Good LinkedIn, Weak LinkedIn

Want to know how to
make a difference to your
personal onl e
marketing?
This document has been constructed to show
you the advantages of a good LinkedIn profile
and gives you hints and tips on how to
stand out from the rest...
AND BE NOTICED.

Let’s begin >>

PERSONAL CAREER ADVOCATES

R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S

info@richmondsolutions.co.uk
richmondsolutions.co.uk

Are you credible?
It is fair to say that nowadays no credible job seeker can afford to be without a decent
LinkedIn profile. A good LinkedIn profile adds credibility to your professional reputation,
whereas a poor LinkedIn profile can mean that a recruiter, or possible new business contact,
overlooks you, in turn for somebody who stands out more.

Here, we look at some of the pitfalls of LinkedIn and show you how you can improve your
presence and profile online. We take as an example the profile of Matthew Smith, the
“candidate” whose CV we looked at in our guide, “Good CV, Weak CV”.

Contents EXAMPLES
Why LinkedIn? Weak Profile
The bits you don’t see Good Profile
Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


Why Linked ?
The use of the web in recruitment is growing. LinkedIn, which has always human resources and recruiting professionals in the US and found that
promoted itself as the professional network, has purposefully started to 92% will recruit from social networks and more than 70% have
promote its use as a tool for recruiters and hiring managers. successfully hired a candidate through social media. LinkedIn leads the
way in recruiting with 93% of those surveyed using the network. Social
Faced with a new role to recruit to and maybe without an obvious networks are ranked top alongside referrals and direct sourcing as being
candidate for the job, which recruiter wouldn’t be attracted to a ready- the best external sources for quality candidates.
made database of millions of names? If you are appropriate for the role
they are recruiting for, wouldn’t it be great if the recruiter found you We can only speculate on how far the rest of the world
and dropped you a line? is behind the US on this. But with this evidence, can you
afford not to have an outstanding LinkedIn profile?
If the rest of the world follows the US, your social media presence will
become even more important in securing your next role. The Jobvite
Social Recruiting Survey 2012 received responses from over 1,000

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The bits you don’t see
Before we start, a word on settings. The bottom line is you have to be
visible. Of course, not everyone is comfortable with having a public
profile on the web but remember that if LinkedIn is going to be an
effective tool in your job hunt, recruiters have to be able to find you.

So ensure:

• Your full name is visible
• Your photo can be seen by everyone
• You can be easily contacted by email

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


Your Photo
Remember LinkedIn is a business network. So look like you mean
business in your photo. No holiday photos, no party photos: it needs to
be a good quality head and shoulders photo of you, preferably in a suit.

People will make judgements based on the photo and people
expect to see it (or they might think you’re hiding something).
Not having one is not an option.

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The Weak Profile
Would you believe the sample we give here is considered “Expert” and scale of his roles or of the companies that he’s worked for. In short, it
according to LinkedIn? LinkedIn itself only measures how much is not clear what he can offer an employer. The profile has evidently been
information you supply it with, not the quality of it. thrown together in a hurry and with little care.

Many profiles on LinkedIn look a bit like this. All it took was following the On top of that, Matthew isn’t making the most of LinkedIn, which is
prompts you are given to add information as you set it up. There is little heavily optimised for searches. His professional headline (“Managing
in here which would make it easy for a recruiter to find Matthew. Still Director”) means people will find him if they are searching for a Managing
less is there much to hold their attention if he does appear on a search. Director but they might miss him for roles within his professional
specialisms which he might be well-suited to; and he’s not in many groups.
What is worse, it looks tired. Little thought has gone into the summary Group membership can demonstrate shared interest in a particular field
or into the descriptions of the different roles. There are mistakes and and so allow you to be found through that route. Some groups also post
there is jargon. What it lacks is an engaging description of what the job vacancies too and, if you’re not a member, there’s a strong chance that
person does and what he has achieved. We have no idea as to the scope you’ll also miss out on these.

Contents EXAMPLES
Why LinkedIn? Weak Profile Click toView Weak Profile Example
Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The Weak Profile - Example 1 of 4
01 Matthew’s professional headline doesn’t tell
us what industry he’s in. This will make him 01

hard to find.
02
02 Poor photo – you can’t really see the
03
subject and I bet he wouldn’t use this on a
company website. Also, it is too small.

03 This is an abbreviation. Others might not
know what this means.

04 You wouldn’t get a clear idea from this what
he really wants to do and what he can do.

05 Typing error.

06 Let’s hope he remembers to update the
number of years regularly.

Click toView Next Page 04

06 05
Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


07 It’s good he mentions that he ran the sites
in Hong Kong and in the Far East and that
the P&L was worth several million but this
needs to be more precise. We don’t really
get much of an idea of the scope of the role
from this. How would we know if he’s an
attractive candidate for a job?

08 Very little information about the rest of his 07

roles. Also, WuO is an abbreviation and
some readers may well not know what it
stands for. We don’t get much idea about
his career path and his achievements. At its
most basic, it’s hard to tell what experience
he actually has. 08

09 Wrong date

09

Click toView Next Page

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


10 Entering skills is an important part of
10
optimising your LinkedIn profile for
searching. Surely he has more than three
after such a long career! He should really
add a lot more. After all, you can have up
to 50!

11 Hardly relevant at this stage of his career.

12 If you’re going to include interests, focus on
those that are relevant to your professional
life.

13 As with a CV, you don’t need to include this
kind of information – and probably best not 11
to if you think there’s any risk you might be
discriminated against because of your age.
Even more importantly, consider the
security implications: your date of birth is
commonly used by your bank, etc., as a way
of checking your identity, so it’s better not
to make it public on a website.

14 Full marks for joining some groups, but they
relate to his hobbies, not his career. Also,
you can join up to 50. 12

13

Contents EXAMPLES
Why LinkedIn? Weak Profile 14

Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The importance of getting the settings right
The name of the game of being on LinkedIn is being seen. We realise that some of you may be concerned about having open settings on a social media site
but you at least have to have a Public Profile so that others can find you. Consequently, if your settings at all restrict what others can see, there’s a risk that
recruiters, and other people you may want to hear from, won’t find you. If you don’t publish your public profile, your profile will be visible to no-one and
your work will be wasted.

As a result, we recommend that you select “Make my public profile visible to everyone” and then check at least the following boxes:

• Picture • Headline
• Summary • Current Positions
• Past Positions • Skills
• Education • Interested In…

Remember that the more information about your career and achievements you make available, the easier it is for people
who don’t know you to assess whether you are the right person for them to contact.


Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The Good Profile
If sending your CV to someone has to be highly targeted, you need to It is also worth noting that it is consistently written in the first person
think of your LinkedIn profile as broadcasting: it needs to express to a (I, me, my). The general consensus seems to be that this is the preferred
wide community who you are, what you do and what your aspirations style for writing LinkedIn profiles so that they come over as though you
are. It also needs to make someone think that they would want to hire were presenting yourself to someone. It also seems more natural and
you or do business with you. “human” than something that is written with no pronouns.

The good profile has a professional feel to it. It is clear what Matthew Matthew now has a wide network, which is important if people are
does and thought has been given to the information in the different going to find him. This is a place to build business relationships and by
sections. By listing skills and expertise, the profile is optimised to be broadening your own network, you also broaden your second and third
found in searches. level networks.

As we have mentioned earlier, groups also form an important part of
the mix. You can belong to up to 50. If you have a particular personal
interest (such as Matthew’s interest in horses), then it won’t hurt if a
few groups relate to that but as a job hunter, the more groups you join
relating to your professional life, the greater the chance of being seen by
Contents EXAMPLES
people with an interest in hiring you.You can leave groups as easily as
Why LinkedIn? Weak Profile you can join them, so leave any which don’t seem particularly useful.
Your Photo
The Weak Profile Click toView Next Page
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


continued... The Good Profile
LinkedIn also allows you to add sections which are not in its standard Writing an excellent profile is not everybody’s cup of tea, however. So, if
layout. In Matthew’s case we have added a section for “Certifications” you need help with developing a really effective, hard working LinkedIn
and another for “Languages”, to highlight his professional membership profile, that’s appealing to potential recruiters, employers and business
and foreign language proficiencies. We have also added “Volunteer associates, please contact Richmond Solutions on
Experience and Causes” to showcase his fundraising work. There info@richmondsolutions.co.uk.
are many more sections which you can choose from and we would
recommend that you explore those to see which ones may help your
profile. Bear in mind, too, that you can move the different sections
around depending on what you wish to emphasise.

The whole point of having an online presence is to show you at your
best to the wider world. Decide what you need to tell people if you are Click toView Good Profile Example
to attain your career goals and make sure it’s clear to anyone who
searches you out.

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


The Good Profile - Example 1 of 6
We have used British English and Sterling (as
a currency) throughout. We could equally
have used American English as the language 01
and another currency as appropriate – the
point is to be consistent.

Note that it is also written in the first
person – the general consensus is that this
is the preferred style for LinkedIn as it 02

seems more personal, as though the writer 03

were presenting him/herself to you.

01 The headline now gives a clear impression
of what Matthew does.

02 The photograph is now a good professional
head and shoulders shot.
04

03 He’s been working hard on linking to people
and so broadening his wider network.

04 Matthew has added further contact details
to his profile and he’s also entered a couple
of websites that he thinks will be interesting
for people who look him up. Note that he
has given them bespoke names.

05 The Summary gives a clear overview of
Matthew’s professional capabilities and
includes key words which means his profile
will be more highly ranked in searches. 05


Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Profile
The Good Profile


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


06 Matthew has added sections on his
professional membership and languages
which show these well. He has also moved
them up from their default position so that
they are readily visible to the reader.

07 Matthew has now fully filled in the
Experience section, giving brief descriptions 06
of each role. It gives a clear idea of his
career path and professional capabilities.

08 Matthew has still included a number of key
metrics which help to illustrate his
achievements but has been vague about
them where they might be commercially
sensitive.

07


Contents EXAMPLES
08
Your Photo
08
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S



09 Beyond the 10-year point, you don’t need to
say so much about your roles, if you choose
to include them.

09


Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S




Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


10 Presenting his voluntary fundraising
activities under Volunteer Experience and
Causes allows Matthew to highlight the
charity work he has done and show what
organisations and causes he supports. As he
is interested in working further with
charities, this may help him.

11 Listing his skills also helps to make his
profile searchable and he has now added the
full 50 he is permitted. In time they will be
endorsed and they will appear starting with
the most endorsed first.
10

11

Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


12 He’s taken out details of his school and
added details of his MBA. 12

13 Matthew gives clear advice to anyone
reading his profile regarding what he’s
interested in and how to contact him.

He could join up to 50 groups, so he could
14 do more, but at least he’s now joined some
groups which are relevant to his
professional interests.

13

14


Contents EXAMPLES
Your Photo
The Weak Proﬁle
The Good Proﬁle


R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


For a FREE LinkedIn proﬁle review by our
team of specialist writers,please click on
the link below and upload your URL

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R
RICHMOND
+44 (0)20 8835 7082
S


Good LinkedIn, Weak LinkedIn

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Good LinkedIn, Weak LinkedIn