NEW SECTIONS ALERT
On the profile page in Edit Profile display, after the Brief Profile and before Summary, you will see “NEW Are you published?” To the right, click Add Sections. The following categories will pop up. Complete any or all as they are relevant to your background. If you’re a professor, I strongly recommend that you add Publications and Skills.
Certifications: If you are in medicine, nursing, clinical psychology, accounting, auto mechanics, hair styling, espionage, or other professions requiring professional certifications and licenses, this is the category to list them. Not everyone has these credentials. This is another category that can distinguish you from others in the field.
Languages: If you are fluent in several languages, identify them in the list. You never know when they could come in handy and give you the edge.
Patents: If you possess patents for particular inventions, list them. For example, after someone invented a better mousetrap, if you invented a better mouse, this is the place to mention that achievement. They should be relevant to your areas of expertise and skills.
Publications: I recommend picking a few of your most recent and salient publications related to your research or expertise. Since LinkedIn doesn’t specify a particular publication format for journal articles, enter Title, and in the Publications slot, enter the journal name, volume, number, page numbers, and year in APA format. A Description may be too unwieldy when you list 5 or more articles or books, but you can write a brief one for each pub if the title isn’t adequate. You can also list your books.
Click Add a Publication for each entry. (NOTE: I included my recent books in the Summary section.) (ANOTHER OPTION: In addition to your teaser list or in lieu of it, you can provide a link to your Website, vitae, or other source with all of your pubs.)
Skills: I’m not sure how different Skills are from Specialties in the Summary section. The wording is different. I recommend listing your skills with Proficiency and Years of Experience dropdowns. They should be clear and concise for clients and employers to scan quickly.
What’s Next? The bulk of your profile should now be complete. Additional and Personal Information and Contact Settings will be covered in the next blog.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Begin in Edit Profile mode. Now you can add your job experience and all of your degrees.
Experience. Click Edit. Starting with your most recent previous job, prepare your job profile similar to your profile you already wrote with Company Name (Institution), Website, Industry from dropdown, current job Title, Time Period, and a Description of your job responsibilities. Save Changes.
Repeat for each job. Click Add a Position. Include significant and relevant jobs. For example, skip reporting your stint as a Capital One Viking, but DO include your visiting professor position at the University of Siberia. You can add your acting jobs under Interests.
Education. Click Edit. Starting with your most recent degree, pick Country, State, and School Name from dropdown lists, then fill-in Degree, Field of Study (Major and Minor), Dates from dropdown, Activities; Societies. Click Save Changes
Repeat for each degree chronologically. Click Add a School. Make sure to include special certification programs and other significant educational training at accredited institutions and fly-by-night mail-order diploma factories.
What’s Next? As of 2 months ago, this would have been pretty much the meat of your profile. However, Surprise! Surprise! Academicians and vegetarians throughout the universe, guess what? LinkedIn added sections on Publications, Certifications, Patents, etc., basic material that we normally include on our institutional Website and CV. My next blog will address these sections.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
Make sure you’re in Profile Edit mode. Now we are going to tackle a super-important element in your profile: Summary. It is the first glimpse at who you really are and what you do. If a colleague, consulting firm, or job-recruiter glances at your summary and is not impressed, he/she probably won’t read any further. It’s lights out on your profile.
Before drafting this section, you need to determine the purpose of your profile. Is it to network, to promote you, to promote your business, or a combination of the preceding? Who will see it? Your summary must be written to fit your profile purpose(s). This section will be tailored to the image you want presented.
Summary: Click Edit. This section consists of 2 parts:
(1) Professional Experience & Goals which is a highlight “film” of your background, experience, and what you can offer a client, and
(2) Specialties field to highlight your areas of expertise and what distinguishes you from the rest of the pack
Professional Experience & Goals (max. 2000 characters). This blank white area should be filled with your “elevator speech.” Remember my blogs on that topic? NO! That’s okay. Format-wise, use lists, if possible. They’re easier and faster to read than running text. Carefully craft a capsule description of
a. who you are (teacher, professor, researcher, writer, secret agent, GEICO gecko, etc.)
b. what you do (conduct psychological profiles on the men in the Capital One commercials) or produce (books on rodents and lizards used in GEICO commercials)
c. what you can do for your target audience (create hilarious commercials for rich insurance companies)
The last-named focus is for consulting and business purposes. Consulting firms and clients want to know specifically what benefits or outcomes you can provide for them.
Beyond these outcomes, identify your goals.
This section should be brief and pop off the page so a colleague, client, or recruiter will stop and take notice. Since LinkedIn only formats in PLAIN TEXT, not HTML, you’re limited in popping options. I recommend UPPER CASE for important words and heads or “apostrophes” around other words for emphasis. Don’t get carried away.
Specialties. Identify your categories of expertise. These can be more specific than b above. What can you do differently or better than others with a similar background? Why should a client or employer hire you as a consultant, speaker, or CEO?
Click Save Changes.
What’s Next? I’ll add information on experience and education, which you can copy from your CV. Your profile should be taking shape.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
So far, you should have completed Snapshot and Photo. Under Profile, click you know what: Edit Profile mode.
Brief Profile: The next white box is a brief profile of your current and past job titles, education, recommendations and connections when you start accumulating them, your business, blog, and other Website links, Twitter link, and personal LinkedIn URL.
Current. For now, just click Edit to the right of Current and plug in your Company Name (Institution), Website, Industry from dropdown, current job Title, Time Period, and a Description of your job responsibilities. Spend time drafting a clear and succinct portrait of your job tasks and accomplishments in the description box. When you’re done, click Save Settings.
If you have a 2nd job, for example, you’re a professor Mon.–Fri. and an NFL quarterback on Sun., repeat the entry for that position so both will be listed.
All of this information will appear below under Experience, but your Title(s) will appear in this profile box. Ignore everything else in the box for the time being.
What’s Next? Let’s move on to one of the most critical parts of your profile: Summary box. If you want to start drafting that material, do it. I’ll give you some pointers in my next blog.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
PROFILE MOTTO
It’s profile time in the big city! My MOTTO for this profile: “Do it right or don’t do it at all.” If you do not complete your profile, it’s like sending a colleague or employer half of your CV. It says, “I don’t care.” You want your BEST possible image to be presented to the people who may matter most in your profession and to those who you haven’t even met yet. Your professional reputation is on the line. What you display can be a career maker or breaker. You decide.
Make sure every entry is accurate and spelling, mechanics, grammar, and word choice are impeccable. If possible, type everything in Word first because LinkedIn doesn’t have spelchek. Dig out your CV. You’re going to be copying and pasting a lot.
Snapshot & Photo
Are you ready? Let the games begin. At the top of the LinkedIn page, under Profile, click Edit Profile. You will always start in “Edit Profile” mode to enter new information or change your profile. “View Profile” is what people will see.
Directly below is a blue box. Click Edit.
Snapshot (light blue box): This is your electronic business card. Provide basic information, including Name, Professional Headline (current job title or tagline), Country from dropdown list, Zip Code, and Industry from dropdown list. When you type your zip, LinkedIn translates that into a geographic area under your name. If you don’t enter the zip, the area will just say United States or your country name, which, to other LinkedInners, may convey, “I can’t be bothered to complete this or I don’t care.” When you’re done, click Save Changes.
Photo: On the right side of the box, click Edit. Upload a professional, flattering picture (headshot) so people can easily remember you. [NOTE: Photo must be no larger than 80 X 80 pixels.] When you receive business cards from new colleagues at a conference and invite them to connect, it will be easier for them to match your name to a picture than nothing. Please DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT post a frog, ugly baby, barnyard animal, stuffed toy, or your book cover that you might find on Facebook. This is a professional network. What image do you want to convey to professionals who may not know you or a prospective employer? They want to know you’re for real. Click Upload Photo.
Click your choice for who you want to see your photo. I chose “Everyone.” Then click Save Settings.
Status Update: Ignore the white box below your snapshot and photo. I’ll come back to that later.
My next blog will cover the next white box below to begin your brief profile. I will focus only on your Current job title and description. You can start working on that if you like.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
