Contact Heather at [email protected]
Still Job Searching? Tips for Updating Your Online Résumé & Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
What Employers Want to See Online
• Consistency
– Dates of employment, previous jobs, skills, etc.
• Communication skills
– Can you convey your skills and experience across in a concise and compelling way?
• Skills & experience
– Can you clearly convey your strengths?
– Do you have a handle on your brand?
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Contact Heather at [email protected]
Common “Problem Areas” Online
• Incomplete profiles or professional websites
– A lot of users sign up for social or professional networking websites, but don’t go beyond the sign-up process
• Inactive accounts
– No activity on your account might convey that you don’t care about your presence or aren’t serious about job seeking
• Lack of updates
– Updating your network lets them know how you’re doing and what you’re interested in
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Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Lack of interaction
– Social networking sites are made for meeting new people and interacting with others in your field
– If you’re constantly posting information only about you –instead of interacting – you might come off as self-absorbed
• Difficult to find
– Lack of consistency in usernames or linking to other profiles may make it difficult to find you online
– When profiles aren’t complete, you won’t be as visible to employers or recruiters searching for candidates
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Common “Problem Areas” Online
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Inappropriate content
– Many job seekers don’t realize employers are looking at all of their online profiles
– Accounts used for personal reasons might not be considered work-appropriate
– Take advantage of privacy settings or clean up your profile before job seeking
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Common “Problem Areas” Online
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Update your experience & accomplishments
– Does your résumé or online profile list responsibilities instead of accomplishments?
– Employers want to see results – quantify what you accomplished at each past organization to show why you are the ideal candidate
– Follow this outline:
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Complete your profile
– According to LinkedIn, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn
– For LinkedIn: Follow the “Profile Completeness” percentage on the side of your profile to ensure your profile reaches 100%
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
• Use free online tools to create a sleek online résumé
– Although many employers still want you to turn in a copy of your résumé, creating an online version is proactive and tech-savvy
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VisualCV.com is a free & simple way
to create an online résumé – and some
companies even ask for your
VisualCV link when applying
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Use free online tools to create a sleek online résumé
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About.me is a free site that allows you
to point users to content from
around the web.
Flavors.me helps you create a free homepage in minutes by simply connecting an existing Google, Yahoo or Facebookaccount
Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Use free online tools to create a sleek online résumé
– Convey your strengths, experience & skills
– Include work samples & accomplishments
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Claim your personalized URL
– Purchase your domain name for your online résumé and portfolio
• Ideally, www.yourname.com
• Typically under $10 per year – a great investment for your job search & career!
• Check on GoDaddy.com to see if your name (or some version of it) is available & the cost
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Claim your personalized URL
– For LinkedIn, go to “Edit Profile” and click “Edit” next to your Public Profile link
– Click “Customize Your Public Profile URL”
– Choose your first name and last name or something similar to your social networking usernames
– Consistency in your usernames will help recruiters & employers find you easily
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Claim your personalized URL
– You can opt for creating a professional Facebook page instead of using your personal profile: http://www.facebook.com/pages/
– Claim a personalized URL for your profile or page at: http://www.facebook.com/username/
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Connect with relevant contacts
– Add people you know to your networks on online profile sites
– Use address book importers to easily find everyone who is already on the site & invite others who are not yet
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– In your Twitter bio, mention your field/industry, interests, skills and other relevant keywords
– Include a link to your professional portfolio, website, CV or LinkedIn profile
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– In your LinkedIn profile, include keywords in your summary and specialties section
• Employers and recruiters search keywords on LinkedIn to find ideal candidates for positions
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– List your previous work experience on your profile to connect your account with the organization(s)
– Link to your professional Twitter account on LinkedIn
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– You have the option to include 3 additional links to your LinkedIn profile
– Pick the type from the dropdown menu or choose “Other”
– By choosing “Other” you can name each link yourself
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– Don’t forget to fill in your interests, groups/associations & honors/awards as well!
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Include relevant keywords & links
– Your LinkedIn headline defaults to your last position title
– Consider broadening it to convey your expertise by including relevant keywords to your field & concentration
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Use a professional headshot on your profiles & résumé site
– Not having a photo on sites like Twitter may make others question whether you’re a “real” person
– A professional headshot is preferable for online profiles
– Avoid anything that may be considered inappropriate, such as excessive cleavage or visible alcoholic beverages
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Change your privacy settings on personal accounts
– For Facebook: Account > Privacy Settings
– Choose “Custom” or “Friends Only” to ensure non-friends cannot view religious views, wall posts, etc.
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Change your privacy settings on personal accounts
– Photo albums privacy settings are within each album
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Join professional groups
– Search for relevant groups on LinkedIn to coincide with your industry and interests
– Sign up for e-mail notifications when new discussions are posted – and join in or start your own when possible
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Join professional groups
– LinkedIn groups recently added a “Jobs” tab with jobs relevant to keywords set by the group manager or from the group itself
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Follow organizations of interest
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Keep up with companies and professional associations through Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn
Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Share & create relevant content
– Increase your visibility by updating your status on your online profiles regularly
– Share content related to your field or interests
– Create your own content by keeping a professional blog or tumblr
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Share your expertise in your field
– Check out LinkedIn Answers http://www.linkedin.com/answers
– Look for questions you can provide answers to
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
• Request recommendations
– Connect with former co-workers, supervisors and colleagues
– Send recommendation requests to display on your profile
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Tips for Updating Your Résumé & Online Profiles
Contact Heather at [email protected]
Summary
• Creating a positive online presence is a proactive and tech-savvy way to connect with potential employers
• Just taking a few minutes to improve your profiles and online résumé can drastically improve your visibility online
• Many employers are now checking job candidate’s online images before hiring – make yours an impressive one by being active & involved on each site
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Contact Heather at [email protected]
Thank you!
Join us for our next job seeker webinar on:
March 22, 2011: Things Recruiters & Hiring Managers Won’t Tell You