![]() Your professional headline is about YOU, not your current company or position. You will want to add a photo that is indicative of the the career sector you hope to join. Your background photo selection signifies your desire to go the extra mile in preparing the perfect profile. I don’t think I even noticed there was an option for a background photo until I began my research. When you can’t speak for yourself, your photo speaks for you. Smiling is a welcoming and warm gesture and your LinkedIn photo is your introduction to the professional world. Many experts also recommend that you smile. You should be positioned in professional prose, and fairly zoomed in so your face takes up 70-85% of the available photo space. There should not be anything distracting in the background–no pets, don’t use cartoon images, or include anyone else in the photo with you. Your photo should appear professional and you should be the only person in the photo. I have seen many profiles of transitioning military members in their uniforms, but according to the experts, it is not recommended. And I hate to break it to some of you, but that photo needs to be in civilian clothing. If you want your profile viewed, you must have a photo. LinkedIn doesn’t work if you don’t have a network and your network it vuilt through connections, group likes, and posts. More importantly, if potential connections are searching for you, you want them to be able to find you. As any etiquette book would tell you, a note goes a long way. The option to send a message with your connection request is underutilized. If your legal first name is different than the name you usually go by, use the name you go by so your connection request will be recognized and approved. If you start your LinkedIn profile early enough before your transition, you can basically reinvent yourself and build your network from scratch while giving those you knew you to recognize who you are by your new name. If you were married late into your military career and were hesitant to change/adjust your name, but in the civilian sector you want to go by your married or hyphenated name, you will have some challenges. ![]() Use the name that professionals know you as and the name you intend to be called when contacted by professionals. Working from top to bottom, fine-tune your LinkedIn profile to make it searchable for potential employers and visually pleasing to the eye. Your Roadmap to the Perfect LinkedIn Profile I have detailed some winning tips for the perfect LinkedIn profile below. To find out the answer, the right answer, I scoured LinkedIn articles, VA resources, and interviews from headhunters and recruiters. Let’s gloss over the fact that many of those people telling you how your LinkedIn profile should look are not headhunters nor recruiters, and most of them aren’t even in their dream job or working for their dream company. The first question I had to ask myself was, “How in the heck do I know what is a good profile?” You will meet tens of people who think they know exactly what a potential employer is looking for. If asked the most common theme in preparation for my military retirement, I would have to say it was that I create an eye-catching LinkedIn profile worthy of catching your dream job.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |