Tag

how to use linkedin

Mar 26
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Questions from the Field: How to Manage Your LinkedIn Profile

By Communications, Social Media

This just in:Marijean Jaggers

Dear Ms. Jaggers,

I read an article you wrote last year on LinkedIn summaries, with interest.

A question: what advice do you have for those who have perhaps the resume of a job-hopper, many interests, and though they may appear to be on a particular track, are still thinking about what they want to do when they grow up–in their mid-30s? Not that this describes me or anything 🙂

For example, how much should resemble marketing copy vs. an open acknowledgment of the divergent paths you’re thinking about?

Sincerely,

J. Hopper

My response:

Dear J.:

What a great question! There’s less concern about having a varied resume as there used to be – Gen X and younger workers don’t stay in one place longer than the job fits. I think open acknowledgement is the right choice – and demonstrates that you have a variety of interests and abilities.

 

I think the days of worrying about short-term engagements (as long as there’s a variety of career commitments and reasonable explanations and a lack of FIRINGS) are over. The new conventional wisdom says if you’re not fulfilled, satisfied, and rewarded at work, MOVE ON. It’s better for the employer and the employee. I have yet to meet a person who regretted a job change.

What do you think? What would you tell J. Hopper?

 

Oct 08
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New: Endorse Your Contacts on LinkedIn

By Social Media

As a LinkedIn user, you may have noticed that you’re suddenly racking up endorsements as fast as an Olympic athlete. Since you can’t seem to recall your medal-winning athleticism, you may be wondering, what the heck is going on here?

LinkedIn launched a new feature to allow its users to “endorse” — with one click — the skills people in their network claim to have. Here’s a sample from my own account:

As a bonus, LinkedIn will e-mail you to let you know who endorsed you and for what — extra points if your employees or customers endorse you out of the blue — you’re doing a good job!

I like this feature for a couple of reasons:

  1. It doesn’t require the user to request the endorsement of their contacts.
  2. You list the skills and expertise you have and others select from your list.
  3. It provides a quick and easy way to recognize others for their capabilities — we often get hung up on the crafting of the perfect testimonial recommendation — this takes that cumbersome task out of the picture.

Endorse someone today!

Aug 20
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Visualizing Your Professional Social Network

By Social Media

My friend Rachel Brozenske of Allison Partners turned me on to a fun little tool: LinkedIn Maps — a visual way to look at your business network and examine areas for saturation, room for growth and the overlap or gaps among you and your business development team.

Here’s my map — clickety to see the BIG version:

That great big blue cloud represents contacts I have in Charlottesville, Va. — the place where I’ve been doing business since January, 2006. The big orange cloud on the right are my contacts and clients from the time I spent with Standing Partnership in St. Louis, Mo. Other clusters represent client contacts or contacts from employers past.

Get your own map, and learn a little something about the connections you’ve made.

Apr 26
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LinkedIn: Is Your Career on a Path of Continuous Self-Improvement?

By Communications

Pay attention.

It’s both the most obvious and most neglected discipline on the social web. As a business, it’s SUPER important to know what people are saying about your brand, your industry and your leadership online. As an individual, your professional appearance makes a huge (and sometimes first, and last) impression.

When was the last time you looked at your LinkedIn profile? Have you looked at how many times OTHER people have been looking at your profile? Do you like what they’re seeing? Does your profile demonstrate the true path of continuous self-improvement you’ve been on?