Change Your Stripes™ Do what you love for a living!

Want more career strategies & solutions? We’re here for you! Copyright ©2015 ARBEZ™ Inc. All rights reserved. | www.arbez.com | 612-508-2017

The LinkedIn Checklist for Professionals Get behind the wheel of your own success!Harness the power of LinkedIn

to build and nurture your network, stay abreast of industry trends, become an industry leader yourself and chart your next move. When it comes to networking, don’t forget: give more to get more! Confused? Need help? Go to LinkedIn “More” tab, and click “Help Center.”

7 Essential Elements: □ Professional, friendly headshot (reflect your brand! No bikini or dog shots).

□ Full professional name (the name you really go by!) & a headline that says what you do & grabs

attention. For instance, use an industry-recognized job title, brand, or compelling descriptor for

what you do. Consider adding a tagline / personal brand (Some good examples are “Dream home

hunter,” “I take away the headaches,” I get stuff done!” “I get clients fast” and “I love dirty

houses!”)

□ Work on creating a summary that grabs attention & clearly indicates what you do … for whom …

and why connecting with you is a really good idea. Here’s are some suggestions:

1st

paragraph: Key Message (this might be a comment about the industry or space you are in …

calling out a business problem you solve, what value you add … to clearly show your area of

expertise)

2nd paragraph (optional, but ideal): A brief story (example) that wows and demonstrates your

expertise … about a business problem you solved, achievement or accomplishment. Use metrics

whenever you can. For instance: “I helped one Fortune 100 company increase career site traffic by

43% in just one month.”

3rd paragraph: Specialties (what you do, and for whom. Key skills and expertise)

4th

paragraph: Company-approved LinkedIn summary.

□ Experience matters! Be sure to list your jobs WITH clear, compelling descriptions. Use RESULTS

and metrics if you can (not just your standard job description). LinkedIn uses search engine

optimization just like Google. If you don’t complete this section, you will never pop to the top of

people’s search results.

□ Keywords that are industry - standard (“Recruiter”, not “Staffing specialist”)

□ Skills & expertise. This section is critical to fill out. LinkedIn scours this section in every search. If

yours is not filled out, you will not rank against your competition. Endorsements are an added

bonus,.

□ Contact details! List your email & phone (are you serious about expanding your network, or not?)

I’ve been on LinkedIn for 10 years. I have over 4,000 connections and I have never been stalked.

Change Your Stripes™ Do what you love for a living!

Want more career strategies & solutions? We’re here for you! Copyright ©2015 ARBEZ™ Inc. All rights reserved. | www.arbez.com | 612-508-2017

The LinkedIn Checklist for Professionals (continued)

Now get connected! □ Invite everyone you know - and everyone you meet - to join you on LinkedIn □ Groups & Associations: You should join relevant industry groups and decide which ones should be

visible on your profile. Sometimes you will want to keep groups hidden. Set up daily / weekly

digests for the great groups, and weekly for the ones you only want to see periodically.

How to put the “WOW!”in your profile & harness the power: □ Identify your location & industry

□ Customize your public profile URL. Consider something like

www.linkedin.com/tammyJonesmarketing

□ Education: list your schools to connect with other alumni, foster conversation.

□ Manage account settings / privacy: Most people’s profiles should be visible to everyone, including

status updates and activity feeds to maximize networking. However, there are situations where

you may not want this (if your boss is skittish, be cognizant).

□ Contact preferences: Check all that apply. The more open you are, the more people will connect

with you. However, do not check the ”Interested in career opportunities” box if you work for

someone else and don’t want to alarm your boss. Trust me, if your LinkedIn profile is done well,

recruiters will come calling!

□ Volunteer experience & causes: use this if you are involved in any community activities. Use your

best judgment here and be careful around sensitive areas (like politics and religion). Remember:

this is public information anyone can see.

□ Highlight additional accomplishments & expertise by creating other sections (Like ‘Certifications’,

‘Awards’, ‘Languages’)

□ Recommendations: Ask 3 people who know you well professionally (and who are well-respected in

your industry) to write recommendations for you. Better yet, recommend them first! Manage

recommendations to make sure they reflect you well.

□ Website: Add your company website

□ Interests: This is social networking, and people like to know more about you than just your job.

Share interests that are widely-accepted (avoid anything potentially offensive)

□ Rich media: This is an often overlooked area on LinkedIn. Add rich media links to summary, and

elsewhere (professional videos, presentations and documents like white papers and other useful

information).