The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:
From: Laura Vezer is an IT recruiter and creator of the blog, IT Matters Canada! The blog contains resources and advice for IT Professionals looking for work in Canada.
Recently, the Recruiting Animal had a LinkedIn specialist on his online radio show. Neal Schaffer spent the hour analyzing various LinkedIn profiles that were sent by courageous volunteers through Twitter.
This got me thinking. Who do you think is looking for YOUR profile?
There are recruiters out there who conduct searches through search engines like Bing and Google, to find their candidates. They can even key in search commands to search LinkedIn beyond their own networks. When you come up in one of these searches, it is the information that you have on your profile, is it going to sell your capabilities in the most effective way?
Here are a few points that came up during the show.
A recurring mistake that came up with the volunteer profiles was including too much rhetoric, and "fluff" in their descriptions.
Consider this: instead of writing a four to five sentence summary, how can you effectively describe your experience and expertise clearly and succinctly? Could you consolidate your four to five sentences to one or two?
Summary titles are not descriptive enough
The way you describe yourself in your title is the first thing a reader is going to see of you, and pass judgement. Try to eliminate any potential "fluff" in the title, and create an effective, easy to read title that tells the reader exactly who you are:
Instead of:
"Experienced, self learnt Java Developer with 14 years of experience developing Java applications"
Try:
"Senior Java Developer"
SEO works on LinkedIn too!
Taking advantage of SEO methods on your LinkedIn profile can really work to your advantage. Maureen Sharib has taken great advantage of this in a different way, by listing names of popular people and blogs in her industry, so when someone does a search of "Recruiting Animal" or "Boolean Black Belt" her profile will also appear in the search.
For IT guys, utilizing the Specialities section for SEO is a great idea. To list technologies that you have experience using on all levels, will help you be found in search engine results.
Will you join my network?
Being connected to the big networkers on LinkedIn will also help you to be found. If you are connected to Neal Schaffer for example, then you will come up as indirectly connected to his 19,000 strong network, and show up in more search results.
Networking sites like LinkedIn are becoming more and more important in your job search. The more you contribute to your profile, the better your chances are at getting your next job through social networking.
Do you have a LinkedIn success story? Got any suggestions of your own that could help another IT professional find work? Let us know below!
(Neal will be on the Recruiting Animal show for a second time in January. Stay tuned at www.recruitinganimal.com for show dates.)
Thanks and have a great day!
Laura
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