How To Update Your LinkedIn Page For 2023

With many companies ramping up hiring in January, the beginning of the year is a great time to start or resume a career change. That means it’s an ideal time to update your resume and tweak your documents. But don’t stop there! A well-maintained LinkedIn profile is essential in the modern landscape, so the new year represents a chance to make sure your profile is up-to-date and easy on the eyes.

“When people want to research you in a professional capacity— even people who work down the hall from you—they’ll typically go directly to LinkedIn and type your name in the search box at the top of the screen.” –William Arruda, Forbes

Even if you aren’t looking for a job right now, it’s a good idea to keep your LinkedIn updated. You never know when a new opportunity may come your way, and many believe the country is heading toward a recession. Be prepared for anything the new year may throw your way by taking these steps toward a revamped LinkedIn profile!

Update your headshot

The first thing a recruiter or hiring manager will see on your profile will be your photo. Just like with dating apps, you always want that photo to actually look like you! While you likely aren’t trying to catfish an employer with your looks, it’s still best to have a current professional photo.

If you don’t have a professional photo, now is the time to take one! And even if you have one, it’s never a bad idea to update it with a more current one. Make sure you’re in proper attire for your field and that the photo clearly shows your face.

Aspiration Marketing says to not neglect your background or banner picture, either. This often underutilized spot can highlight you in different ways. Whether it’s a shot of you in action, highlights something you’ve accomplished in your field, or sets the tone you’re trying to portray, you can make this real estate spot work for you and stand out.

Find the right headline

Your photo will be the first thing visitors notice, but your summary section is a close second. Your headline, in particular, will drive your traffic. The correct headline sells exactly who you are, what your skills are, and what you bring to the table. The wrong headline can be vague, meandering, or boring.

Work It Daily’s Jenna Arcand writes that it’s a mistake to only list your name and current job title. You want to optimize your limited space by utilizing the right keywords and highlighting your four or five most valuable skills. This requires some research and a good base of knowledge of the most desirable skills in your field. This will make sure you appear in searches and that recruiters can find you.

“Write for your target audience. For example:

Advertising Sales Rep helping clients create winning branding strategies. Over 300 successful clients.

Just like that you’ve told them your job, what you bring to the table, and provided a little credibility easily and effectively.” –Ken Chase, TopResume

Spruce up the language

While your headline is going to bring in your audience, you want to keep them engaged throughout. That means you should utilize keywords, trim up the word choices on past positions, and highlight the correct accomplishments.

We’ve discussed the importance of tailoring your resume toward the position you seek with keywords, and that advice holds true on LinkedIn as well. If you want to show up in searches, you need the right keywords. And the right keywords will show that you’re clearly capable of doing the job you seek. Make sure to use action verbs and add the accomplishments you’re proud of.

TopResume’s Ken Chase says not to neglect your skills either. Again, look at the most desirable skills for your industry and make sure those skills are visible on your profile, especially in your actual skills section. By tidying up the language of your profile, you’ll appear like a new, even better candidate.

Use engaging media

But text alone won’t get you everywhere. Hiring managers only have so much time to read each profile, and looking at so much text can make the eyes glaze over. Attract their interest and stand out from the crowd by including relevant media!

LinkedIn’s Tequia Burt stresses the importance of finding the right images and videos to stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re a job seeker or a company looking to expand your brand, you can upload native videos directly to your profile as well as your own images. This can be a way to highlight big projects you’ve done or show off some of your creative portfolio.

If you’ve written anything off-site or had your accomplishments highlighted elsewhere, you can directly link the relevant material to your profile to save hiring managers an extra step.

Add some personality

While taking these steps, don’t be afraid to make your profile feel like your profile. That is, make sure to show off your personality.

Resume Worded reminds us that a resume and a LinkedIn profile are different tools. While you still want to be professional, you can afford to take more creative liberties with your LinkedIn profile. Don’t forget, it IS a social media platform. You can feel free to add personal details beyond work, directly tell potential employers what you’re looking for, and give them direct ways to contact you.

Wrap up

Having an online presence is essential for the modern job search. Even if you’re a savvy LinkedIn user, chances are, you can make some needed updates to your profile to bring in the new year. Taking these steps now will make job searching and networking easier throughout the rest of the year and set you ahead of the competition!

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Holiday Party Do’s And Don’ts

With the holiday season upon us and many COVID-19 restrictions over, many organizations will soon be gathering for holiday parties. No matter which major winter holiday, if any, you celebrate personally, holiday office parties are a great time to celebrate the year’s accomplishments and bond with your team or develop deeper networking relationships.

Seasonal parties are a great time to cut loose and interact with your coworkers in a different capacity than usual, but you still must maintain a sense of decorum. Make sure to maintain some professionalism so that your reputation is still intact when the new year comes around. Recall these guidelines during your holiday festivities:

DO: RSVP

The most polite way to respond to any party invitation is to actually respond to the invitation. Whether the party is at the office, a colleague’s home, or a neutral location, whoever is planning the event needs a reasonable headcount in order to get an appropriate amount of food and drinks for the group.

Unless you have a legitimate reason otherwise, try your best to go to the event. Career Advice Expert Randall Hansen says that not attending the event could hurt your reputation and make it feel like you aren’t part of the team. Try to make an appearance of at least 30 minutes to mingle.

DON’T: Bring uninvited guests

Generally, most office parties will invite spouses or plus-ones, but always make sure to check first. Generally, these events aren’t for the entire family, and they aren’t an excuse for a group of people to get free food. Bring only those guests expected to be there, and make sure they are also aware of these etiquette rules.

DO: Dress for success

Depending on your usual office environment, an office party might represent a chance to unwind and “let your hair down.” But don’t be fooled—this is still a business function. If you aren’t sure what to wear, go for a step above what you think everyone else might wear. Going too casually can send the wrong message.

DON’T: Overstay your welcome

We stressed the importance of attending the event and making sure you’re noticed, but don’t take it too far in the other direction and stay too long. The event may have a set exit time, and people will want to clean up before calling it a night. Have a good time, but you don’t want to be the last person there and have the hosts waiting for you to leave. Amy Castro suggests that if you see everyone else making a mass exodus, you should do the same.

DO: Talk about something other than work

Most of your interactions with your coworkers are probably about work. In a party environment, there’s no need to go over the same topics again. A party is supposed to be a celebration and a chance to interact as individuals. Keep the conversation appropriate, but find interesting topics to discuss. Your coworkers may see a fun new side of you!

DON’T: Completely unwind

Don’t swing too far in the other direction, though. It’s a party, but it’s a work party. Make sure to keep the conversation light and playful without getting inappropriate. Keep any grievances to yourself, and don’t mention any questionable activities. CNBC Make It’s Ashton Jackson also says not to be flirty or make advances on someone.

DO: Show gratitude

Your organization is throwing the celebration to celebrate the year’s accomplishments and thank the team for a wonderful year. Be sure to do the same for them by showing your gratitude as well! Thank your team for hosting or planning the event.

“Of course, this is also a perfect time to thank all your co-workers who have been helpful or supportive in the past year.” –Carol Kinsey Goman, Forbes

DON’T: Drink too much

Different cultures have different views on this, but alcohol is commonly served at many office parties in the United States. It’s okay to enjoy a few drinks, but you never want to be the drunkest person in the room. Never feel like you need to drink more, even if the boss is having a few or encouraging you to. Many experts advise a two-drink maximum, but you know your body more than anyone else. Know your limit, and stop well before you need to.

Wrap up

Holiday parties are a wonderful time to relax and enjoy the accomplishments of you and your team, and a little bit of well-earned revelry is good for the soul. But an office holiday party is still a professional event, so you must be aware of your surroundings and be sure to behave appropriately. Once you understand the differences between a work holiday party and one with friends or family, you’ll be able to have a fantastic time with your team!

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How To Not Be Annoying On LinkedIn

No matter what industry you’re in, networking is the supreme principle in advancing your career. In most cases, modern networking means a strong LinkedIn presence. LinkedIn has cornered the market as the prime social media option for the professional world, and proper LinkedIn etiquette is a skill every professional needs to learn.

Part of that etiquette is knowing what NOT to do on the platform. LinkedIn isn’t the same as other social media platforms, and if you annoy your network, you’ll find yourself alienating your potential allies.

Your personal brand is important, and you don’t want that brand to be “an annoyance.” Unless you’re looking to be a nuisance, avoid these annoying LinkedIn behaviors.

Don’t spam

LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for getting in touch with people you otherwise may never speak to. You can research prospective employers, find informational interviews, reach out to those in new industries, or look into those previously employed at companies you’re interested in.

But you can’t simply fire connection requests and cold messages to every person on the website. You should take time to carefully craft any requests and take time to explain who you are and why you’d like to connect. Quality leads are better than quantity.

Josh Steimle uses mass tagging connections in posts as another type of spam to avoid. If you’re constantly looking for attention by overly tagging people, you’ll soon find yourself blocked.

LinkedIn itself, a pretty credible source on this particular topic, says to avoid coming across as “salesy.”The platform may be designed for professional development, but no one wants your service shoved in their face immediately. Treat your potential connections as actual people rather than pure customers.

Don’t be generic

Hand-in-hand with the above point, the more generic you are in your efforts, the less interested people will be in interacting with you. As Forbes’ William Arruda reminds us, spammers and bots are a plague on LinkedIn, and it can be detrimental to your efforts if you sound like one.

On paper, a high volume of messages sounds like a good way to get at least some positive responses. But like with applying for jobs, spray-and-pray techniques rarely work. Any pitch you’re planning on sending should be carefully thought out and provide value to your target. Make an effort to reference something they’ve done or how their experience inspired you. A generic pitch is wasting their time and yours.

“For some reason, people think it is effective to cold pitch people without any preparation or research. The funniest is when someone sends me a message on LinkedIn offering their totally irrelevant service and says something along the lines of “We see that at your company you do XYZ and thought you could use my product.”” -Hillel Fuld

Be honest

It should go without saying, but don’t lie to your potential connections about what you can do for them. While your pitch should have value to the connection, it needs to actually be something you can deliver.

Trickery on LinkedIn isn’t just lying about your skills, experience, or connections. William Arruda uses the example of deceiving your new connection by asking for time to get to know them or claiming you’re doing research for a project when in actuality you’re trying to make a sale or ask for a job opportunity. Once it gets out that you’re taking advantage of the generosity of others, you’ll find it harder to make connections.

“If your true intention is to make a sale, don’t imply it’s about the joy of just getting to know and learn about people. This subterfuge is beyond annoying.” –William Arruda

Don’t overshare

“Weird Al” Yankovic once wrote a song called “Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me” regarding chain emails and overshared images that plagued the early internet days. Unfortunately, the song is relevant once again as LinkedIn spammers fill your feed with unwanted content.

Alexander Krastev notes useless polls, irrelevant tear-jerking or viral videos, cringey memes, and overly shared stories as the types of eye-rolling content plaguing the platform. While it can seem cruel to vilify this type of content, a good deal of it is fake and overshared simply to generate clicks and engagement.

LinkedIn is supposed to be a place for professionals to connect and share relevant content. While it doesn’t hurt to have some fun, save the off-topic content for Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t use it as a dating site

Speaking of keeping it professional, while LinkedIn is a social media platform, it isn’t meant to be a dating pool. Save the cracking on for Tinder or Bumble, and let LinkedIn remain a safe place to grow professionally.

Wrap up

Good LinkedIn etiquette shares much in common with good social media etiquette, or just good manners in general. Treating your future connections like actual human beings and not just avenues for gain goes a long way. Be authentic and offer value to others, don’t bombard the platform with irrelevant content to get attention, and keep things professional and you’ll be viewed as someone people wish to connect with. Happy connecting!

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How To Heat Up Your Summer Job Search

The weather is starting to heat up, but what about your job search? Summer is associated with many things, but new career beginnings usually aren’t one of them.

Despite this, job searching continues, especially for fresh college graduates entering the workforce. If you need a job, you need a job. We’ll brave the heat and look into the pros and cons of a summer job search and provide tips on how to make this your most productive summer yet.

Is summer a good time to search?

Just as with the holiday season, experts are mixed on whether summer is a good time to apply or not. With less seasonal work available in most industries and many employees taking summer vacations, Valerie Streif, senior content at Pramp, viewed summer as one of the two worst times to seek employment.

“During the middle of summer, the least amount of vacancies are posted, not only for seasonal jobs but also regular positions, since teams are usually juggling many different employees taking time off for summer vacation. It’s also an awkward time to get started – right in the middle of the year.” – Valerie Streif

Meanwhile, The Muse’s Kat Boogaard suggests that summer is a good time to keep the search moving despite what others may say. Hiring managers have a full-year job and will always be looking to fill open positions. There may be less competition as others slow down their search, and hiring managers may be less busy as a result.

According to NACE, employers are expected to hire 27% more recent graduates this year compared to 2021. So even if summer is often viewed as a poor job to search, the market is currently in your favor.

Your mileage will vary based on the industry and type of position you seek. But if you need a new job, there’s no reason you have to wait until fall. So how can you make the most of your search?

Start strong

Summer means more daylight and an earlier start, and your search should follow suit. If others believe this is the time to slow down their search, zig while they zag. Before you start getting your applications out, however, you’ll want to come up with a plan.

Research the companies you’re interested in working for to start getting an idea of what they are looking for. You will never regret doing too much research. This allows you to prepare your documents accordingly.

Many fresh graduates or athletes transitioning to the business world will commonly use a “one size fits all” methodology with their resume and cover letter, but a set of documents tailored to the position you are applying for is much more likely to catch a recruiter’s attention. Margaret Steen of Stanford Report acknowledges that recent grads will need to send out more applications than someone established in an industry, so it may not be practical to start from scratch with every application. She says a hybrid approach, creating one main resume and tweaking it as needed, is a helpful strategy.

Don’t forget about networking

No matter if you’re newly entering the workforce or you’re a seasoned veteran, networking is always crucial to career development. With warm weather, people are looking to make the most of it by going to social events, and this applies to the professional world as well.

If you’re a recent graduate, your school or department may have alumni events that can be the perfect opportunity to get your name out there. CNBC’s Katie Hopsicker suggests using any resources your college can offer to your advantage.

“Most universities and colleges have career centers, and these centers are there to help you. Resources like resume workshops, job hunt seminars and even email newsletters detailing job openings may open the door for you to find your next opportunity.” –Katie Hopsicker

But networking doesn’t have to be completely formal, and opportunities aren’t limited to graduates. Take time to reach out to those you already know for a cold beverage to check-in. Go out of your way to interact with new people at any barbeques or other fun events you attend. Networking happens all year, but summertime often puts people in a social mood.

Enhance your skills

Your growth doesn’t have to be put on hold while you search. There are many avenues available to increase your skills while expanding your network.

For example, you’re never too cool for summer school! Harvard University suggests summer classes can teach or hone new skills in a controlled, often more relaxed environment. These classes don’t have to be official, and you don’t have to take out loans. Search for free, online options or audit classes on sites like MasterClass or Coursera.

Volunteering is another underutilized way to grow your network and your skill-set. Just because you aren’t getting paid doesn’t mean the skills you learn don’t have value, and you’ll have a chance to connect with others you may not meet otherwise.

Wrap up

Many will use the summertime to focus on vacations, but that doesn’t mean employment opportunities aren’t out there. With a good strategy in place, you can take advantage of the slower hiring cycle. No matter where you’re at in your career, it always pays to keep networking and honing your skills while you search. Most of all, be patient! Communication may be slower due to managers on vacation, but if you put in the work and stay cool, you should get results!

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Getting Maximum Value From Your Professional References

When you’re searching for a new career, it’s imperative to have the right people in your corner. Networking is one of the most vital tenets in career advancement, and one of the most obvious places to see the benefits is when your professional references are contacted. When utilized properly, your references can give you the edge over similarly qualified candidates.

But the inverse is also true, and choosing the wrong references can have a dire effect on your chances of getting the job. If you get to the point a potential employer asks for your references, you’re very close to getting the job. Finish strong by choosing the right references and prepare them accordingly by implementing these pieces of advice.

“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.” — Keith Ferrazzi

Choosing the right references

You want your references to be people in your corner that will give you glowing recommendations, but not everyone you know is a great option. You want professional references that understand who you are in a working environment, not your neighbors, friends, family members, or drinking buddies.

The Muse’s Jenny Foss lists, in this order, the types of individuals employers want to talk to:

  1. Your current manager or supervisor
  2. Your prior managers or supervisors
  3. Your current peers or clients
  4. Your prior peers or clients
  5. Your personal references or friends who will vouch for you (a very remote fifth)

The opinion of supervisors is key because these people directly monitor your performance, and the more recent their experience with you the better. Peers and clients are helpful depending on the role. In a customer service role, a former client’s opinion will carry much more weight.

If you’re just entering the workforce or have limited experience, you still have options. A professor you’ve worked closely with, especially in a course related to your work, can vouch for your skills and work ethic, as can academic advisors you’ve worked with, says Heather Huhman of Glassdoor.

Linkedin is a great way to keep in touch with your potential references, especially if you haven’t talked to the person in a while.

How to ask for a reference

Choosing your references is just the first step. Even if these individuals know you well, don’t just assume they’ll speak on your behalf. It’s important to actually ask them to be a reference, and do it early enough in your job search that they won’t feel put on the spot. Their availability is an essential factor to consider.

Make sure your message asking for permission feels authentic. This is a person you’re asking for a favor, and you want them to speak highly of you. Be willing to take no for an answer, and keep other options in mind. And remember that just because you’ve asked once doesn’t give you permission to use them for every job.

“You do need to ask them every time.” –Kathy Robinson, founder of TurningPoint

Provide necessary information

Even if the person has nothing but good things to say about your performance, it may sound insincere or meandering without a little focus. At the very least, provide your reference with the job you’re applying for and a copy of your resume, writes Forbes’ Cathy Lanzalaco. This gives them an idea of what aspects of your work history to focus on and what they are most qualified to speak on. It also helps to provide your references with a copy of the job description. This may give them ideas on what to discuss that you may not have considered.

Job-Hunt’s Jeff Lipschultz suggests providing your reference with questions you’d expect the interview to ask, including specific projects, skills, or attributes you think are particularly crucial. And don’t forget to give your references the name of the interviewer and company!

“Not everyone answers the phone these days when a strange name/number shows up on caller ID.  So being able to share this information makes it more likely that the call will be answered and the response provided quickly.” – Jeff Lipschultz

Don’t forget to say thank you

You may not always be informed a reference has been talked to, but the reference might reach out to you and let you know. Make sure to send your reference a personalized thank you message. Be willing to return the favor or help them out in another manner if possible, and if you get the job, be sure to let them know and thank them again. Be willing to be a reference in turn to those in your own network.

Don’t mention references on your resume

The phrase “references available upon request” is completely outdated, and it’s assumed you’ll have references when you apply. Save that valuable resume space for your information. The perk of only giving references when asked is that you’ll be able to go through these steps and prepare beforehand.

Wrap up

Companies usually ask for references towards the end of the hiring process because they are interested in you and want to verify what they’ve found. Your references can give you that final push to get the job, but you’ll want to make sure you’ve chosen the correct people and that they are fully prepared to give the most persuasive testimony possible. You’ve networked for a reason, and be sure to return the favor when you can.

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