On taking the next step in your career
Carson Whitsett
Software Architect, Hardware / Embedded Firmware Developer / Biotech Engineer, Unity 3D Developer, Lead iOS Developer.
There are a lot of opportunities out there. Recently I updated my LinkedIn profile’s career interests section and indicated that I was “casually looking” and “willing to wait for the right opportunity”. Soon thereafter, I began receiving solicitations from technical recruiters with opportunities not matching my skill set or interests.
I began to wonder if some recruiters zone in on certain keywords found in a job description and candidate profile rather than understand the candidate’s skills and career goals before sending them an opportunity. I asked myself what exactly are my interests? I have worked with recruiters who do endeavor to understand a candidate’s goals and realized for these people my profile wasn’t clear on my desired career direction. That prompted me to update the summary section of my profile to show my current and future areas of expertise.
I opened the summary with my skill level and capabilities. I followed up with “Currently exploring opportunities in…”. This outlines my future areas of expertise: Industry areas where my interests tend to be migrating. It’s important to think about this. Are you content with your current job or are you wanting to expand into new areas? Can you identify your current interests? Take note of what news articles you find yourself reading from beginning to end. Identify your passions. What areas outside of your comfort zone could you apply your skills to spark personal growth and new opportunities? These are all questions I asked myself. There are many emerging opportunities for a technical person (such as myself): Drones, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotics, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, virtual reality, augmented reality, self driving cars, 3D printing, cyber security, etc.. Where do I want to spend my time? Where do you want to spend your time? Identify the areas that interest you and make a list. After making my list, I narrowed it down to just three things where a) I would be happy doing any one of the three and b) my dream job would be an opportunity to do all three. In just a few sentences, I effectively armed a recruiter with what I can do and what I want to do. If they wish to learn more about me, they can click the “Show more” link below my summary to see some of the projects I’ve worked on. This gives them a better view of how I’ve applied my skills in the past.
Next, I utilized the “Media” facility of my profile’s Experience section to provide images and videos of various projects I’ve worked on. This is the best way to showcase your work and shows a recruiter (and future employer) tangible examples of your capabilities. For each media item, I entered a title and description. The title should succinctly say what the content of your media is. The description gives you an opportunity to highlight interesting experiences or challenges you encountered while working on the project.
Finally, I updated my skills to be relevant. It’s easy to forget about this section. You should review it and delete any obsolete skills then add new ones you may have picked up recently.
While mismatched opportunities may still arrive, I believe these simple profile edits can empower recruiters and eventual employers to land you your next dream job!
What are your "core three" passions and what has been your experience pursuing opportunities on LinkedIn?
Founder @ King Strategic Consulting
6 年Powerful post. Probably the most helpful is how you shared your process for getting clear on what you want: start wide, brainstorm possibilities, and narrow it down. Clarity doesn't just help the "casually looking" professional, but extends to any professional whether in the category of "definitely not looking" to "desperately looking." I have managed people directly who seem thoroughly content with their jobs, and when I ask them their career goals they have no idea. Even when content with your profession, it is vital to be cultivating the skills that matter to you. As Lewis Carroll wrote, "if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." I've also spoken with people who are in between jobs, who really need help and can't provide a clear answer when asked, "what are you looking to do?" No one can be helpful to someone who isn't clear about what they can do.? The clarity you've created for yourself extends well beyond a LinkedIn profile, and will make every networking conversation, as well as coffee/lunch with friends, more impactful for the person you are speaking with and lead to more conversations and inevitably will generate interesting opportunities. Thanks for sharing!