1 Advanced Writing Strategies for Your LinkedIn …mmd.cfainstitute.org/pdf/2003_2013/Redick_Career_1_1up.pdfAdvanced Writing Strategies for Your LinkedIn Profile Jared Redick Executive

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A CFA Institute Productionwww.cfainstitute.orgSlides provided by speaker

Advanced Writing Strategies for Your LinkedIn ProfileJared RedickExecutive Résumé writerThe Résumé Studio

19 July 2012

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160+ MillionProfessionals

Worldwide

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Principle 1: Be found• Establish a “career defining headline”• Choose your profile photo with care• Define 8–12 copy keywords and phrases• Set your public profile preferences• Snag your custom URL

Principle 2: Reach out• Join groups• Interact• Connect with others

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Principle 3: Build a reputation• Create status updates• Add sections• Recommend and be recommended

Principle 4: Stay connected• Keep up with colleagues• Link your mobile device

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Just because LinkedIn says you can, doesn’t mean you should.

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2010 and earlier

Résumé > LinkedIn

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Résumé = LinkedIn

Today

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Résumé < LinkedIn

Ten years from now?

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So you’ve been found, now what?

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How can you craft purposeful copy that serves

multiple audiences?

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Summary Section• Opening paragraphs• Second and interior paragraphs• Closing paragraphs

Experience Section

Technical Dilemmas

What Your Readers Want to Know

Today’s Plan:

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• In a perfect world, what do you want to achieve with your LinkedIn presence?• What’s your purpose?

• How active will you be on LinkedIn? • A static holding place• A presence that I actively cultivate

• First or third-person?• Informal, semi-formal, or formal tone of voice?• What kind of copy will best serve you?

• “Above” my career? My career is in transition.• Directly to my career. I’m not changing

careers.

Profile Uses: • Summary Section• Experience Section• Specialties Section• Skills and Expertise Section

Decision-Making Questions

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• Keyword or phrase #1: ____________• Keyword or phrase #2: ____________• Keyword or phrase #3: ____________• Keyword or phrase #4: ____________• Keyword or phrase #5: ____________• Keyword or phrase #6: ____________• Keyword or phrase #7: ____________• Keyword or phrase #8: ____________

Profile Uses: • Summary Section• Experience Section• Specialties Section• Skills and Expertise

Section

8–12 Keywords and Phrases

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• Clients / customers• Investors• Board members• Press / media • Constituents• Vendors / suppliers• Business partners

Profile Uses: • Summary Section• Experience Section• Specialties Section• Skills and Expertise

Section

Who Are You Addressing?Of your many possible audiences, who do you care about most?

• Industry leaders• Colleagues• Past, present, and future

bosses• Employees / teams• Contractors• Regulators

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• International firm wants no mention of their name, except where it appears in the “Experience Section.”

• National company wants their executives to have fully completed profiles.

• Global consulting firm has all their partners and senior people using the same cut-and-paste corporate mission.

Profile Uses:• Summary Section• Experience Section• Specialties Section• Skills and Expertise

Section

Start Off Right . . .

Any company policies (past and present) to work with?

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Summary SectionWriting for LinkedIn’s

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Summary Section: Not a Résumé

Short executive bioHigh-level career snapshot

Soft call to actionAbout page equivalent

Tell a storyUnify disparate career experiences

Other uses, depending on your purpose, brand, company policies, etc.

2,100 characters versus 4 paragraphs

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Purpose > Content > Design

Purpose > Content >

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“Summary” to the Naked Eye:

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“Summary” with Keywords Exposed:

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How This Works Going Forward . . .

I’m Jared Redick, and I specialize in hard-to-write documents for mid-career Fortune 500 professionals and beyond. For fifteen years, I’ve taken people on journeys of self-discovery, using résumé writing as a tool for professional self-assessment.

Original:

Reverse engineered:I’m [Name], and I specialize in [what] for [who] and [who]. For [how many] years, I’ve [done what], using [what] as a tool for [what].

Set to third-person, formal:Jared Redick specializes in hard-to-write documents for mid-career Fortune 500 professionals and beyond. For fifteen years, he has taken people on journeys of self-discovery, using résumé writing as a tool for professional self-assessment.

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Another Example

Eighteen years of institutional portfolio management experience, including portfolio construction, equity research, and investing strategy for global firms with up to $___B in AUM. Expert management of mid cap growth assets up to $___.

Original:

Reverse engineered:[How many] years of [what kind of] experience, including [discipline], [discipline], and [discipline] for [what kinds of] firms with up to $____B in AUM. Expert [at doing what] of (or “for”) [what].

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Beneath the Hood

[What kind of] and [what kind]-driven [what are you?], offering [how many] years of [what kind of]experience spanning [discipline] and [discipline] for [ranking?] [company/organization/firm] with annual [revenues/AUM] up to $_______B.

Starting point:

Fill in the blanks:Entrepreneurial and metrics-driven investment marketing professional, offering 20+ years of domestic and international experience spanning creative development and launch for Fortune 50 companies with annual revenues up to $120B.

Entrepreneurial and metrics-driven investment marketing professional, offering 20+ years of domestic and international experience spanning creative development and launch for Fortune 50 companies with annual revenues up to $120B.

Resulting copy:

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Opening Paragraphs

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• Set a tone• Create an umbrella under which

everything else appears• Present top-level information• Offer framework to understand you

Opening paragraphs introduce:

Opening paragraphs answer questions:

• Who are you?• What do you have your arms around?• What can you do for me?

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Opening Paragraphs

Demonstrating team leadership

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: Ms. Jane Doe and her [what kind of] team of [what/who] have been at the core of [Company Name]’s [what] and [what] practices for more than [a decade? two decades?], creating [what] that enables [what].

Ex2: As a lead [what/who] managing and serving on teams charged with [doing what] and [doing what], I’ve learned [what/philosophy].

Ex2 also presents a work-related philosophy: “I’ve learned [what].” The [what/who] could be a past, present, future, or career-defining job title. The [what]s become functions or practice areas (stay parallel). Consult your 8-12 keywords and phrases.

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Opening Paragraphs

Frontloading international experience

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: Jane Doe has more than [how many] years of [function], [function], [function], and [function]experience in the [Geographic] region of [what continent], including [Country], [Country], [Country], [Country] and [Country].

Ex2: John Smith has nearly [how many] years of [functional], [functional], and [functional] experience leading teams and initiatives across [Continent], [Continent], and [Continent].

P1 also captures overall career [function]s (or subset) functions to focus the reader. It also includes keywords and phrases so the profile owner can be found. Finally, presenting geographically-specific details (continent, country, state, region) is smart.

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Opening Paragraphs

Sharing a soft skill

Purpose:

Strategy:

With more than [how many] years of experience in [function/practice area], [function/practice area], and [function/practice area], I’ve built a reputation for [doing what].

This paragraph also captures years of experience, functional skills, or practice areas.

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Opening Paragraphs

Illustrating functional or practice area authority, stability, and longevity

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: Jane Smith advises [who] on [what big picture function/practice area], drawing from more than [how many]years of [what/function], [what/function], and [what/function] experience across [Continent/Country] and [Continent/Country] markets.

Ex2: John Doe helps [Firm/Company Name] translate financial [what] and [what else] into profitable [what] as part of the [what type of] firm’s [how many]-year pledge to delivering [what].

Ex1 opens with the owner’s primary audience (who) and subject of authority (what), then drills down into functional areas of expertise and geographic scope.

Ex2 ties subject to the company/firm as a team player, while enhancing its brand.

Both also position for a career change while not tipping off the employer.

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Opening Paragraphs

Unifying apparently opposing or unrelated skills and expertise

Purpose:

Strategy:

For more than two decades, I’ve helped [clients/companies/people] match [what] with [what], building [what] and [what] that balances [what].

This paragraph also softens years of experience instead of presenting a hard number.

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Opening Paragraphs

Positioning for a possible career change in the long term

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: Jane Doe helps [Firm Name] clients translate [what kind of] goals into [what kind of] strategies, leveraging [how many] years in [what kind of] and [what kind of] investments across [what kind of]markets.

Ex2: [Career defining headline] John Smith is passionate about taking [who] from [where/what] to [where/what]. His work at [Firm Name] is no exception, where he connects [what] with technologies that [what], harnessing the power of [what] in international markets.

This approach also works for addressing current joblessness.

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Opening Paragraphs

Incorporating new education to a career already in motion—particularly when it doesn’t entirely align with career experience to date

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: John Doe has more than [how many] years of [what kind of] experience coupling [what kind of] advanced education with in-house domestic and international experience for firms with AUM ranging from $_____M to $_____B.

Ex2: Educated in [what] and [what], Jane’s strengths originate from her ability to translate [what] across [what].

The end of this paragraph also shows where the subject is comfortable in terms of company size and, in this example, can be used to refer to his own employer or firms with which he has advised or consulted.

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Opening Paragraphs

Presenting pending CFA designation against non-finance related background

Purpose:

Strategy:

Jane Smith is a [who are you now] professional with [how many] years of [what kind of] and [what kind of] [investing] experience across [what kind of, either type or function] markets. A Level [?] CFA candidate and Series [?/?] holder, [Jane] is skilled in [what related skill(s)] and [what other related skill(s)]. She is also a seasoned [soft skill to tie everything together].

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Opening Paragraphs

Presenting pending CFA designation and future hopes against a finance-related background

Purpose:

Strategy:

Since [YYYY], I’ve [done what, professionally that’s related to your goal] with some of the biggest names in finance to [do what] and [do what] in the [what] industry, helping them navigate [what], prevent [what], and [do what else]. A Level [?] CFA candidate with plans to [do what], my expertise spans [what area/realm/discipline], offering unique insights into [what problem(s)].

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Opening Paragraphs

Start with conviction:

Jane Smith . . .Ms. Smith . . .I . . .Senior Portfolio Manager John Doe. . .Since YYYY,For more than [how long] . . .

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Second Paragraphsand beyond . . .

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• Keep the narrative flowing smoothly• Create context

Second paragraphs launch:

Interior paragraphs support and tell:

• Drill down• Present mid-level detail (not

granular)• Tell your story

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Second Paragraphs and beyond . . .

Truncating type of work, audience involved, kinds of funds managed, and industry experience—all in one sentence.

Purpose:

Strategy:

Jane’s career includes advising [what kind of] managers and [what kind of] corporations, and managing [what kind of] funds and analyzing [what] and managing [what else] in [industry], [industry], [industry], and [industry].

This is particularly helpful in condensing long careers into a succinct statement. Because of the word “includes,” the subject can choose past career elements that relate to today. LinkedIn is not a résumé. Neither LinkedIn nor the résumé need to present everything and the kitchen sink. Only that which is relevant.

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Introducing soft skills that matter

Purpose:

Strategy:

Before: [Name]’s [what] style lets him [do what] into [what], whether working with [who] or presenting [what].

After: John’s communication style lets him distill complex investing ideas into an easily understood approach, whether working with individual clients or presenting insightful boardroom analysis.


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Pulling past relevant information to the top of mind, particularly when your current position has strayed from your original passion or preferred expertise

Purpose:

Strategy:

Before joining [current firm name], Jane held [what kind of] roles at [what firm(s)]. During that time, she was ranked among top [what] and rated [what else] by [what rating body] for [how long, in real number or percentages].


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Tying industry reputation to professional achievements

Purpose:

Strategy:

Jane’s record of positioning [what or who], developing [what], and assessing [what else] and [what else] has earned her an industry reputation with [who] and [who] for delivering [what], [what], and [what].


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Synthesizing career entirety into one statement

Purpose:

Strategy:

As part of [Firm Name]’s [what] practice, Jane leads [what], [what], [what], and [what], leveraging a career spent [doing what] and [doing what else] for [market type] and [market type] markets in [Continent], [Continent], [Continent], and [Continent].

Can also be used as an opening paragraph.


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Boldly announcing a career transition

Purpose:

Strategy:

Today, I am making a strategic career shift, focusing my [what experience] and [what experience] on small- to medium-sized organizations that value [what; be concrete].

This can also be a closing paragraph. This is a bold move, so think about whether it’s the right approach based on your industry and position. If you use it, don’t forget to update your profile once you’ve made the career change. Use this only if you’re job hunting or finishing education. Do not jeopardize your current job.


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Bringing what has previously been a career subset of expertise into the foreground of your career, especially after a broad career statement in P1

Purpose:

Strategy:

Today, I specialize in [creating/developing/building] [what] for [who] with a [geographic scope]presence. [Continue building . . .]


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Tying past experience to a future goal—soft approach

Purpose:

Strategy:

Ex1: John has built [a portfolio/portfolios] comprising [what], [what], and [what], enabling him to make strong long- and short-term [whats], create [what else], and stay engaged with [what else].

Ex2: With a career centered on [what], Jane has leveraged experience across [what] and [what] over the past [how many years], synthesizing complex information into easily understood language.

This is an ideal approach for a stealth job search. Remember, it’s your responsibility to identify the intersection between what you’ve done and where you’re going.


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Closing Paragraphs

Bridging past experience with a future goal—bold approach

Purpose:

Strategy:

I am today leveraging the same ambition that I applied [how many] years ago in [what] and [what], in my efforts to [do what].

I particularly enjoy tackling [do what that benefits the company] while helping clients [do what that benefits the client].

This is a more exposed approach, cueing the reader that you’re making a shift. It can help them understand the connection between seemingly unrelated ideas. Do a lot of thinking before using it because of potential biases.

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Paragraph transitions:

In the past decade . . .With a career centering on . . .My career has centered on . . .As part of . . .Name’s record of positioning . . .Before joining (current firm) . . .With a reputation for . . .Her experience focuses on . . .In my role leading . . .As vice president of . . .School as a . . . (or) Schooled in . . .

With experience spanning . . .My time at . . .In YYYY, I . . .With seventeen years driving . . .Each position in my career has . . .My background encompasses . . .While working abroad . . .In the early 90s . . .I’m known in my world for . . .


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Closing Paragraphs

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• Cue the reader to continue reading• Give the reader something to ponder• Present an option for placing items

• Especially essential lists, that have no other place to go on LinkedIn

Closing paragraphs direct:

Closing paragraphs don’t repeat:

• Don’t end with anything that may exist elsewhere, so always look at which “sections” may be right for you

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Closing Paragraphs

Creating ties and affinities

Purpose:

Strategy:

Jane is a member of [what organization(s)]. She holds positions as [Position Title] at [Organization Name], [City, ST], and [Position Title] at [Organization Name], [City, ST].

John is a [how many]-year member and current [officer title held] of [City, ST]’s well known [Organization Name].

Highlighting relevant leadership roles is particularly helpful if they tie a career changer to an intended industry or practice area.

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Closing Paragraphs

Closing with media citations

Purpose:

Strategy:

Jane has regularly appeared as a [what kind of] authority on [Outlet Name], [Outlet Name], [Outlet Name], [Outlet Name], and [Outlet Name] and has been quoted in [Name], [Name], [Name], and [Name].

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Closing Paragraphs

Returning to or creating affinity with a hometown

Purpose:

Strategy:

A [City Name] native with strong ties to [what/where], [Name] has [done what] and [done what else] across much of [geography or industry].

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Closing Paragraphs

Closing with professionally-related community activities

Purpose:

Strategy:

Outside the office, [Name] sits on [board/committee, etc.] and coordinates [something else]. In [YYYY], he launched [something else].

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Closing Paragraphs

Closing transitions / sentence starters:

Perhaps the most interesting . . .I care about . . .As a leader who . . .[Name] recently appeared as . . .[Name] was recently recognized as . . .[Name]’s [____] professional style . . .With a reputation for . . .

[Name] has appeared in . . .[Name] has been published in . . .[Name] has presented on . . .I’m at my best when . . .[Name] holds multiple [titles / patents/other designations] . . .

Or end with a list or lists:

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Experience SectionWriting for LinkedIn’s

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• Keep it simple and straightforward• Stick to facts• Avoid using “I”• Use quantitative detail ONLY if it’s appropriate

• No budget, revenue, or team information that would give away competitive information

• Consider using percentages to demonstrate outcomes

Experience Section Guidelines:

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“Experience” to the Naked Eye:

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“Experience” with Keywords Exposed:

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Experience Section

Demonstrating value across a sweeping tenure statement

Purpose:

Strategy:

Recruited as [what] to [do what]. Promoted across [what positions] over [how many] years to [do what big picture, mission-critical work]. Tenure included creating and directing [how many]-member [what kind of] team, building [what did you build], and aligning [what] with [what].

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Experience Section

Defining team leadership

Purpose:

Strategy:

Direct [how many]-member [discipline], [discipline] and [discipline] team in delivering [what]for [who].

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Experience Section

Showing budget management without giving away information

Purpose:

Strategy:

Oversee _____% of division’s [what kind of] budget, and manage key relationships with [whats/who].

This also ties in relationship management, a critical component to many positions.

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Experience Section

Highlighting relationships between one side and another

Purpose:

Strategy:

Global [what kind of] manager between [Firm Name]’s [how many] clients and its [who else], offering a [what kind of] portfolio spanning [what].

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Experience Section

Listing value in terms of what you owned, and how you were perceived by someone else (be careful)

Purpose:

Strategy:

Drove [what], with recognition from [who] as most (profitable/creative/productive) [what] in firm’s history.

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Experience Section

Inspiration to get started:

Directed . . .Created . . .Replaced . . .Upgraded . . .Implemented . . .Shepherded . . .Introduced . . .Managed . . .Oversaw . . .Led . . .Built . . .Sourced . . .

Advised . . .Constructed . . .Developed . . .Conducted . . .Trained . . .Educated . . .Recommended . . .Authored . . .Broadened . . .Researched . . .Formalized . . .Negotiated . . .

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Technical Dilemmas

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Technical Dilemmas

Fitting multiple job titles at one company into one “Position” on LinkedIn to avoid looking like a job hopper

Purpose:

Strategy:

Title: Include most recent title Location: Include current locationTime period: Include first mm/yyyy hired thru end/present

Description: Write copy that relates to your current role OR that presents a VERY high level perspective of your tenure. Then list past job titles and dates underneath the copy, organizing them to look presentable in free form environment.

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Technical Dilemmas

Organizing listsPurpose:

Strategy:

Header- Content- Content- Content- Content

Recent EngagementsPublicationsSpeaking Engagements

Anything LinkedIn doesn’t offer in “add sections” OR that you want to call special attention to

A few types of headers:

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What Your Readers Want to Know(and Where to Present It)

Résumé LinkedIn● ● What and how much you can handle

● ● Whether you held multiple roles

● ● Functions / disciplines you have authority over

● ● Size of teams you’ve been on and your role

● ● Industry familiarity

● ● What you offer

● Raw quantitative outcomes

● Raw budget size under your management

● (already there) Size of your past and present firms

● To whom you report/reported

Quantify, yes. A great deal. But not in ways that give trade secrets or competitive edge to someone else, nor in ways that aren’t appropriate for certain audiences.

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• What makes you good at what you do today?• Do you love your work? • What motivates you professionally? • Who or what inspired your career?• What metaphor best describes you and/or your career?• Do you have a professional philosophy?• What do you specialize in? • Where will you be in five years? Ten? • If you had to do it over again, would you?

More Questions

Shake loose the ideas and get to writing!

Documents

1 Advanced Writing Strategies for Your LinkedIn …mmd.cfainstitute.org/pdf/2003_2013/Redick_Career_1_1up.pdfAdvanced Writing Strategies for Your LinkedIn Profile Jared Redick Executive