What I learned from Optimizing Candidates' Linkedin Profiles

I want to start this article by letting you know that as I sit here in the calm of my Manhattan Beach weekend, writing this article, I am - in fact- reminded of the opening to Dougie Howser. Except I'm not running on MS Dos. Not that there is anything wrong with that, Microsoft, I love you.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent some time last week working with C-level executives who just weren't getting seen or called on relevant jobs. One had only shown up in 9 searches in the past week. He was a finance candidate, so that's low. And since, during my hay day schlepping resumes from the Chrysler Building, I was doing about 9 different finance searches per morning, I knew this person could benefit from optimizing his profile.

We got on the phone together to sort of mastermind the situation. One thing I let him know was that, as a recruiter using the Linkedin Recruiter tool, I am actually using a toggle button for a pre-created job titles a lot of the time. The "buckets" or categories are pre-created and then I can click on a number of them to make a Boolean string. (Is this boring already? I'll go fast.) He said, yes, he had the same thing on his side. He said that there were buttons in a drop down menu from which he could select job titles.

Here's the freaky-deeky part. The titles on his side are different. So, he's choosing buckets I can't choose. Weird, right? Such an easy fix to get him showing up on the first two pages of my basic finance searches.

Linkedin has this awesome tool that allows you to see how many searches you've shown up in each week. If you are looking for a role, it should be around 25-35. I'm usually averaging 150, but Headhunters are always trying to hire Headhunters so our industry is a bit higher.

It's completely understandable if you have spent most of your time, you know, doing your job and not focusing on how to make other people know you do your job. Especially if you are a seasoned executive who didn't grow up actively cultivating a digital identity. The good news is we can help.

Here's a link to our Linkedin Profile service. It's been discounted for the holiday season in case you want to purchase for your soon to be graduating child or career-transitioning mate. We will happily refund you if you seeing a 20% increase in your search appearances in the first 90 days.

We are excited to help you! Click Here to check it out.