A close friend asked me for some thoughts on writing a LinkedIn profile.
I noticed on someone else’s profile that they had put their Summary in the third person. I had done that with mine, but now I am about to start a serious excursion on looking for a new job. Should I re-write my Summary into the first person and overall, do you have recommendations on what I should put in there?
Here are my thoughts.
I would write a LinkedIn profile summary in first person. Third person can have the effect of making you sound arrogant or full of yourself. In a competitive job market, being personable and nice to work with can make all the difference when hire-decision time comes. You want to create that positive first impression right of the bat. It’s probably fine to write in third person for a printed document like a bio, or brochure, but in the case of a “social network” it has a more personal connecting intent, so first-person is probably more effective. That’s just my intuition opinion, so if you disagree or know otherwise, I invite you to share in the comments section.
Here are some other tips:
Start your LinkedIn profile with the job you want in mind — that’s your vision. Look up a few ideal job descriptions in openings being posted on Monster.com or other job sites and analyze the key words and skill-requirements companies are asking for.
Based on these, while staying honest, craft your profile making sure to cover those key points. Make sure to not get to granular (ex. I know how to use photoshop) unless that granular skill set is very important to the role. Sometimes alluding to a skill without being specific will get you an interview, because now the person has to interview you to know more. Of course, you don’t want to be so vague that you don’t stand out among a pile of candidates — it has to be clear from your profile that you are qualified. But because its the web, keywords (search) are the key factor to an effective profile.
Basicly, your summary should be a “match” to your ideal job. I am assuming, of course, that you are qualified for your ideal job.
If the job description says, “Opportunity requires an experienced interactive marketing professional with proven results in developing small to large-scale consumer and B2B web sites and integrated email campaigns” you would write your profile to say, “I am an experienced interactive marketing leader with proven results in developing small to large-scale consumer and B2B web sites and integrated email campaigns.”
Now — if you know you’re interviewing with a specific company, don’t copy off their specific job description, or edit it enough and “make it yours” so its not “clearly” a copy/paste–the HR rep might not appreciate it and it will come off as being dishonest (…again, make sure to modify to ensure accuracy and honesty in regards to your abilities and experiences).
On a side note: An important thing to remember about job hunting is that even if you don’t have every specific experience or skill set asked for, you may have skills that compensate. For example, years ago I was hired as a web designer. The job posting required knowledge of JavaScript, and experience using Macromedia Dreamweaver. I had been doing some copy/pasting of JavaScript (though I don’t know how to program it much) and had been working with MS FrontPage. So, I indicated these things when I sent in my resume and cover letter, and also indicated that I had a strong ability in rapidly learning new software and a solid understanding of the key concepts behind JavaScript programing. I got the interview and I landed the job. I was using Dreamweaver to complete HTML code on the first day of the job — I walked in with 3 fat Dreamweaver books I picked up the Barns & Noble discount pile. My new manager thought it was funny, but was surprised when I completed a pile of Web Help Desk requests within hours of having them assigned.
So, in short, don’t fear not having every skill set required– just make sure to communicate other skills you do have that compensate for the one you are missing.
Crisp images and text in grays and whites are easy to read, and with just a little lag, scroll from page to page easily. While it isn’t ready yet, ultimately you will be able to add notes and sketches to PDFs, CAD drawings, spreadsheets and text documents. The documents will synch from a computer via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or a wired connection. Lithium ion batteries power the display. An obvious upgrade in future versions would be a color screen.
Check out the video where Richard Archuleta, CEO Plastic Logic demonstrates their electronic reader aimed specifically for business users.
DENVER – The University of Colorado at Boulder remains among the nation’s top public universities for undergraduates—ranking 34th overall—and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is among the best public colleges in the West offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.”
You can read more here. I personally thought they did a good job of the business of getting me prepared for the real world. The economist professor in their MBA program is phenomenal — worth going to the school just for a one semester in his class.
Users download Spinoculars, a toolbar that sits atop the browser and lets readers know if the story they are reading has any phrases or words that indicate bias. (It works only in Firefox now and will work in Internet Explorer in a couple weeks.) It highlights those phrases in a big red box, and readers can click to find out what exactly SpinSpotter found wrong with the phrase.
The concept is novel, and considering our times, probably something many consumers would love to have. But, I have to say I don’t really see how its going to work. They will have to prove its effective and accurate first.
Desperately wanting to find spin, I went to the Silicon Valley gossip site, Valleywag, which makes no qualms about writing stories with its own snarky spin. Yet calling PR people “the most annoying people in our inbox” did not raise any red flags on SpinSpotter. Writing that Rupert Murdoch is “not going to have any luck recruiting an outsider to fill the spot” of MySpace China chief executive wasn’t spin either.
That is partly because SpinSpotter has started out with very few phrases in its database of spin, said Mr. Herman.
I’ve had the opportunity to test-drive the technology behind this — lots of powerful intelligence and analytic tools to help you interpret the “noise” out there.
…according to RelevantNoise(TM), Zeta Interactive’s technology that mines the Internet’s social media landscape — including over 100 million blogs, as well as countless message boards and online communities — the buzz on the Internet regarding John McCain has skyrocketed by more than 12 percent since the announcement of Palin as his running mate, bringing him virtually even with Obama for the first time in the campaign.
I’m rooting for McCain, and was happy with his pick for VP, so its nice to read the good news. From a political strategy point of view, it seems to me that all the attacks on Sarah Palin is backfiring for the Obama campaign and has them off-message.
Since announcing Palin as his running mate, McCain also has benefitted from an increase in positive posts on the online media landscape. According to RelevantNoise, the number of posts that were determined positive in tone increased from 47 percent in the month prior to announcing his VP to 59 percent positive on the day that McCain named Palin. (Click the URL to see the volume and tonal charts) – http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080903/NYW144
Lack of marketing strategy and execution integration seems to be a common challenge to many companies face when there are “silos” within the marketing channels. Inevitably, your customers will end up seeing different creative, different offers, and different price points.
Your integration efforts would probably needs to start at your “List” level. For best integration, you’ll want to make sure all channels are working of a shared List/customer database. Depending on who your customer is, you would then build an integrated segmentation strategy (who gets what channel as well as what offer/incentive, etc.). You will also want to make sure to pay attention to touch points and marketing calendar — you don’t want customers getting a flood of communication from different channels, so keep things on the same marketing calendar and decide how much is appropriate for each segment/channel.
To determine the best strategy, you could run some tests — select a control group and then do some split or A/B testing (DM vs Email, or DM & Email, etc.).
I would certainly advice on a cohesive messaging and offer value. We tend to do DM first (strong branding effect, as its in-hand and tangible) followed by a reminder email that reinforces the offer (one week later). I have also seen it to be effective to send “reminder” emails on regular intervals during the promotion period (this will depend on how long your promotion is to last).
Finally, all channels are usually tied to a custom-built micro site that pulls the promo together. Usually, the micro site should be created to match your corporate or product brand. I also like to use tracking links and unique URLs on DM vs Email to be able to measure which creative caused the customer to take action or respond, as well as to test various email creative.
Writing your LinkedIn Profile Summary
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