Search the Site

Your Resume Is Not Your LinkedIn Profile

Send a summary of this page to someone via email.
Previous | Next
 
By Amy L. Adler, Guest Blogger

Expand Your Resume: Build a Unique and Promotable LinkedIn Profile

Your resume is a static document—you send it to a company when you’re interested in an open position. Your LinkedIn profile is broader, and you can take advantage of the differences between the piece of paper that you send to apply for positions and the online profile that is visible to the world.


Write for an Online Audience

Your LinkedIn profile is your professional presentation online. Write professionally and naturally, in the first person, using language you would use to find a professional with your talents and qualifications. You know the most about the kind of professional you are and the role you’re seeking. Incorporate terms that you would search on if you were searching for a candidate like yourself. Know that your audience has a short online attention span; use white space and bullets to enhance readability.


Innovate with LinkedIn

Resumes must meet hiring managers’ expectations, generally leaving slender opportunity for creativity. LinkedIn, on the other hand, has few rules about how you should write and design your profile. Your headline should invite your reader to learn more about you. Your career history should give quick and readable testimony to the contributions you have made in your prior job roles (without copying your resume).

There are so many opportunities to be yourself on LinkedIn—you don’t have to adhere to the strict expectations of the two-page resume. Include the apps and options that give your audience a reason to call you in for the interview:
  • Include events you’re attending.
  • Upload your resume or white paper into Box.net.
  • Link to your industry-related blog.
  • Include a list of books you’re reading.
  • Upload a slide presentation into SlideShare.

Engage Your Audience

Once you apply for a job with your resume, you can’t follow it into the hiring manager’s in box to respond to the questions it invites. LinkedIn is exactly the opposite; it’s designed for audience engagement:
  • Link to your professional web site.
  • Create a vanity LinkedIn URL within your profile to promote your profile offline.
  • Include your Twitterfeed in your profile to engage your audience in multiple channels.
  • Invite connections you know into your network; ask for introductions to potential contacts.
  • Become known as an expert in your industry: Respond to Answers, and join Groups.
  • Use the Updates search function to learn about almost anything in which you have an interest—including a potential company, a job function, or even the city in which the company is located.

Overall, LinkedIn is so much more extensible than your static resume could ever be. Take advantage of the social media tool that up to 80% of hiring managers are using to screen candidates in (and out) of important hiring processes. Be findable online, and make what hiring managers find about you worthy of the call for the interview.


About the Author

Amy Adler
Amy L. Adler is the president of Inscribe / Express, a concierge-level career search strategy firm that prepares resumes and additional critical career documents on behalf of clients at all levels of employment. Credentialed as a Certified Advanced Resume Writer, Amy has earned a Master of Business Administration in Information Technology and Strategic Management as well as a Master of Arts in Publishing. Amy can be reached at aadler@inscribeexpress.com or 801-810-JOBS.
Is this helpful? Please let us know in the comments your thoughts on this as well as other ways we can help you with your career and training.


blog comments powered by Disqus

Related Articles: