Use LinkedIn For Your Career

Put some serious time and effort into crafting your core message, and consider carefully how your target audience will view and respond to your message. If youre looking for  LinkedIn profile  consulting  to invest in, there are a lot of recommended LinkedIn profile writing services  out there.I offer a free six-day email course called The Missing Manual to LinkedIn Success. This course will  show you exactly how to identify your core audience, with specific tips on positioning your message to get the attention of your targeted audience.Don’t think of LinkedIn as just your online résumé.Your online presentation and reputation are in many ways more important than your résumé.Your online profile on LinkedIn is a digital extension of who you are, showcasing not just your employment history and your education, but also your personality, your connections, your interests, and your recommendations. A résumé can’t even come close to that!Why pasting your résumé onto your LinkedIn page doesn’t work:Employers read your résumé when you apply for a position. Your LinkedIn profile, though, is often  viewed before you are asked to apply for a position.The two forms of media are dramatically different. Even if your résumé looks good on the printed page, that doesn’t mean it’s going to present well online.Your LinkedIn profile allows you to provide “social proof” that you can’t do with a résumé. Each item listed in your “Experience” section provides you the opportunity to display other people’s recommendations and good feedback.Connections are not obvious on a résumé. A robust listing of your connections demonstrates to potential employers that you are engaged as a member of a community â€" a network of professionals.A résumé doesn’t allow for real-time updates. You mail yours off to a recruiter or human resources manager, and you’re done. Your LinkedIn profile, however, can be updated tonight, or tomorrow, with status updates that s howcase who you are and what you’re all about.For specific tips and assistance on making the most of your LinkedIn profile, you can grade your profile using my Profile Grader app. Its a free tool I developed to help people find the holes in their LinkedIn profile, and then put together a plan to fix it.New to LinkedIn?New to LinkedIn? Don’t worry, watch these 10 video lessons called, Getting Started With LinkedIn (In Just 10 minutes) on my blog.  (They’re *free* by the way. )Has any of this information changed how you might approach your own LinkedIn presence?This is the first post in a three-part series about LinkedIn.Part 1: Why You Should Use LinkedIn Like Your Career Depends on ItPart 2: Who LinkedIn is for, and Who it isn’t ForPart 3: 4-Part Strategy: How to Use LinkedIn to Get the Job You Want