Published by Resume Butterfly: Jessica Smith, Resume ...€¦ · 3 Join 200 Million: Easy, Step by Step Guide to Creating a Powerful LinkedIn Profile Why Get LinkedIn? LinkedIn is

Published by Resume Butterfly: Jessica Smith, Resume Writer

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Howdy! Thanks for downloading this Step by Step Guide.

I’m Jessica Smith. I am a resume writer and small business owner. Resume Butterfly is a formal combination of things I love: people, career coaching and resume makeovers.

Think of your resume as a movie trailer. Would your resume make you want to see the movie (aka job interview)? If the answer is NO, you need a resume makeover. Same idea applies to your LinkedIn profile – it is a marketing tool! The next 44 pages will help you create a powerful profile!

I’ve seen thousands of resumes during my career as Director of Career Services and in the working world. I know what hiring managers want. Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn or “like me” on Facebook so you don’t miss anything! I update my blog regularly with job search tips too.

Here’s a little bit more about me…

7+ years of management and career coaching experience o Current small business owner – Resume Butterfly – resume makeover service o Former manager for Target – extensive sales, customer service and hiring experience o Former Director of Career Services for a local college – resume reviews, job search

strategies, interviewing, networking and reporting. I also taught Career Management classes.

o Specialty in resume makeovers, job search portfolios and career coaching 10+ years of design experience

o Current designer for Cowtown Photo Booths – monograms, event logos and scrapbooks o Published Texas A&M’s Official New Student Handbook and Fresh News (2004 & 2005) o Created invitations, flyers, scrapbook pages and designs for various organizations o Founder of ResumeButterfly.com and LivingLifeDesigns.com; Blogger getSNAZZY.com o Marketing and Social Media Consultant for Advanced Therapeutic Massage

Wife and mom of two awesome kiddos Texas A&M Aggie with a BBA in Marketing

I have a passion for design and helping you put your best foot forward. Thank you for all of your kind words. I’ve enjoyed working with my clients learning along the way- ResumeButterfly.com/kudos/

Email is the quickest way to reach me! [email protected]

Thanks,

Jessica Smith

Disclaimer and legal notice: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. This report is for informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, the author does not assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services of a fully qualified professional should be sought. This report is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. Cover image from freedigitalphotos.net

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Join 200 Million: Easy, Step by Step Guide to Creating a Powerful LinkedIn Profile Why Get LinkedIn? LinkedIn is the top social networking website for jobseekers. As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, explains it, “Post a full profile and get connected to the people you trust. Because if you’re connected to those people and you posted a profile, then when other people are searching for people, they might find you.” LinkedIn reached a milestone in January 2013 — 200 million registered users. The site adds two new members every second, and 160 million people visit the site each month. With so many members, the rate at which your network expands on LinkedIn can be truly amazing. A hundred strategic contacts could mean access to millions of people in a short amount of time. You’d have to attend dozens — or hundreds — of in-person networking events to equal the reach you can get on LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows you to leverage the power of your network — the people you know, and the people those people know — to help you connect to the person (or people) who are in a position to offer you a job. As the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, puts it, LinkedIn is about “connecting talent with opportunity on a massive scale.” Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn. Recruiters from every discipline and industry are on LinkedIn. More than two million companies have profile pages on LinkedIn. But author Guy Kawasaki puts it best: “I could make the case that Facebook is for show, and LinkedIn is for dough.” Why LinkedIn Is Important In Your Job Search Once upon a time, attending networking mixers, industry events, and Chamber of Commerce meetings were the best way to make new connections and build business relationships. Now, these activities have moved online within the LinkedIn community. Much like networking in person, professionals interact on LinkedIn with the explicit intention of making business connections. With LinkedIn, you get all the benefits of networking in person, with less of the hassle. Instead of going from business lunch to business lunch hoping to meet people, LinkedIn provides a platform for you to specifically search and research individuals who you know will directly add value to your job search. Employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to locate both active jobseekers and those who aren’t necessarily looking (passive candidates). They also use LinkedIn to vet job candidates before making an interview invitation or extending a job offer. LinkedIn also allows candidates to create an online portfolio of their accomplishments — the new profile format (rolled out in December 2012), facilitates embedded video and links to content posted elsewhere on the Internet.


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The ability to identify, research, contact, follow-up, engage, and maintain your contacts in one place is the power of LinkedIn. Its ability to facilitate business networking is unmatched by any other social network. Essentially, your LinkedIn profile is a résumé, business card, and elevator speech all rolled up into one. However, your LinkedIn profile is not your résumé. LinkedIn is a personal branding page. You need both a résumé and a LinkedIn profile, and they should be in sync with one another, but not be exact copies. The information on your résumé should match your profile (in terms of positions you’ve held, your educational credentials, etc.), but the content you include on your LinkedIn profile will be different than what is included on your résumé. How To Set Up A Basic Account Setting up a LinkedIn account is a quick and easy process. You can be listed in just five minutes. However, speed is not the objective if you want to use LinkedIn to facilitate your job search. Rushing could lead to a sloppy profile that doesn’t represent you well — or may even prevent you from getting called for an interview. Basic memberships in LinkedIn are free. For most job seekers, the free option is adequate enough to effectively network on the site. (If you find you need the paid functionality, you can always upgrade your account later.) To get started: Go to LinkedIn.com. Fill in your first and last name, email address, and password. Then click the “Join Now” button.


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Next, you’ll see a screen to help you get started in building your profile. Unlike other social media sites, it’s not enough to just enter your name and email address to create a profile that you can complete later. LinkedIn requires you to input details related to your career right away.

Next, LinkedIn will offer to search the contacts linked to the email address you provided. Any contacts connected with a web email can be imported to your account at this point. LinkedIn will ask you to add your email address. Click “Continue” and LinkedIn will ask you to sign into your email account. Or click “Skip this step” to continue setting up your account.


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If you click “Skip This Step,” you’ll get a popup warning:

Go ahead and click “Skip.” You can come back later and identify contacts you know through your email using the “Add Connections” feature later. Next, you’ll be asked to confirm your email account. If you use Google, you’ll be asked to sign into your account. Either way, you can choose to “Send a confirmation email instead.”


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Requiring accounts to be confirmed helps reduce spam accounts. If you use Gmail, you may be taken to another screen, which asks to access additional information from your account. You can either choose “Allow,” or “No Thanks.”

Here is what the confirmation email looks like. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your account.

Next, if LinkedIn was able to access your email contacts, you will see a list of some people LinkedIn thinks you might know.


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You can either add these folks as connections (if you know them) or click “Skip this step.” Next, you’ll see a “Congratulations” screen, which shows the beginnings of your profile.

You’ll also have the opportunity to share your new profile on your other social media sites — Facebook and Twitter. This will help you connect with friends and colleagues on other social media sites. Or you can choose “Skip this step.”


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The final step in the first phase of completing your profile is selecting a membership plan. The basic membership option provides enough access to experience the benefits of participating in LinkedIn as a job seeker. You can always upgrade your account to Premium level later if you need to access some of the advanced features, such as sending messages to people you aren’t directly connected to. Optimizing Your Profile At this point, you’ve only begun to establish yourself on LinkedIn. Essentially, all you’ve created is a LinkedIn web page with your name, email address, and current job title/company. A well-written and complete LinkedIn profile is essential to maximizing LinkedIn’s application to your job search efforts. Profiles on LinkedIn are structured like a traditional résumé. The words you use to describe your work experience and education are used by LinkedIn as keywords. So by applying the correct terms in your profile, you can show up high in the search results. Search results in LinkedIn are also based on your connections. So while it is important to make a lot of connections, you don’t want to spam people. (Don’t connect with people just for the sake of having a lot of connections. That’s like giving your business card to everyone at a party.) But do connect with people you know. Now it’s time to start populating (filling in) your profile. Look at other LinkedIn profiles for folks who have your same job title. See what they’re including in their profile that is getting them ranked highly using LinkedIn’s search algorithm.


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How can you find the profiles of individuals on LinkedIn who do what you do? Use a Google search as a fast way to retrieve similar profiles.

1. Go to Google.com 2. Type in this search string: “Site:LinkedIn.com” “your job title.” 3. Replace the phrase “your job title” with your job title or keywords or terms related to

your job or industry.

Initially you can focus on the top 10 search results (some of them will be individual profiles; others will lead you to a category of professionals). Visit each of the top-listed profiles and take note of how they are representing themselves — in particular, the headline they use to describe themselves, and the keywords they include. Also, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — a well-written professional résumé will give you most of the content you need to create a compelling LinkedIn profile.


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Like on other social media sites, LinkedIn uses search to help connect you with people you know — or people you should know. For this reason, optimizing your profile (so it ranks well in search results) ensures that you are being seen by searchers. Editing/Enhancing Your Profile LinkedIn will walk you through your profile set up.

The blue box will ask you questions to help you build your profile, starting with your Experience. If you entered a job title previously, it will start your profile with that job. As you enter information, it will ask you more questions to complete your profile.

When you click “Next,” it will ask you some additional questions about that role.


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Next, LinkedIn will ask you about your educational credentials.

Once you’ve listed all your schools, you can click “I have listed all my schools” and it will move you along to the next step: Your photo.

With LinkedIn’s new profile format (debuted in December 2012), it is important to use a large size, high-quality photo. (Recommended size is 200 pixels by 200 pixels.) You can use a .JPG, .GIF, or .PNG format, and the file size limit is 4 MB. LinkedIn will give you some basic functions to manipulate your profile photo. You can drag to center it (using your mouse), zoom in, and rotate the photo.


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When you are finished adjusting the photo, click “Add to profile.”

Next, you’ll be asked to add some “Skills.” Identifying and listing Skills on LinkedIn is becoming increasingly important to being found on the site. Along with the use of LinkedIn’s Endorsements feature (which allows people to “validate” the Skills you have), Skills listings create keywords for searches within LinkedIn. If someone searches for particular Skills, and you have them listed on your profile, you’re more likely to be found. You can list up to 50 Skills on your profile. Generally, the more Skills you list (as long as they are relevant), the better. As you type in words, LinkedIn will suggest relevant terms.


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Once you’ve identified your Skills, click “I’ve added all my skills” to proceed to the next step. The “Details” section will collect additional information for your profile.

When providing a description of your work history, remember that LinkedIn is not your résumé. However, describing your job experience is one of those areas that you can copy-and-paste from your résumé, if you wish. Keep in mind that you will be able to go back and edit the information you provide; or, if you wish to fill in the details later, you can choose “Skip.” Once you’ve entered in the details about your previous positions, LinkedIn will once again ask if you want to share your profile.


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Then, you’ll get this message:

If you click “Continue,” LinkedIn will continue to ask you questions about your Experience and Education and foreign language skills. LinkedIn will also ask you to “summarize yourself and your objectives.” The Summary section plays a much larger role in the new LinkedIn look, so take some time to carefully consider this question (or choose Skip and come back to it later).

The ability to showcase work on your profile is important. The new LinkedIn update removed applications (like SlideShare). Now, you can directly link to information that is stored elsewhere on the Internet, as long as there is a URL for the data.


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First, you will create a title for your project.

Next, identify the timeframe for the project:

You can link it to a particular job or educational experience:

Next, provide the link to the URL for the project:


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Finally, LinkedIn will ask you to provide a description of the project:

You can also list the people who worked on the project with you. After completing this section, LinkedIn will ask you questions about your educational credentials.

By adding specific course names, you can increase the keywords in your LinkedIn profile.


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After completing that section, LinkedIn will ask you again if you want to share your profile.

As you continue to develop your profile, LinkedIn will show you how “strong” your profile is with their “Profile Strength” indicator:

If you want to come back later and add in more information to your profile, you can edit your profile by clicking the “Profile” button and choosing “Edit Profile” from the drop-down menu.


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Click on “Edit Profile.”

LinkedIn will provide prompts to help you build your profile, or you can click on the blue hyperlinks for each field (plus signs or pencils), which will provide an entry form for that field.

For example, under “Experience,” click the “+Add” link.


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And it will allow you to fill in the information:

Uploading A Picture Add personality to your profile with a photo of yourself. Be selective about the photo you use. Pick one that is professional in nature, not personal. Lighting, attire, and overall composition are all elements to consider when making your choice. Profiles without pictures are not as effective as those with photos. Business headshots are best. If you did not add a photo when initially setting up your account, or if you want to change your photo, select “Profile” from the navigation toolbar. Then click on “Edit Profile” from the drop-down menu. Once on the editing page, click on the camera icon.


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It will take you to a new page, where you can delete the existing photo, edit the existing photo, or upload a new photo.

Click the “Choose File” button to find the photo you want to use on your hard drive. Then click “Upload Photo.” LinkedIn provides a built-in photo cropping feature to capture your headshot. After saving your photo, designate who should see your image. You can choose to have it viewable by “My Connections,” “My Network,” or “Everyone.” For maximum exposure in your job search, choose “Everyone.” Creating Your Headline Your LinkedIn headline is the most important part of your profile. How you describe yourself to prospective employers and networking contacts is vitally important. When a search is conducted on LinkedIn, a search box returns a listing displaying only photos, names, and headlines. This is why it’s important to have a good headline. A headline filled with the right keywords is an effective positioning tool.


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To edit your headline, choose “Edit Profile” from the Profile menu, and then click the blue pencil next to your name.

It will open a pop-up box that you can use to edit your headline.


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The information you put in the “Professional ‘Headline’” field displays as the primary tagline at the top of your profile and is what appears primarily with internal and Internet searches. The default for your headline is your current job title (at) your current employer. However, you should change this to showcase your value to a prospective employer.

Creating Your Summary After the headline, the most-often read section of your profile is the Summary. LinkedIn allows you up to 2,000 characters in your summary. Use them wisely — and use them all! One popular format for Summary is the “Who/What/Goals” structure. Using this format, you outline Who you are, What you have to offer or add (what is unique about you or your experience), and what are your Goals for being on LinkedIn or your career. There are also numerous sections you can add to your Summary.


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Filling Out Your Skills One of the sections you can include under “Background” is “Skills.” (From the “Profile” tab in the main navigation toolbar, click “Edit Profile.” Click on the “Skills” box.) This is a great way to include more keywords in your profile.

It will take you to the “Skills & Expertise” section of the Background. Enter a Skill in the box and click the blue “Add” button. You can add up to 50 Skills.


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LinkedIn will help suggest Skills. Begin typing a Skill and it will display recommendations:

This can be a great way to get ideas for additional Skills to add. You can also rearrange the order of the Skills by clicking the Skill box and dragging it.

Other optional sections you can include in your Background include: • Languages • Publications • Organizations • Honors & Awards • Test Scores • Patents • Certifications • Volunteering & Causes


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Power User Tip: Be Unique According to LinkedIn’s annual analysis of profiles, these are the 10 most overused words/phrases on the site. Avoid using them in your headline and summary: • Creative • Organizational • Effective • Motivated • Extensive Experience • Track Record • Innovative • Responsible • Analytical • Problem Solving — Source: LinkedIn Blog, Dec. 4, 2012

Why Completing Your LinkedIn Profile Is Important According to LinkedIn, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn. LinkedIn considers your profile “complete” if you include: • Your industry and location • An up-to-date current position (including description) • Two past positions • Your education • Your skills (minimum of three) • A profile photo • At least 50 connections Controlling Your Privacy Settings on LinkedIn Certain parts of your LinkedIn profile can be restricted from public view. When you are in active job search mode, you want your privacy settings to be as open as possible, to encourage more profile views and connections. LinkedIn profiles are indexed by Google, so having an open profile can get you additional visibility through Google. A public profile on LinkedIn ensures your professional skills are presented to everyone who wants to know more about you. Again, for maximum exposure as an unemployed job seeker, make your public profile visible to everyone. When your job search is complete, you can then adjust your privacy settings and decide if there is information you want to control more closely. However, if you are currently employed, you will want to consider your privacy settings more closely. Under your name in the upper right-hand corner, click on the “Settings” link.


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On the “Settings” page, you will be able to modify your “Privacy Controls.”

If you are editing an existing profile, it’s a good idea to use the “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts” setting — otherwise, your connections will receive notifications of the changes you’ve made. Turn the setting off before making changes, and then turn it back on once you’ve finished. LinkedIn Privacy Settings LinkedIn allows you to customize how your profile is viewed by specific audiences, and how search engines (like Google, Yahoo, and Bing) will show your profile. Find these privacy settings are by clicking on “Name” at the top, right-hand side of your profile page. Select “Settings” from the drop-down menu. Click on the “Edit your public profile” link.


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On the right side of the page, you will find your options for customizing how you appear:

Making Connections: Importing Contacts Now that your profile is complete, it’s time to import contacts. Looking for people one by one wastes valuable time that could be spent on other job search tasks. You could use LinkedIn’s search box to locate possible connections, but LinkedIn provides several ways to streamline this process.


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To import contacts, choose the “Contacts” menu from the navigation bar. Select “Add Connections” from the drop-down menu. There, you’ll find several choices for importing data. Whether you decide to have LinkedIn sync with an online email, manually enter contacts yourself, or import from a desktop email, this networking tool makes it simple.

You will have the opportunity to approve and decline the additions of emails as LinkedIn searches the designated online email box. You can also upload .csv, .txt., and .vcf files. To use this feature, click on the “Any Email” icon. From there, you can choose the “Upload Contacts File.” Most desktop contact management applications — like Outlook — let you export addresses to one of the file types mentioned. Browse your computer files and attach the document. As with the web email function, you can accept or deny email addresses. Note: Importing information does not automatically connect you with people. After importing, each person will receive an invite from you to join your network on LinkedIn. If they accept the invitation, then you’ll be connected. When building your presence on LinkedIn, you need to start somewhere. By making connections on LinkedIn with people you already know — either in real life, or through email correspondence — you can build your network, which will help you realize your job search objectives. Customizing Your LinkedIn URL By default, LinkedIn assigns you a URL with random numbers and letters. For branding purposes, you will want to customize the link. An easy-to-read website address increases the chance of people being able to remember and find you on LinkedIn. You can also promote your custom signature link on your blog, Facebook page, and through email signatures. Customize your URL by selecting the “Profile” menu from the navigation bar. Click “Edit Profile” from the drop-down menu.


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Next to the URL that LinkedIn has automatically generated for your account, you will see an “Edit” button. You can also access this page from the “Settings” drop-down under your name (in the upper right-hand corner of the page). On the public profile page, you will find the link to click to “Customize your public profile URL.”

Then, on the next page, you can enter your preference for a unique URL to your LinkedIn profile. You should always create a unique URL. All LinkedIn website addresses begin with http://www.linkedin.com/in

http://www.linkedin.com/in


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You can use between 5-30 letters or numbers to build your custom URL. (You cannot use spaces, symbols, or special characters in your profile URL.) It may seem obvious, but make sure you use your name in your profile URL. If you have a common name, you may not be able to use just your name, so consider including a keyword related to your job or industry — for example, “BobSmithAccounting.” What To Do With Your LinkedIn Profile Once you’ve built your LinkedIn profile, you may be wondering, “Now what?” (There’s an excellent book that answers that question: “I’m On LinkedIn, Now What?” by Jason Alba that you should check out.) Status updates and announcements from your personal network are posted to your home page. At a glance, the “Updates” section will keep you on top of what’s going on with your connections. To make the most of your interactions on LinkedIn, this is an area to check on regularly. LinkedIn will also draw in information that it thinks you may be interested in — this can include news and job postings.

Strategic Tip: Liking and commenting on status updates could be discreet ways to gain the attention of people in your network who may be hard to connect with otherwise.

To broadcast your own updates, input messages into the status box and click “Share” to send messages to your network. The drop-down list will allow you to select who you share the update with: “LinkedIn + Twitter,” “LinkedIn,” or “Connections” only.


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What kind of information should you post in your updates? • You can share current and upcoming trends in your industry; • Insights from projects you’re working on; • Events and seminars you’ve attended; • Training courses you’re taking; • Link to articles/blogs within the industry; • Inspirational quotes The content that you share doesn’t necessarily have to be yours 100 percent of the time. It’s a great idea to share links to content from others in your industry, along with your thoughts on how this work will affect your industry. You can post several updates each day or one every few days. At a minimum, you should post a new update at least once a week. Building Your Connections After opening an account, creating a profile, and importing personal contacts, you’re ready to build a larger network. LinkedIn works for you based on who you already know. People you know — and who acknowledge knowing you — are bridges to new connections. LinkedIn employs a tier-based system for organizing your relationships with other LinkedIn members. A person’s position in relation to your personal network dictates the actions you’ll have to take to add them to your network. LinkedIn’s hierarchy of connections is primarily structured in three levels. Your direct contacts are marked as “1st level,” the contacts of your first level contacts are designated as “2nd level,” and if someone is linked with a person who, in turn, is connected with one of your direct contacts, that person is tagged as a “3rd level” contact. If you have no connection, they are marked as “out of network.” Also, all of the contacts of your 1st level contacts are visible to you on LinkedIn. LinkedIn even reveals the number of shared connections you have with a person, and the identity of the shared connections. Finding People to Connect With To the right of the navigation toolbar is a search box. Click on the “Advanced” hyperlink.


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There are four ways to look for connections once you get to the second screen. The “Find People” option will identify likely contacts.

You can also use the “Advanced People Search” function to identify contacts. You can use keywords to search by or specific job titles. You can use the variables “Not” and “Or” to define exactly what you are looking for. If you are looking for a local person, or someone who shares certain interests, these can all be specified in your search terms.

Power User Tip: Once you have your search criteria set, you can save these results. (There is a “Save Search” link in the upper right-hand corner of the results page after you run a search.) These will then be placed under the “Saved Searches” tab. You can re-run this search as often as you wish. With a basic account, you can save up to three searches, and you can even have LinkedIn run the search on a regular basis and email the results to you.


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The popup box will allow you to name the search.

Power User Tip: Use LinkedIn to research your current colleagues. You can use it to learn more about your fellow employees.

Conducting Company Searches You can also research companies on LinkedIn. Click on “Companies” in the main navigation toolbar, and select “Find Companies” from the drop-down menu. Then, use the search method to locate a company.


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By clicking on a company name, you can view all of their details.

The “Home” page will give you an overview of the company’s profile, including: • The company’s recent Updates • Company bio • How you’re connected to employees at the company. For example, this is the Company page for Brookstone:


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The Insights page is where you’ll really see the power of LinkedIn for your job search. You’ll see a couple of key areas: • Employees with new titles. These may be internal promotions or new hires. • Former employees you may know. These individuals have left the company you’re profiling,

and seeing where they’ve gone to work can show you whether there is a career path within the company. Keep in mind that there may be several positions in between their current position and when they worked for the company.

• Where employees came from. This can also give you insight into the company’s hiring trends. Do current employees come from the company’s traditional competitors?

• Top Skills & expertise. These are Skills that are pulled from the profiles of company employees, and may give you insight into Skills to add to your own profile.

• People also viewed. This section will provide links to related companies to the company you are examining.

You can also use the “Follow Company” feature to track prospective employers. (Click on the yellow “Follow” button in the upper right-hand corner.) When you follow a company, you’ll get notices of major changes and notifications when the company loses, gains, or promotes staff (which can be useful to see which companies have a lot of turnover). You’ll also be able to access a list of the companies you follow from the “Company” tab in the main navigation toolbar. (Click on “Companies You Follow.”)


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Checklist for Getting the Most Out of Companies Click on the “Companies” tab to: • Search for companies directly by name, keyword, or industry; • Use the “Search Companies” tab for more advanced search options, refining your search by

location, company size, number of followers, and relationship; • Find companies to follow to stay up-to-date on conversations and business development

related to the company itself and its contacts; • Review and recommend people in your industry or area of interest that you’ve had contact

with or are interested in contacting.

Using Introductions, InMails, and Invites As you come across profiles on LinkedIn, you’ll see several methods for adding the person to your network. Regardless if you’re directly on a profile page or reviewing a listing of profiles from a search, these are the options usually offered to initiate contact: • Send InMail • Get introduced through a connection • Add to your network


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When you are already connected to the person, you will have different options than when they are not currently part of your network. On this profile, the only connection option is InMail (because Jane Jobseeker appears as an “out of network” contact).

Using Introductions to Make Connections Facebook has “likes,” Twitter has “re-tweets,” and LinkedIn has “introductions.” It’s a roundabout way to make a connection with someone. Designed around the principle of referrals, introductions are one way to meet new people on LinkedIn. Introductions are highly regarded because they deliver built-in trust. The basic idea is that if you don’t know a person who you would like to be connected to, find someone within your personal network who will introduce you to this person. When a potential contact sees that you are linked to someone they know, it implies you are a credible person. You receive a certain number of Introductions with your account (depends on account type). (Basic accounts have five free Introductions.) To use the introduction: • Locate the profile of the person you want to connect with. • Click the “Send InMail” button and use the drop-down option for “Get introduced.” • If only one person can make the introduction, that person will be identified. • If more than one person can make the introduction, you may choose who you want to make

the introduction. • Enter a subject for your message. • Write a message to the person who will introduce you. Be clear about why you’re asking for

an introduction. This message may eventually been seen by the person you want to be introduced to.

• Click “Send Request.”


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For multiple connections, you can choose who makes the connection:

Introductions, however, are not the best way to reach new connections. Using InMails To Connect On the other hand, InMails are a paid feature of LinkedIn which enable you to send emails directly to a person’s LinkedIn mailbox, regardless of whether or not they’re in your network. Depending on your account level, you’ll receive a credit for a certain number of InMails per


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month. If you send an InMail but don’t get a response from a recipient after seven days, your account is credited for the InMail. Although InMails require payment — and you’re running a risk by contacting someone who don’t know you personally — they can be an effective way to connect with someone who you don’t know directly. Using InMails to meet a fellow LinkedIn member shows you’re serious about your job search and willing to invest to make the right connections. Making Inroads with Invites Technically, you can send a LinkedIn invite at any time. With the invite feature, you don’t need a connection or a paid account to send one. However, it’s advised to use discretion with this method. Recipients can respond by stating they don’t know you, preventing you from ever sending another invitation. If you receive too many “I don’t know this person” responses, LinkedIn may restrict you from sending invitations altogether. Instead, you can click on the “Connect” button under “Send InMail” and you’ll be prompted to send a LinkedIn invitation to connect.

Always change the default text when inviting someone to connect. The default phrase is, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Change this to highlight a personal connection instead. (For example, “I enjoyed meeting you at the workshop yesterday. I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn to keep in touch.”)


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Checklist for Maximizing Your Connections: Click on the “Add Connections” link in the upper right-hand corner of any page to: • List your email addresses to find people you’ve sent messages to who may be on LinkedIn; • Import contacts from Outlook, Apple Mail, and other email clients that keep lists of clients; • Send invitations to individuals by entering their email addresses from the “Add

Connections” page. • Search for past or present colleagues under the “Colleagues” tab, based on current and past

positions you’ve listed in your profile information. • Search for past or present classmates under the “Alumni” tab, based on current and past

educational institutions you’ve listed in your profile. • Review the “People You May Know” tab for direct and indirect contacts based on your

profile information, interests, and communications. You can also access the “Skills & Expertise” tab (under the “More” button in the navigation toolbar) to identify professionals in your field(s) of interest who have expertise related to your work. This is a good way to establish connections with other experts in your line of work.

Making Connections Through LinkedIn Groups Joining a LinkedIn Group allows you the opportunity to strengthen connections with like-minded individuals in an exclusive forum. The Groups function provides a private space to interact with LinkedIn members who share commons skills, experiences, industry affiliations, and goals. You can easily find groups within your industry to join, as well as local groups. Being a member of the same group also allows you to connect with someone without using an Introduction. The Group Directory lists all groups currently affiliated with LinkedIn. To search the Group Directory, select “Groups Directory” from the “Groups” menu on the LinkedIn navigation bar. Click the “Search Groups” box. Enter a keyword or group name in the search box. Narrow your search with the category and language selection. Click “Search.” Because this list is so large, LinkedIn also offers a feature “Groups You May Like,” which can be accessed from the “Groups” tab in the navigation toolbar. These recommendations are based on the information you provided in your profile. These are usually the groups that are related to your industry.


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Once you find a group that you would like to join, click on the “View” button. That will take you to the Group page. If you are interested in the group, click on the “Join Group” button. You will then see a message that “Your membership is pending approval.” Once you are approved, you will receive a notification in your email account. You can then start participating in the group. If you are joining a group to develop relationships with influencers, participate in the group to gain visibility before you invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. Ask questions, give advice, and be helpful to others, as this will help you become known to these folks. You can also have group notifications emailed to you.

Checklist for Maximizing Your Use of Groups Click on the Groups tab to: • Review groups you’re currently a member of, if any; • Search for “Groups You May Like” based on primary keywords, categories, languages, or

similar groups within the same interests; • Check the “Groups Directory” for featured groups in your niche or areas of interest you

might like to join; • Create a Group of your own to attract followers, entering a logo, group name, type, brief

and full description, website, and email address, as well as access options, language, and location.

Finding Jobs On LinkedIn One of the most obvious applications for using LinkedIn in your job search is using the “Jobs” tab to identify opportunities. Click on the “Jobs” link from the main navigation sidebar, and you’ll see a search box you can use to identify positions by job title, keywords, or by company. LinkedIn will also identify likely matches based on information you’ve supplied in your profile as well as your connections.


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While you are reviewing the job matches that come up, you can click “Save Job” in the upper right-hand corner of the job listing page and these will appear on your “Saved Jobs” tab, making it easy for you to find and track these opportunities. You can also create searches that you can save and have emailed to you daily, weekly, or monthly. Another neat feature is that “People Who Viewed This Job Also Viewed” links at the bottom of the search results page. This will help you identify other opportunities that may not have emerged through your search results. Below that will be another set of job links, listed as “Search More Jobs.” You can also use the “Search More Jobs” suggestions to expand your search.


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Helping Prospective Employers Connect With You The final change you should make as a jobseeker is to include your contact information on your profile. NOTE: It is against LinkedIn’s Terms of Service (TOS) to include contact information in your Professional Headline. However, LinkedIn has included a new section specifically for contact information. You can list your phone number(s), email addresses, and other contact information in the “Advice for Contacting (your name)” under the “Additional Info” section of your profile. Depending on your privacy settings, this information can be visible to the public, so adjust your settings accordingly.

Building Your Credibility With Recommendations References are a powerful tool in a job search. Recommendations on LinkedIn serve much the same purpose. A Recommendation is “social proof” from a third party that you’re a skilled professional. According to LinkedIn, “Users with Recommendations in their profiles are three times more likely to receive relevant offers and inquiries through searches on LinkedIn.” In the new LinkedIn profile, Recommendations appear “in line with” the work experience they relate to. That is, you’ll see the job description with the Recommendation below it.


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Recommendations are also visible to your personal network and Fortune 500 companies utilizing the LinkedIn Recruiter Tool. The simplest way to get Recommendations is to ask. To request a recommendation through LinkedIn, select “Profile” from the navigation toolbar. Choose “Recommendations” from the drop-down menu. Click the tab marked “Ask For Recommendations.” Also, if you provide Recommendations (especially for previous and current colleagues), they are likely to reciprocate, so spend some time crafting thoughtful, unique Recommendations for people you know.

Power User Tip: According to LinkedIn expert David Lanners, keywords that appear in Recommendations on LinkedIn count twice when calculating search engine results.


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Next Steps Remember, LinkedIn is a social site — the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. Get in the habit of using LinkedIn to research opportunities and make connections with individuals who can help you with your job search. When you have a job interview lined up, search for the interviewer on LinkedIn. See who you know in common, and research the interviewer’s background. Review the company profile as well, and see if you have any connections with current employees. Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings on LinkedIn too. Follow the LinkedIn blog at: http://blog.linkedin.com/. Questions? Visit www.ResumeButterfly.com/contact


Don't miss DAILY Job Search Tips on Twitter and Facebook. Follow me on Pinterest and LinkedIn too! Best Wishes, Jessica Smith www.ResumeButterfly.com

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Published by Resume Butterfly: Jessica Smith, Resume ...€¦ · 3 Join 200 Million: Easy, Step by Step Guide to Creating a Powerful LinkedIn Profile Why Get LinkedIn? LinkedIn is