Employers, recruiters, clients use LinkedIn to identify candidates, business partners, professional relationships. Before selecting or contacting you, they will scan your profile, analyze your background, see who you are connected with and who recommended you and why.
Jobprofile has helped hundreds of people create and optimize their LinkedIn profile. This is a real opportunity to undertake your self-marketing. Recommendations are an integral part of your showcase. A recommendation is not only used to highlight the positive aspects of your profile but should attest, certify, validate your skills, your application for a position or even your knowledge at work.
Tip 1: Know how to filter recommendations
A recommendation can be an asset as well as a disadvantage in terms of the coherence you want to give to your professional digital identity. There are two types of recommendations on LinkedIn, written recommendations related to a specific position or work experience, and “Skills and Recommendations” in the form of “tags” or labels. In both cases, it is essential to know how to filter – reject – select – organize the recommendations you receive or request. It is also possible, and often essential, to ask the person who recommends you to be more specific or more exhaustive.
Not all recommendations are good to take. They must validate and attest to the career path you have chosen to highlight. And always remain authentic, as overkill or falsifications are quickly spotted. Your ability to manage these recommendations will show your professionalism on a work network such as LinkedIn. In addition, as professional networks such as LinkedIn become more prevalent in the job market, your “digital” recommendations will gradually become more relevant than your traditional work certificates.
Tip 2: Solicit recommendations from the right people
Solicit recommendations only from people with whom you have worked, collaborated or had a professional relationship. We all have colleagues, bosses, mentors, employees, coaches, collaborators, clients, suppliers with whom we have worked, collaborated, built, succeeded, developed, etc. However, it is important to select recommendations from people who are significant and meaningful to recruiters, employers or clients who will spot your profile.
In our regular coaching activity, we accompany people in the construction of their professional identity (CV development, career summary, LinkedIn profile, etc.). One of the exercises we do with them, which is not easy, is to identify the contacts in their network who are best able to make a reasoned judgement on their career path, to appreciate their skills and abilities, their professional successes, their experiences or their behavior at work. Identifying these people requires prior work on the key competencies of the talents, so that the message projected through the profile is coherent and consistent.
Tip 3: Stay in control of your profile and message
LinkedIn has developed the option of recommendations in the form of tags. Very popular, because it is quick and easy, this option has its downside. Recommendations are distributed without real consideration, sometimes without even knowing the person, personally or professionally. Often perceived as superficial, these recommendations obviously do not carry the same weight as a written recommendation. However, there is a way to use this part of your profile to your advantage. In fact, in order to keep control over your image and the way you want professionals to perceive your profile and identify you, remain vigilant and uncompromising. Delete (uncheck in editable mode) recommendations that do not reflect the core competencies of your profile and those that are given by people who cannot really attest to those competencies in a professional setting.
Ask your network to recommend you only for your key competencies so that these labels reflect your positioning and allow people who use LinkedIn to identify you. It is up to you to choose the skills for which you want to be recommended without diluting your message.
As a matter a fact, LinkedIn offers the option to associate your competences with the positions you have held. LinkedIn suggests that you put 5 key competences for each position you have held, but be careful not to drown your profile. It is also possible to reorganize them and evaluate yourself through a small quiz. Be careful to choose specific terms related to your skills and specialties, as well as general terms related to your broader area of expertise.
For example, if your job title is Digital Marketing Manager, the skills that could be selected according to your profile and your background are: Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Marketing Application Strategy, Analytics Management, Mobile, Internet or Social Media Strategy (SMO), Content Strategy, Advertising, Email Campaigns, SEO, SEM, PPC, E-commerce, Google Analytics, Project Management, etc.
If your function is IT HelpDesk Support, the skills that could be retained according to your profile and your background are: IT Support, Technical Support, Service Desk, ITIL Foundation, MCSA, MCSE, MS Office Scripting, Active Directory, or SharePoint.
Conclusion
Don’t underestimate these tips that will increase your chances of being identified by search engines and companies that are interested in you. It is a process of managing your employability that is not to be undertaken only when you are looking for a new opportunity. Your employability needs also to be maintained while you are employed. This helps you position yourself within your company, or guides your choices in terms of training. Our approach to coaching aims at excellence, consistency and efficiency when it comes to supporting you in your career plan. Building your LinkedIn profile is not an exact science. It is not an easy task to do alone and without expert guidance to help you sort through the multitude of often misguided advice found on the platform.
