The experience section of your LinkedIn Profile is SO NOT a copy/paste from your CV. This message does seem to slowly sink in, but there is a lot more to it than you might think at first. Read on to find out 5 things to pay attention to, and fix IMMEDIATELY in most cases.
THE FIVE BIG BOO-BOOS IN LINKEDIN EXPERIENCE
- Describing what you did, yawn.
- Lack of clear future focus, it’s not that hard.
- Ugly looks, you CAN format to an extent.
- The Grey Square, fix it, fix it, fix it (please).
- Stuffing too much under one heading, breakups are good!
DESCRIBING WHAT YOU DID
When reading those descriptions I yawn. I mean I YAWN BIG TIME. Your job title gives me a general idea of what you did. Now translate the juicy bits (innovation, results, deep end dives) into descriptions that focus on the HERE AND NOW and the immediate future. In other words: make me feel that you are the right person for what I’m looking for in a service provider or employee.
LACK OF CLEAR FUTURE FOCUS
LinkedIn is not about the past. Period. No but… When describing your previous roles, education and courses, have a clear FUTURE focus. What do your clients (or next employer) need to know and BELIEVE about you? Use the right words to hit a nerve with them.
UGLY LOOKS
LinkedIn is quite a uniform platform. The there is no text editor with formatting options to prettify your profile. That doesn’t mean it has to look UGLY. You can copy and paste bullets into your profile. When using a bulleted list, the second line doesn’t get indented, so keep it short enough to stay on one line. When adding media to job roles (YES PLEASE) ideally go for TWO. Two items get stretched a bit and line up neatly with the left and right margin. Or be stubborn like me and add more. Just don’t add ONE item per section, it looks UGLY AS.
THE GREY SQUARE
This means work experience for a company without a logo. It screams at your reader: THIS WAS NOT A PROFESSIONAL ROLE. Fancy having your profile scream that at each potential client if you are an entrepreneur? Or how about you worked for Shell, HP and Google, but your profile looks crap as none of the logos are there.
BREAKUPS ARE GOOD
I once worked with a client who had one entry on her profile. She had been with Shell for 17 years. Once we broke it up in 6 roles, you saw an amazing journey from front desk receptionist at a local office to EMEA Real Estate Portfolio Manager. BAM. Show the journey in your career. Breakups are even more important if you are self-employed! Add your 2-3 main services as separate entries on your profile. They stand out like a sore thumb IN A GOOD WAY.