Yesterday I mentioned LinkedIn Stories as a coming enhancement to allow you self-expression of your career trajectory.
We do not know when this will be made available to us, so why not carpe diem and start with your profile to be creatively yourself.
This is a habit to practice, not a one-shot deal to leave to petrify. A few ideas:
- A colorful and well-chose banner piques the reader’s visual interest in you. Not the default bluetone circles and lines we see too often.
- A catchy headline works wonders. Not {title} at {company name}, but like a headline on a newspaper, why you should gain a glance to entice the reader to want to know more, like a tease.
- A great elevator-pitch in your About section, now expanded to 2600 characters (including spaces) so you have TON of room to expound further on the headline to make the reader WANT to know more about your background, present and past.
- Each job you hold–and held–should demonstrate additional responsibility and deeper capability as you rose up the ladder. Make each job description demonstrate one or more facet of the gem that you are.
- Each recommendation you gather from those who know your work further reinforces what you say is your why, this time forma third party, and reflecting those facets
- Each skill you possess and each endorsement for that skill form someone who is familiar with your prowess adds further to your patina.
- Each Accomplishment you fill in allows you to further explain to the reader why this is demonstrative of your capabilities and be sure to keep this current.
- Finally, once they fall in “like” with you, make your contact details easy to get a hold of you, including a mobile phone number and email address. And…website, blog, twitter handle, and your short-form LinkedIn URL to show you went that extra step and know what you are communicating about your technical capabilities too!
That should orient you to better shine than your current profile shows you. And including these ideas will only prepare you better for the Stories product once it is introduced. Paint that image of your being ready, willing, and able.
As a general rule, get ready now. Not later when there’s no time to perfect your LinkedIn profile presentation in a pinch. You never know when that time will come at you.
