Is your LinkedIn profile telling your story?

We hear more about telling your story today than we did in the past. Storytelling is a word often used in the resume writing industry to change the focus from job descriptions to value-added content.

I used the phrase, “Showcase your value” in many of my articles in the past. But people struggled to know what that means. Deep in the concept of resume writing are misconceptions about what it is. Since resume writing courses in high school and college were often taught by people who followed old textbooks.

The old textbooks followed a historical viewpoint, almost a name, rank, and serial mindset. You listed where you worked, when you worked there, and maybe the duties. It didn’t speak to how you contributed, the value you brought, or explain why the next employer should hire you.

Telling your story in a resume

The title of this article is about LinkedIn but to get to that point, we must talk about resumes. Since your resume is the foundation of the job search, you have to tell the story in your resume.

What is your story? It does come down to talking about value. Unless you have been sleeping at your desk, you should be contributing value to your job and to your company. Most businesses don’t want to hire people to hold a spot, they want someone who will help their company become and stay successful.

If your talent is in finance, you may be able to rectify dysfunctional financial operations. In the days since Enron, it has been critical that financial operations be managed correctly. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The PCAOB required that auditors of US public companies be subject to external and independent oversight for the first time in history.

You may think that oversight of finance is just a job but obviously it is critical to the success of companies. If this is your talent, you need to let people know that you can help them not only be financially successful but meet the letter of the law to keep their business running.

You may wonder why I know about the PCAOB. A client told me when we were writing his resume and telling his story.

How does this translate to telling your story on LinkedIn Profile?

I tell my clients regularly that more people will see your LinkedIn profile than your resume. You need to be telling your story on LinkedIn to help people who need your talents see you. People respond to stories. They want to know what you did to help your last company be successful.

Many experienced professionals, yes, even executives, worry that the next company won’t want them. It’s hard to want someone if no one knows your value. My job as a resume writer and LinkedIn profile writer is to translate what you have done into stories that captivate the reader and make them want to speak with you. Whatever you did before has to have meaning to the next employer and it will if you think about how what you do can help them be successful. Dry facts will not engage the reader but stories will.

Successfully telling your story will allow the next employer to get a glimpse of how you can help them.