LinkedIn for job seekers: how to create Brand You

Category: Tips and Advice Publish date: 29/05/2015

LinkedIn is a professional network with enormous potential for you as a job seeker. As it is a professional platform, the expectation is that it will be used by professionals in a professional way. When you apply for a job, there is a very high chance the employer will Google your name. Due to the primacy that Google gives LinkedIn, it is highly likely that your profile page will appear at the top of the search results.

Facebook versus LinkedIn

Imagine you’re at a party with all your friends; you’re sharing funny stories and proudly showing a visual display as to what you’ve been up to via your IPhone photos. This is Facebook.

Now imagine another scenario. You’re in the world of Logistics, HR, Retail or any other industry. You’ve been invited to, or asked to attend an Industry Seminar at which guest speakers and other industry influencers / movers and shakers will be presenting. You will be dressed to impress; you will share a conference room with likeminded industry professionals who will expect you to network and be networked with. This is LinkedIn – it is the professional Social Media platform.

How can LinkedIn help you, the Job Seeker?

During your military service, you are given a branding i.e. you are branded by your Service, your cap badge and your rank - and your career is pretty much mapped out for you providing you do a great job and get recognised for it. Another analogy could be to that of an actor on a stage; your uniform and rank are your costume and most of your life is lived on the stage. Many times you ‘become that person others expect you to be’.

In the commercial world, recognition is all about branding yourself. A portfolio showcasing your skills, your experience and your qualities is what will make you an attractive prospect to an employer. LinkedIn presents the perfect opportunity to do this.

Branding You

On leaving the military, you are starting to step off that stage more and more in an attempt to identify who you really are without the costume, and this is where LinkedIn will really help you. You start this journey of self-awareness throughout your Career Transition Workshop with the CTP.

1. Sign up for a LinkedIn account – you don’t ever need to sign up for their Premium Account unless you’re a recruiter and using it to search for candidates. Click here to watch a short video on this. social media page

2. Upload a professional photograph. The ideal would be against a clear, white background with no distraction. Do not take a picture of you in military uniform – this is all about looking forward to a new civilian career rather than looking back. Present a professional image in your photograph.

3. Create a good, keyword rich professional profile – what commercial keywords/phrases do you think an employer may put into the LinkedIn search bar looking for someone like you? You will get these from job adverts, company websites, LinkedIn Company pages and Corporate YouTube videos etc. By default, your headline will be your current job, as you entered in your work experience section. The first thing people will see is your name, your photo and headline. If you have ‘member of HM Forces’ what is that telling a prospective employer? If you have ‘Government Supply Chain Manager’ or ‘Human Resources Specialist within the MOD’, does that give more indication of your skillset? This way, people know what you do, who you do it for and where.

4. Claim Your URL – when you create an account, LinkedIn will issue you with a website link to your profile page. This will look something like this: linkedin.com/in/io23jr9823u98 when you first get it. It is possible to amend this link to include your name: click on the little pencil next to it and try claiming your name e.g. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/johnsmith. If you can’t get your full name then try first name and initial or vice versa. If your name is taken, just add your initial or location at the end.

5. Join Groups – joining groups is all part of networking. When deciding which groups to join, be mindful that anyone looking at your profile will also see which groups you belong to. LinkedIn Groups are about looking forward and an opportunity to network with people sharing similar interests to you. Whilst it may be fun to join the military groups, do this with caution. What would you hope to get out of them? Are there opportunities to network into employment through these groups? There are a number of groups aimed specifically at Service leavers, with members who have left the services and are now in employment, and are keen to help others out. One thing to be aware of is not to get ‘sucked in’ to the negative threads that appear every now and then.

6. Make it easy for the employer to find you – when applying for a job with your electronic CV (and providing you have a strong civilianised LinkedIn profile), link your CV to your LinkedIn profile. To do this, either add the LinkedIn URL text, or link your profile from a LinkedIn logo image. To link to an image, download to your desktop a small LinkedIn icon from Google, and insert it into your CV document. Click on the image it to make it active and then press Ctrl + K on your keyboard (Cmd + K on a MAC). Now take your LinkedIn URL (section 4 above) and put this in the URL tab on the dialogue box. This way, when the employer receives your CV, they just click on the icon to be taken to your LinkedIn profile making it easier for them to learn more about you.

7. Follow companies – when you’re interested in a particular industry, use LinkedIn to research the companies within this. Click on the yellow ‘follow’ button and this way you will receive regular updates on what that company is doing. Start by following the Career Transition Partnership to be updated regularly on what is happening in the world of work.

Summary

Your profile is your shop window – now what is attractive about that window that will make someone want to look inside? Make the inside just as interesting as the window and you can do this by contributing to posts and writing articles for LinkedIn. You are now branding yourself as an expert in your industry. Join groups within your new industry; contribute to threads (positively) and start writing some articles. If someone posts a question in a group and you don’t know the answer, go off and do some research and come back and respond. It’s all about raising your profile and making yourself stand out. You will find that people start to Link with you and your opinions may be sought by others.

Using LinkedIn you can see who your friends know, where people have worked, what their interests are and who’s on the move. Using LinkedIn effectively for job search and market intelligence can save you hours: this is the new world of Job Search and LinkedIn should become your best friend.