Are you underestimating LinkedIn?

Today are there still people who are underestimating LinkedIn? I don’t suggest any particular social media is the solution to your job search. However, LinkedIn because of the power of its network throughout the world is the one you shouldn’t ignore.

My client success stories

If you caught the success story post a couple days ago, you heard me celebrate another one of my clients has accepted an offer.

Yesterday I heard from another of my clients, the first client’s girlfriend, who popped in to say that she has an offer pending. She also has three more opportunities that she is reviewing.

These offers both originated because of an initial contact on LinkedIn. Their profiles are complete. They also have compelling resumes we wrote before we wrote the LinkedIn profile.

Are you underestimating LinkedIn?

How LinkedIn worked for me

I chronicled my journey with LinkedIn in an early post in March 2009. It was only a few months later when I was contacted by the first client to write his resume via LinkedIn.

Before that contact, most of my client base was primarily local. If it was a virtual client, they were former clients or a friend or relative of a client.

Reflecting back, I realize this connects with the fact that my first viable web presence was launched in January 2009.

Being found online is now common place for me but it was rare throughout most of my resume writing career. Smart people like Ed Han, who is very visible answering questions on LinkedIn. Ed has become a LinkedIn expert with daily LinkedIn tips. He has been a recruiter for several years as I rewrite this post in 2018.

Yet, I have been contacted by prospective clients who would like to work with me from LinkedIn.

Are you underestimating LinkedIn and thinking it won’t work for you?

For LinkedIn to work for you in your job search or as a source of business leads, just like your resume, your LinkedIn profile has to be robust with value-filled information.

Complete the Who, what, where fields for where you  worked and where you went to school.

Take it to the next level by assuring that key words for the career you are searching are embedded throughout your profile.

Complete your profile with accomplishment-driven phrases that tell the Why of what you bring to the next position.

Make sure you can be found.

If you hide your contact information because you don’t want someone copying your information. Perhaps you don’t want someone to find you from your past, then LinkedIn will not work for you.

Being found is your goal so hiding is going to keep that from happening.

If you are on Twitter, your LinkedIn profile makes the best link to drive people to get to know you better.

If all of this sounds difficult, hire me to write your resume, train you in LinkedIn, and write a compelling LinkedIn profile. Let’s talk.