.) getting endorsed for the most relevant Skills, use the following strategy to pick your LinkedIn Skills.

Not All LinkedIn Skills Are Created Equal

Head on over to http://linkedin.com/skills and look for Project Management. You’ll see that this is the 8th most popular skill used by all LinkedIn users.

So if you are a project manager, it certainly makes sense to use this skill. However, you’ll notice the top 10 people in your network with this skill. Click on the #1 project manager listed there. (On my list, the #1 project manager has 321 endorsements for the skill).

If you have more experience than them at a higher rank in a company, then you don’t need this article. If that person out-ranks you, then keep reading.

Step 1.) Start With A General Skill

First, you want to start high level. Pick a Skill that is all encompassing for what you do. Using the Skills’ pages’ auto-suggest, begin typing the name of your Skill. LinkedIn will suggest the most commonly used version of that name.

Open up that skills page and add it to your profile if its not already there.

Step 2.) Triangulate Down To More Specific Skills

Once you’re on the high-level skills page, there are a number of important research tools available to you.

On the top right of the page, look for the graph called Relative Growth:

This chart tells you which skills are growing, year over year, relative to other, related skills.

Pick a skill with a positive growth rate.

You may find many skills with a negative growth rate, avoid these.
Next, tab over to the Size chart. You’ll see that your high-level skill will eclipse it’s closest competitor, much like this:

Click on the next one down to get a better view:

Begin picking Skills that are related but have a smaller size and a positive growth curve. For example, I found that Creative Resourcing is a skill with relatively fewer competitors (only 460 people use it) but with a very high growth curve (23% year over year growth).

Bingo.

More tips and the complete Careerealism article

How to Find a Job With LinkedIn’s New Search

2013-06-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

by Joshua Waldman

In 2012 there were 5.7 billion professionally oriented searches on LinkedIn.

That’s a ton.

Since it’s such a popular feature, LinkedIn users demanded a better search experience. Luckily, LinkedIn’s software development team listened and launched an enhanced version of their search technology.

(It happened on March 25. Did you notice?)

The good news is this new search makes it easier for recruiters to find you but ONLY if you’ve written your profile correctly.

Here are three ways to leverage LinkedIn’s new search approach. Follow these steps and you’ll improve your profile, and as a result your job search.

1. Saved Search

Guess what? LinkedIn’s new search adapts to your style and your network. The more you search, the better your experience will be.

As your network grows, your search results will change. So be sure to save searches you make frequently to save you time and so LinkedIn will adjust to your needs.

Want to save your search? It’s easy. Run a search, and then on the results page, click the green plus (+) sign on the top right.

I recommend saving searches on keywords you are trying to rank for so you can determine if you’re making progress.

Also, you can save searches for job titles you are going for at certain companies to see if anyone new is there to network with.

2. Autocomplete for Keyword Research

Knowing what words to use in your profile can be a guessing game. Sometimes “Bursar” is better than “accountant,” sometimes “advocate” is better than “organizer.”

LinkedIn’s new search feature provides an autocomplete and autosuggest which you can use to see what words are popular trends.

Review the example below (image). I searched for .NET to see what skills I should include in a client’s profile. I’ll admit, I would have never thought of .NET Compact Network.

Give it a try. Start by typing your current job title or skills to see what LinkedIn suggests for you.

More tips and the compete CareerEnlightenment.com article

This Simple Action Will Dramatically Grow Your LinkedIn Network

2013-06-03T05:28:00.003-07:00

By Alexis Grant

If you’re on LinkedIn, you want to grow your network. You want to connect with as many people as you can, because there’s some serious career-boosting power in those connections.

But there’s something you’re probably not doing, at least not on a regular basis — and it’s a move that will give you a far better bang for your networking buck.

Write a Personal Message

Most people don’t do this. Think about how many requests land in your inbox without a note — the majority of them, right?

And what about you? Do you add a personal note every single time you request to connect with someone on the network? Or do you hope that potential connection will recognize your name or connect on faith alone?

Since so few people write a personal note, that means opportunity for you. Because when you do something differently, it helps you stand out.

But this tip is about more than being unique. It’s about making it as easy as possible for the person you’d like to connect with to say yes.

Make Yourself Memorable

A lot of the people you want to connect with have huge networks. That means they often meet new people, either online or in person, and they get a lot of LinkedIn requests. And inevitably, they won’t recognize many of the names of the people who want to connect.

Yes, even if you had what felt like a life-changing conversation with that person a week ago, she might not remember your name.

Or perhaps you never met the person at all, and simply read his blog, follow him on Twitter or are a big fan of his work. If that person has never heard of you, what’s the incentive to press “accept?”

While some LinkedIn users do accept any requests that come their way, most people prefer to establish quality connections. They want to know who they're saying yes to.

That's where the personalized note comes in. No matter how sure you are that the people you’re hoping to connect with should remember you, write a brief message reminding them how you know each other — or why you’d like to know them — and they'll be far more likely to accept.

And yes, this works even if you’ve never met or interacted with that person. If you go the extra mile to let him know how you found him, why you love his work or simply make yourself look interesting, the person on the other end of that request will want to say yes.

Be Succinct, but Personal

So what should you write in your invite?

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. In fact, it can’t be fancy because LinkedIn only gives you a few characters to get your point across. It just has to be more appealing than LinkedIn’s default “I’d like to add you to my professional network.”

Here are a few examples that could work. See the examples and read the complete Mashable article

HOW TO: Connect with Recruiters on LinkedIn

2013-05-31T06:01:00.003-07:00

by Donna Svei

You’re starting a job search. You have 60 LinkedIn connections. You want recruiters to find you. Alrighty then. We need to get to work. A conservative estimate says there are over 600,000 recruiters on LinkedIn. Here’s how they break out:

About 16,000 of them purchase unlimited access to LinkedIn’s full database. If you’re there, they can find you.
Another group uses Boolean search to mine LinkedIn via Google. But come on, how many of them do that? I mean, Boo-le-an search, it sounds scary! Boo!
The rest of them, and, I submit, the greatest number, are limited to finding their first, second, and third level connections. You want to be one of those people.

Here’s what you do:

Join the “Recruiter Network — #1 Group for Recruiters.” It has about 450,000 members, including recruiters and people who want to network with recruiters.
Upgrade your account to “Recruiters Talent Basic” for one month. Stay with me here. More on this at the end.
Go to the “Advanced Search” page.
Type your job function in the “Keywords” field (accounting, engineering, HR, etc.).
Type “LION” in the “Last Name” field.
Type your zip code in the “Postal Code” field.
Select “50 miles” at the “Within” box.
Select “The Recruiter Network — #1 Group for Recruiters” at the “Groups” field.
Click “Search.”

Your search might look like this: see what the search would look like, the results, and the complete article

What Should You Post in LinkedIn Updates?

2013-05-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Written by Donna Svei

The other day, my Twitter buddy, Moustafa Mansour, asked me about what should be posted in LinkedIn updates. As LinkedIn gets more social, many of us have probably wondered about this.

With anything social media, I always go back to asking, “What are you trying to accomplish by being active on social media sites?” Knowing your objective(s) makes it easier to make choices. That said, let’s walk through what’s possible.

First, head over to your Settings.
If you have the old drop down menu, click the gear icon in the upper right hand corner of your LI home page. If you have the new drop down menu, click on your avatar in the upper right hand corner of your home page. Then click on “Settings” or “Privacy and Settings.”

LinkedIn lets you choose whether or not you broadcast changes to your profile, recommendations you make, and companies you follow. Update that setting based on your objectives and what you want others to know about these activities. Like this:

Next, select who can see your activity feed. Again, consider your objectives. If you would take a great, new job if it plopped itself in front of you, then “Everyone” might be your choice. Why? Because participating in the social aspect of LinkedIn makes you appear to be more of an extrovert than an introvert. Employers tend to like extroverts. My caveat here is, of course, don’t do anything that will get you fired from your current job. You have to be the judge of that. Here’s a “how to” screenshot:

Next, you need to know what LinkedIn will automatically include in your Activity report.
I reviewed several connections’ Activity sections and saw these types of items:

Comments people have made in LinkedIn Groups.
Connections made.
Endorsements received.
Groups joined.
Influencers followed.
Items posted to LinkedIn Groups.
“Likes” people have given to other people’s updates.
LinkedIn Apps people have just started using.
New positions.
Polls you’ve voted on.
Profile updates.
Recommendations received.
Skills and Expertise items people have added to their Profiles.

If any of you have seen other types of automatic updates, I hope you’ll share them in the Comments section below. It’s good to know when we do something in another area of LinkedIn that will show up in our Activity report.

Beyond the automatic updates, I’ve seen people sharing various types of information. See what other people are posting and read the rest of the article

Achieve LinkedIn All-Star status in 10 steps

2013-05-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

By Laura Christianson

With 225 million members worldwide, 10-year-old LinkedIn is the social network for showcasing skills, job experience and education. LinkedIn’s recent redesign organizes your content in tidy modules and introduces options for uploading visual content.

In the olden days of LinkedIn (three months ago), the user’s goal was to create a “100 percent complete profile,” now known as an “All-Star” profile. Follow these 10 simple steps to achieve All-Star status.

Upload your business portrait. LinkedIn users routinely ignore connection requests from people whose profiles don’t display a photo. Claiming you don’t have a good enough picture of yourself is no excuse. If you want to be perceived as a professional, act like one. Invest in a business portrait session with a freelance photographer or photo studio. For around $150, you can obtain the rights to use your headshot in all your marketing materials.

Use your real name. LinkedIn’s database alphabetizes connections by last name followed by first name. If people know you by your nickname but you use your full name in a work environment, put your nickname in parentheses: Jonathan (Jon) Doe. It is acceptable to include a title such as Dr. or Rev.

Craft an enticing headline. After your name and photo, your headline is the single most-viewed element on your LinkedIn profile. The headline displays prominently on your profile, in search results, messages, groups, invitations to connect, company page employee listings and in popups when LinkedIn users hover over your image.

When you write your headline, ask, “What words and phrases would someone who’s searching for me use?” Highlight your expertise with those keywords in your 120-character headline. Make your profile searchable by entering your geographic location and industry directly below the headline.

Summarize your expertise and experience. You get 2,000 characters (a little more than half the length of this article) to introduce yourself. You can upload or link to portfolios, presentations, photos and videos from providers including Pinterest, Forbes, Hulu, YouTube, Spotify, Scribd, Slideshare, Word and more.

Describe three job positions. In the Experience module, add your current position and two previous positions. As you begin typing your company name, LinkedIn auto-searches for a corresponding Company Page. When you select that Company Page, your profile will link directly to it and will list you as an employee.

Tips 6-10 and the complete article

7 Tips to Help You Stand Out On LinkedIn

2013-05-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

by @MarkLynch99.

LinkedIn has quickly become a driving force in helping executives and job seekers alike create an online presence that showcases your unique talents & skills (your personal brand)!

Most hiring managers (as many as 80%) will research candidates by searching the most common social platforms and if your on LinkedIn, you have only one chance to stand out! Just like Google, LinkedIn is also a search engine with every fortune 500 company (and more) represented. So if you have a profile on LinkedIn, here are 7 tips to ”Stand Out” and express your unique personal brand:

1. Remember that you are not a job title! You have 120 characters to describe your talents in the headline section of LinkedIn. Skip the generic title of ‘Sales’ or ‘Accounting’, rather take advantage of this space and get creative! Example: Early Adopter of Innovative Solutions for Business | Currently Seeking Opportunities | Lets Connect!

Hint: Feel free to change up your headline from time to time. Experiment until it feels right. The key is to create a headline that “Stands Out” and capture the attention of viewers. It is by far the most important and first place looked at on your profile. You have about 2 seconds to capture someone’s attention so make it your best!

2. You have 2,000 characters of ‘real estate’ for your summary section. This is where you can showcase your personal brand with examples of how you provide solutions, etc. Use keywords that are relevant to your industry. The summary section is often missed or underutilized, but this is a perfect place to create a commercial for the brand ‘YOU’.

Hint: Don’t squish all your words into one long paragraph. Space is good (think Google)! Make your summary easy to read and consider using symbols to draw even more attention. Copy & paste: ★ ► ◄ ■ ♦ ◆ ● ✔ ✘☑

3. Make it EASY to contact you! There is nothing worse than someone having interest in you after seeing what you have provided or displayed, only to find it difficult to contact you!
Hint: Put email address at top of summary section (phone # if comfortable).

4. Understand the 5 most important areas to describe your brand or expertise (keywords). These areas are: Your Headline | The Summary Section | Current Work Experience | Past Work Experience | Specialties

Hint: Search for people that are in the same or similar industry to get ideas on specific key words if you are stuck. The 5 areas above are key search engine optimization (SEO).

Tips 5-7 and the complete article

How to easily find recruiters and active candidates on LinkedIn

2013-05-23T06:16:00.002-07:00

The trick to using LinkedIn well is to put yourself in the mindset of the 'other side'. So if you are a candidate think like a recruiter, and if you are a recruiter, think like a candidate. As I have said many times, LinkedIn (as is all social media) is governed by the law of UGC - User Generated Content (which is actually everything on LinkedIn!)

So let's look at LinkedIn it from a candidate perspective.

How do you find recruiters that are posting jobs that may well be of interest to you?

Don't use the main search bar at the top of the LinkedIn page, click on the advanced search to the side. Now you can use the extra field you are presented with.
In the Title box enter the the job title you are looking for, in this case something like:
"recruitment consultant" OR Recruiter OR "Recruitment manager" OR "recruitment director"

**Warning** Just because they are recruiters don't assume they know how to use LinkedIn properly, many still have beginners armbands on!! They are also part of the UGC conundrum - they don't always call themselves recruiters!!

Now in the Keywords box add the industry words you are looking for remembering to add the words AND after each word (with a space of course), if you have more than one.
This will give you recruiters that recruit for your particular industry. Click on their profile and reach out to them as normal.
What about searching for the jobs that recruiters are actually posting. Well first click on the jobs tab right at the top of the toolbar and search there - these will be the jobs that some recruiters pay to place.
But most recruiters post their jobs through their status updates. For this you need to jump across to Linkedin.com/Signal as it is the feed of all the status updates on LinkedIn - and of course you can search them!

Try a different approach this time - use a search that uses some of the terms that recruiters use when posting jobs, like this adding in your keywords for your sector/industry at the end:

('recruiting for' OR hiring OR 'looking for' OR 'new role for' OR 'is seeking' OR 'looking to recruit' OR 'currently recruiting for' OR 'fantastic opportunity for') AND Keyword1 AND keyword2

You can add in a Location filter and specific companies if you want down the left hand side. Also if you are looking for a contract role then add in words like:

contract' OR contractor OR interim OR temporary

This will give you any jobs that recruiters have posted in their status updates. Then SAVE THE SEARCH (at the top of the screen hit the word Save, and then name your search. Every time you click the saved search it will update in real time.)

So let's look at LinkedIn it from a recruiter perspective.

How do you find candidates that are looking for a new role on LinkedIn NOW and the complete article.

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your LinkedIn Network

2013-05-22T08:01:00.005-07:00

BY Jason Fell

Ten years ago, entrepreneur Reid Hoffman had a vision for a website that could help create and foster important business connections among professionals. He co-founded a site called LinkedIn with the tag line "Relationships matter."

The social media giant, with 225 million members in 200 countries, celebrated its 10th anniversary yesterday. "Our vision at LinkedIn is to create economic opportunity for every professional in the world," Hoffman wrote in a blog post noting the company's anniversary.

In honor of LinkedIn's milestone, we've compiled the following tips to help business owners get the most out of the professional online network:

1. Communicate the important details of your business right away.
When filling out your company's profile, be sure to say exactly what your company is, who your clients are and how you help them. The idea is to make it as quick and easy for customers to know -- right up front -- what you offer and why they should contact you. And be sure that your profile headline and photo reflect your company and project professionalism.

2. Share interesting, engaging information.
One way to boost engagement among your connections is to get them talking about relevant and timely news in your industry. You can do this by sharing links to interesting stories and asking questions about the posts you share.

3. Include a call to action.
An important goal with online networking is to convert connections into paying customers. One way to do this on LinkedIn is to create a unique "call to action." Instead of simply filling in LinkedIn's generic "my website" or "my blog" links on your profile page, take the extra step and tell visitors to click on your links. For instance, write: "Click here to (insert your product or service here)."

4. Create and participate in groups.
Not only can creating and managing a group of your own provide you with a level of credibility, it can allow you to expand your network to reach targeted and influential individuals in your field. Research topics of interest within your industry and choose the top two or three as the basis for your group.

5. Showcase your products.
Be sure to fill out the "Products and Services" section of your company page. Not only is this your opportunity to explain what you offer in a compelling way, individuals can recommend and share the products you list, becoming ambassadors for your brand.

Tips 6-10 and the complete article

6 LinkedIn PlugIns you have to use

2013-05-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn is a social media site dedicated towards professionals finding one another. The site is used in a very large way for Business-to-Business sales and programs. Of course, that isn’t all that can be found on this unique social media network. You can find professionals of a wide variety of talents in every shape and size imaginable. If you want to make your stay on LinkedIn fully worthwhile, however, there are six PlugIns you absolutely have to use. Lucky for you, we’ve made a neat, comprehensive list of them so you don’t have to do all of the research on your own. So, without further ado, allow us to introduce the six PlugIns, which are going to make your LinkedIn experience a true success.

1. Follow Company Plugin
Chances are you have a website or a blog to go with your LinkedIn profile. Use this Follow Company Plugin to help grown your LinkedIn Company page community straight from your main website, blog, or both! When a user clicks on the follow company button, they will automatically begin following your LinkedIn profile. It’s as easy as that to get more followers!

3. Sign In With LinkedIn
This is a plugin that we particularly love. This nifty little thing, which looks like a little rectangle when imbedded into your website or blog, allows people to sign into your web page using their LinkedIn professional identity. This plugin is amazingly easy to install, so with only a minimal amount of work on your own behalf you can use this product to quickly grow your site registrations while at the same time building an enriching, personalized experience for your users. You can even customize your functionality based on a user’s geography, work experience, and network. While a lot of social media sites have this type of ‘sign in’ plugin, we have fallen in love with LinkedIn’s customizable version.

4. Apply With LinkedIn Plugin
This plugin is a lot like the one mentioned above, only instead of allowing people to register and use your site with their LinkedIn professional identity, it allows them to apply for jobs you have posted using LinkedIn. If you have job openings at your business or organization, this neat plugin will make things a lot easier on your applicants. You can also integrate this with your Applicant Tracking System, as well as add an interface with your company logo and color. On this interface, you can add up to three custom yes or no questions. By using the Apply With LinkedIn Plugin, you can begin to attract the most talented individuals from your profession with ease.

PlugIns 2,5,6, and the complete article

9 ways communicate with your LinkedIn connections

2013-05-20T05:53:00.001-07:00

Having a strong LinkedIn profile is essential to being found by other LinkedIn members and employers, but you’re job isn’t complete unless you’re communicating with your connections and the LinkedIn community as a whole.

I tell my LinkedIn workshop attendees that I spend approximately an hour a day (it’s probably more) on LinkedIn. Their faces register surprise; and I’m sure some of them are thinking, “Does this person have a life.”

Part of the workshop is about explaining the need to communicate with their connections, because networking is about communicating.

1. The number one way to communicate is posting Updates. How many you post is up to you, but I suggest at least one a day. This is when I get remarks from my attendees about not having time to make an update a week.

To illustrate how easy it is, I post two Updates within five minutes as I’m talking to them. The first Update tells my connections what I’m doing at the moment, which of course is leading the workshop. The next one is usually sharing an article from my first degree connections or LinkedIn Today.

2. Another way to communicate with your connections is to “Like” their updates. Liking their updates is great, but it takes very little effort to simply click the link. Like, Like, Like. Be more creative and add a comment which can generate discussion, or reply to your connections privately.

3. I’ll visit my connection’s profiles–with full disclosure–many times a day. My connections will visit my profile many times, as well. When they “drop in” and have disclosed themselves (not Anonymous LinkedIn User or Someone from the Entertainment Industry), I’ll show my appreciation by writing, “Thanks for visiting my profile.” This will also lead to a discussion.

4. You’ve probably read many opinions from people on the topic of Endorsements–here we go again. Add me to the list of people who prefer thoughtful recommendations, both receiving and writing them, as opposed to simply clicking a button. But, in fairness, Endorsements have a purpose greater than showing appreciation for someone’s Skills and Expertise; they act as a way to touch base. In other words, they’re another way to communicate with your connections.

Tips 5-9 and the complete article

A-Z of LinkedIn Marketing - 26 ways LinkedIn can help you and your business

2013-05-17T05:25:00.002-07:00

26 LinkedIn features

These are the main features we think you need to be aware of on LinkedIn. Review which of these LinkedIn features you use to see how you can make more use of LinkedIn.
Note that some features you may have heard about have been withdrawn by LinkedIn that you may not be aware of (*).

1.Activity Broadcast. Activity shared on your LinkedIn page and viewed by others, depending on the settings chosen. This includes group membership, comments, profile changes and application downloads. It will show when you change your profile, make recommendations or follow companies, etc.
2. Ads. LinkedIn has targeted ads which enable you to post pay-per-click ads to target users by their role. They can be text ads or video ads which can be AB tested to find the most effective ad creative and message.
3.Apps (*). Applications were provided as options to share your content from other sites seamlessly on your profile. The Amazon reading list app, Slideshare and WordPress blog sharing tools were the best known. Apps are no longer available, but a similar feature is now available when editing the profile summary.
4. Advanced Search. You can find influencers to connect with using this approach rather than standard search which works best for known connections.
5. Ask Questions (*). A feature to ask Questions where other members could reply. This feature was removed end of January 2013. Many companies are now turning to Quora as an alternative.
6. Company Page. A page on LinkedIn where a company can list their products and services and share promotions, news and content through Status updates. More recent than Facebook brand pages and less widely used. We cover the best way to setup a profile in Step 1 of the guide.
7.Connections. Members in your network on LinkedIn who you invited or have invited to connect with and follow. Through connecting you will receive their status updates.
8.Contact info. Links to your websites are available in the Contact Info section of your profile. Unfortunately, these now require a click to be seen by profile viewers, but don’t forget to include your sites or other social networks.
9. Endorsements. These are endorsements for skills on individual profiles. They only require a single click so recommendations are a deeper level of endorsement.

Tips 10-26 and the complete article

Think You Don’t Need LinkedIn? 10 Reasons Why You Do

2013-05-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Written by Kristin S. Johnson

Over the past week, I’ve talked to three acquaintances who are actively on the hunt for a job. They all have resumes (whether they’re professionally done, and of sufficient quality, is debatable). But when I mentioned LinkedIn, much to my dismay, their responses were dismissive.

“Oh, isn’t that like Facebook? I already have Facebook. I don’t need more pictures of people’s dinners.” “I’ll just see what happens after I send my resume to a few places.” “I’ll get around to that one of these days. I promise!”

Now, if you’re on a hunt, wouldn’t you want to use every dog you can get your hands on?

Then there are the folks I know that are already on LinkedIn. They have their name, their current position, and no photo. Oh, and they have exactly one connection: me.

There are a lot of very good reasons to invest a little time on LinkedIn. Here are just 10 of them. Trust me, there are many more. This is just for starters:

It’s 2013, not 1993. Seriously. Times have changed. Nothing will prevent the need for a strong resume, but you need to be online. Before an employer calls you to set up an interview, they WILL Google you. If your competition has a fully-loaded LinkedIn profile that shows up on page one of their Google search, and you have nothing, guess who gets the interview?
LinkedIn is much more than a Facebook for business types. Folks don’t use LinkedIn for meaningless tidbits of information (though who am I to say your cat is meaningless? She’s really cute). LinkedIn is a way to locate and communicate with people via your computer, but there the similarity ends. LinkedIn is the place where professionals go to talk (it used to be the drinking fountain). It’s a place where you might find out about new jobs, and where companies seeking new talent can find out about you.
Not looking for a job? Still have a LinkedIn account. Plenty of useful business-related information is exchanged there each day. Join a group, answer a poll, and find out what your savvy peers are up to. By participating in discussions, you can demonstrate your leadership ability, and that’s always a good thing for your career management.
Get the inside scoop on companies you’re interested in, for whatever reason. Company profiles can display lists of present and former employees (hint: someone who used to work at a company might have some valuable information for you), the most common positions in the country, even the ratio of male to female employees. You can learn about products and services, too, like on Profession Direction’s company page here .
Brag a little where it will be noticed. Keep your profile up to date by highlighting your expertise. Even if you’re not seeking employment, you never know where sharing this information will lead: consulting or speaking arrangements, for starters.

Reasons 6-10 and the complete article

The Top 10 Most Effective Keywords For Resumes And LinkedIn Profiles In 2013

2013-05-15T05:00:00.001-07:00

A while back, LinkedIn started sending around noticies to certain users, letting them know that their profiles were among the top 1%, 5% and 10% most-viewed in 2012. Some people derided this as nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. After all, being in the top 10% on a site with 200 million members means that you got the same notice 20 million other people did.

Still, being most viewed on a site like LinkedIn is nothing to sneeze at. After all, if your profile is coming up more often on searches, then you’re more likely to be hired, right? It’s worth bragging about.

So what are some LinkedIn people doing right that you’re not? How do you get into the top 1%? It all comes down to keywords and keyword searches.

A Brief History of Keywords

Keywords have been important to job seekers since the 90s. Various software platforms allowed employers to scan applicants’ paper resumes into databases so they could better sift through the mountain of hopefuls. No more did they have to organize resumes into various piles and flip through them one by one. Now they could search by keyword to drill down to a micro level. A search could be done for “sales”, then “inside sales”, then “inside sales” plus “online chat” to narrow down the pool of candidates to help fill a specific need.

The rise of the online job boards only increased this practice, as all resumes were essentially now electronic. Today, platforms like LinkedIn have taken keywords to the next level. Your online profile is your online resume, and the keywords on your profile are essential for you turning up when employers search the web. There are all sorts of advanced (but not too complicated) strategies for using keywords to help your profile be more visible. It’s almost like SEO for job seekers.

A lot of job seekers confuse keywords on a resume or profile with meaningless action phrases or power verbs like “self starter” or “detail-oriented.”

This is not a useful keyword strategy.

Your job titles are keywords. You skill sets are keywords. Your experiences are keywords. Your degree, major, specialties and certifications are all keywords.

To be successful, you need to think like a hiring manager thinks when she begins a search. The hiring manager has a specific job to fill, with specific skill sets required. She won’t be searching for a “self starter” or anything vague like that. She’ll be searching for her specific need and then narrowing down from there.

So, she’ll be looking for someone with “oil and gas” experience. Specifically, experience with “shale.” She also needs someone who is experienced in “right-of-way negotiation.” Oh, and the territory that she needs someone to work in is down in Mexico, so she might search “Spanish,” because having someone bilingual would be a big plus.

That’s how keywords work. Having a resume with oil and gas experience is one thing. But having a resume with keywords on it that will trigger searches for specific experience and skill sets is what gets people found and gets people hired.

Want To Get Into The Top 1% Of LinkedIn Users, These Are The Keywords To Use:

So, this whole LinkedIn top percent story got us thinking: what are the most effective, most in-demand resume and profile keywords right now in 2013?

What are the “hot” keywords that will help land you in the LinkedIn top 1%? What are the skill sets that employers are snapping up?

We polled our writers to find out, and based on their experience working with clients across more than 80 different industries, these are the ten hottest keywords we came up with.

Put simply, if you have the following keywords, degrees, job titles or skill sets on your resume or LinkedIn profile, you can expect to come up more often in employer searches:

Mandarin

We’re using Mandarin as a placeholder, because it’s the language employers seem to be looking for the most, but really any language is the most successful keyword on resume across all career fields. There’s almost no job where having a bilingual employee isn’t a bonus. More and more, we’re seeing employers doing keyword searches for multilingual job candidates. You might be a run-of-the-mill salesperson, but if you have mastery of another language on your resume or LinkedIn profile, you’re going to come up in keyword searches more often than you would think. Even something like a simple receptionist profile will come up more often if a phrase like “Spanish” or “Korean” is keyword loaded as well.

The bottom line is, across almost any industry or job niche you can imagine, job candidates with a mastery of other languages on their resume or profile are greatly in demand.

Math, Statistics or Data Analysis

What’s the most popular and in demand major we’re seeing these days? Believe it or not, it’s math. Advanced math. Statistics. Modeling. Economics. Math and Computer Science.
It’s no surprise to anyone that we now live in a world awash in data. It seems to be a major trend across all sorts of industries that businesses are hungry for smart people to help them manage, organize and tap into that data. No longer destined only for academia or research positions, young professionals with math degrees are by far the most successful young job seekers we work with. From Wall Street firms to Silicon Valley blue chips to staid old Fortune 500 conglomerates, corporate America is eager to snap up anyone who can help them use data to transform their business operations.

Supply Chain, Logistics

Possibly related to the previous “data” based keywords, job seekers boasting advanced experience with supply chain management and logistics experience are often the first searched for. Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs and be more efficient.

Especially if you can load your resume or profile with industry and scenario-specific logistics keywords, you can expect the headhunters and hiring mangers to come to you.

Social Media

A newer keyword we’re seeing clients have a lot of success with is social media management. Companies and brands are hungry for people that will help them manage and expand their presence in all forms of social media. If the organization you’re applying for is somewhat old school, then a simple proficiency with Facebook, Twitter and the like might be impressive. But those that truly stand out are candidates boasting keywords and proficiency with cutting edge and next wave social media platforms and trends. Either way, if you do profess social media expertise, make sure you have active, public-facing presences on the keywords and platforms you mention. The hiring manager will definitely want to research and see that you’re practicing what you intend to preach about social media.

Telecommute

One keyword that is definitely growing in demand and popularity is telecommuting experience. What once was a workplace luxury you hoped to talk your boss into is now very much an in-demand feature that employers are eager to implement as an efficiency and cost saving measure (Yahoo aside). But employers want experienced telecommuters that they know can be productive without too much training and supervision. There are specific job titles where we are seeing employers keyword search for telecommuting experience first… even before searching for other skill sets.

Keywords 6-10 and the complete article

6 Foolproof Ways to Use LinkedIn Groups to Land Your Next Job

2013-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

By Arnie Fertig

You probably have received the first memo: Being on LinkedIn is of key importance in your job search. It is crucial that you have a complete profile that presents your personal brand, accomplishments at each position you have held, skills, academic background and more.

Here's the follow-up memo: It's not enough to just create a static profile and let it sit there, hoping that someone who can be of assistance to you will stumble upon it. You can bolster your job search through knowledge you learn and visibility you attain when you take advantage of one of the key social aspects of the site: groups.

There are more than 1.5 million LinkedIn groups, ranging from just a few individuals to many thousands of members. At the discretion of the owner, a group can be open so anyone can join, or it can have restricted membership for which you must be approved to take part.

At any one time you can be a member of up to 50 of them. There are numerous groups for just about anything you can imagine, including: locales, industries, skill sets, job functions, professional organizations, alumni of both academic institutions and specific companies, sports, hobbies, etc.

Some of the best groups focus on getting a job and include: "Career Rocketeer," "Job Openings, Job Leads and Job Connections!," "Job-Hunt Help," "About.com Job Search and Careers" and "Knock em Dead Secrets & Strategies."

Groups all share these common features:

a. You can see and access all the members of any group of which you are a part.

b. Each group has its own logo, and the logos of your groups are by default shown on your profile. However, you can hide any you wish by going into the "Your Settings" option located in the "More…" menu within each group.

If you're job hunting, you might want to have two or three logos visible to show that you are available. Having much more than that may send the "I'm desperate" message, which you want to avoid at all costs.

Also located in the "More ..." menu is the ability to regulate the kind and frequency of group notifications.

c. All the comments made in group discussions are searchable. When you write intelligently and share information of value, you boost your chances of being found by recruiters who regularly scan such messages to find thought leaders.

Here are six strategies you can employ to leverage the power of LinkedIn's groups:

1. Join as many as possible, up to the limit of 50. You can search for groups of interest to you by clicking on the "Group" drop-down menu at the top of LinkedIn's homepage. Create a basket of different types of groups, and try to join groups with many members. For example, the Linked N Chicago (LiNC) group boasts nearly 80,000 members with more than 100 new discussions each month, versus a very niche group that has only 20 members and which might not be useful to you unless you happen to know that its members are key to your job search.

2. Demonstrate your expertise by contributing to group discussions where you can make a substantive contribution. By doing this, your words get seen and you build your brand as a helpful expert.

3. Begin group discussions that will be of interest to others. You might begin a professional discussion with a question like: "Which of these options to do X (list two or three possibilities) do you find gets the best results?"

Way 4-6 and the complete USNews article

3 Rules You Can’t Break On Your LinkedIn Profile

2013-05-13T06:44:00.002-07:00

Written by Kristin S. Johnson

You’ve worked diligently on your LinkedIn profile, and you’re ready to have it get you some hard-earned attention. You want to get noticed by recruiters and tell them all about yourself at a glance. So why not give yourself a moniker like “Jayne Smith, marketing czar?” Or include the name of your company? Or better yet, stick your email address up there so no one has to take the trouble to actually link to you?

Well, you can … if you want to have your LinkedIn account shut down for 30 days. Yep. LinkedIn has some very specific guidelines about what may, and may not, go into that uber-important name field, and there are a few good reasons for the rules.

A name field is for your name. Your first name and your last name — your real, legal ones. You can include a former or maiden name as well. And you can include degrees, suffixes and certifications (Dr., MSW, RN, Jr.,CPRW, Ph.D.)

But you can’t include a title (marketing director, president, architect). Your headline is for that. See how to write a powerful headline here. I also have a sample LinkedIn profile with a compelling headline here.

Nor can you include an email address, website, location or other contact information. Symbols, special characters and numbers are also verboten. And for heaven’s sake, don’t create a false identity so you can scope job opportunities without alerting anyone at your current company.

Why can’t you?

Trust
More so than other social media, LinkedIn’s power is in trust. When you’re connected with someone on LinkedIn, it should mean that you actually do know them on some level. Your LinkedIn connections reflect your own integrity. It’s not right to put someone else in the position of vouching for a “you” that’s not even you. And it breeds mistrust for LinkedIn.
Email addresses in the name field smack of spam. People don’t want a sales pitch right off the bat when viewing your profile for the first time. If you want your prospective contacts to feel comfortable as they get to know you, let them do that before you shout at them to send you an email.
Your own protection
More than that, if you include your email address and your account isn’t shut down right away, you will GET spam – potentially a lot of it. Since your LinkedIn profile is a page on the web, it’s crawled by search engines for the whole world to see, not just LinkedIn members. So, deviant types, like spammers, can easily find it and add it to their network to send you lots of lovely email wanting to sell you Viagra.

#3, more advice, and the complete article