Use LinkedIn Wisely in Your Executive Job Search

I would guess that the majority of executives in job search, or planning one, know that they need a LinkedIn profile.

Too many stop there.

They may fill in a little information in their profile, but they rarely do much else. And, it may have been 10 years ago since they last revisited their profile.

Some are afraid to be active on LinkedIn, because they don’t want to alert their current employer that they’re looking. They must keep their executive job search confidential.

Some think they don’t have enough time for LinkedIn.

Some get stuck. They want to take advantage of LinkedIn, but they don’t know where to start.

And some have no idea how much they can do on LinkedIn to build their personal brand and accelerate their executive job search.

I’ve put together for you some of the more potent articles I wrote this year about using LinkedIn.

How To Use LinkedIn Wisely in Your Executive Job Search

Start with my how-to guide, Smart Personal Branding with LinkedIn.

Whether you’re already on LinkedIn, an occasional user, or about to dive in for the first time, this ebook will help you improve your personal brand and your visibility to your target audience.

It’s a step-by-step guide to building your profile from scratch, and includes strategies to leverage LinkedIn to your best advantage.

7 LinkedIn Things You Should Do . . . But Probably Don’t

I review lots of LinkedIn profiles every day, and see some things that still baffle me.

People put things on their profiles that don’t belong there, but they also neglect to put things on them that really need to be there.

Generally speaking, they fail to put themselves in the shoes of people assessing them, and make it easy for these people to find out exactly what they need to know.

LinkedIn Experts Speak Up About the Biggest LinkedIn Executive Job Search Mistakes

This article came about because of a LinkedIn update I posted which included tagging people and hashtags.

I put out the query “What is the biggest mistake you see people making with LinkedIn?” to select esteemed colleagues of mine in the careers industry.

Their contributions will be very helpful to you.

Look, I Found My Personal Brand Doppelganger on LinkedIn!

Have you ever seen the profile of another executive who is surprisingly similar to you:

• She/he has the same skill sets.
• She/he seems to be looking for the same kinds of jobs.
• She/he’s the same kind of “go-to” person as you.
• And she/he’s captured YOUR personality and style so well!

Have you ever been tempted to swipe some juicy bits of content from their profile, because it’s so “you”?

Read this post before doing anything unwise like that.

How to Deal With Employment Gaps in Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile

I offer a strategy to downplay past employment gaps, plus some preemptive tactics to avoid gaps in the future, should you unexpectedly and suddenly become unemployed.

Smart Personal Branding: Posting LinkedIn Updates vs Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

Do you know the difference between “Posting a Linked Update” and “Updating the content in your LinkedIn profile”?

They are two distinct things you should be doing regularly on LinkedIn.

Do Executive Job Seekers Need LinkedIn Premium?

I’m so often asked this by clients in LinkedIn Strategy Sessions. Are the benefits of LinkedIn Premium worth the investment?

Depending upon your needs, the answer may well be “Yes”.

In my post, I lay out the 4 LinkedIn Premium versions, and what each one includes.

Give To Get the Best LinkedIn Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations are important. But how do you get people to write them for you?

My post includes how to ask for recommendations, and how to write good ones for others.

A Clever LinkedIn Personal Branding Tip to Accelerate Your Executive Job Search

Along with detailing how to prepare yourself and your LinkedIn profile to leverage the little-used tip, I offer strategies to take advantage of this powerful LinkedIn feature.

LinkedIn FAQs for Executive Job Search

In consultations and strategy sessions, my clients have lots of questions about LinkedIn. In this post, I’ve outlined 5 of the ones I’m asked most often.

How Many LinkedIn Connections Are Good For Executive Job Search?

Should you accept all invitations to connect on LinkedIn, or be selective?

There are good reasons why you should connect with lots of people and keep expanding your LinkedIn network.

Does My LinkedIn Profile Really Need a Photo?

Discussions continue over whether or not to include a photo on your LinkedIn profile and potentially face discrimination.

My post generated a lot of comments, mostly from people who won’t include a photo on their profile, for various reasons.

3 Surprising Ways LinkedIn Hurts Your Personal Brand

Clearly, I feel LinkedIn is critical to executive job search success. So why would I suggest that it can hurt your personal brand?

I offer 3 things you are NOT doing on LinkedIn that can cause problems.

Twitter vs LinkedIn for Executive Job Search Networking

I interviewed social media expert Hannah Morgan of CareerSherpa.net about the differences and benefits of using LinkedIn and Twitter in job search.

She offered great insight into what makes Twitter a better choice in certain regards.