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Resume vs LinkedIn

What is better a resume vs LinkedIn?

If you are thinking that you only have time to do one thing, what would it be a resume vs LinkedIn? Well I am here to tell you that you can build one and the other will benefit. Read on to find out how. Take a look at the graphic to gain some extra tips.

Keywords

I advocate that keywords are imperative for LinkedIn and nowadays we need them in a resume. So many companies are using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that focus on keywords or phrases prescribed by the job posting that keywords MUST be used in a resume.

Functions

Headlines and summaries on LinkedIn allow you to focus on the functions of your job by employing the keywords I just mentioned. Functions are a great way to build a resume for someone who has tons of experience or very limited actual work experience. When you focus on functions, make sure you tell a story about a problem you faced, an action you took and the result that happened. If you can relate it to savings or a gain in money, time, percentage or number a reader’s interest may pique.

Experience

Using functions allows you to include experience that may have volunteer roots rather than paid experience. Depending upon the type of resume that you build, the listing of job experiences can be a chronological listing or may necessitate including the particular functions of that job right there. On a LinkedIn profile you are forced to include your job experiences in a chronological fashion. If you have gaps in W-2 jobs, try to fill in with “consultant” type work. At the time of this writing, LinkedIn is promoting stay at home experiences because of the explosion of child care and elder care happening these days.

General Tips

Leave off the address – you really only need an email address, phone number and LinkedIn profile custom URL.
Skills – bullet list your top 15 skills. If you can complete your list without using things like Microsoft Office (this is expected knowledge for many jobs) or employability skills the better your resume will work in an ATS reader.
Time – avoid including dates on education or experience older than 15 years. While you can tout subject matter expertise, it could eliminate you from the original pool of applicants.
Practical and focused – For the initial contact, make sure your resume is focused and succinct. No more than 2 pages. 1 page is better. Leave the artistic resume for the “leave-behind” at the interview. Don’t include an image on the resume you submit initially, the business isn’t supposed to accept it. In this situation, LinkedIn is a must-have. You can have the image; you can add attachments and links; your summary and each work experience can have 350-400 words; you can have as many jobs as you want that are applicable; you can list all of your certifications; you can include 50 keyword skills; and, you can have as many endorsements and recommendations as you can gather.

Summing it up

You need a resume. You probably need a LinkedIn profile. Take advantage of the tremendous amount of information that can be added and edited in LinkedIn to pick the best of the best to use on your resume. Take advantage of the file uploads to put your best generic resume on LinkedIn as a file. Both tools can be fluid. Make sure you aren’t building either one and leaving them out to get stale.

B2B vs B2C – LinkedIn

LinkedIn is growing at about 2 new users every minute. At the time of this writing there are 27 million users of which about 90 million of them are in the United States. In most cases the analogy most people use to describe LinkedIn is that it is your professional Rolodex and/or your on-line resume. As you are working in LinkedIn, you have the ability to use the resume portion of the platform to expand beyond the traditional one or two pages that are considered acceptable on a traditional paper resume. But in the marketing space how does B2B vs B2C – LinkedIn compare?

B2B – Because of the fact that LinkedIn is the number one professional social media platform it is natural to assume that this is more highly suited to the B2B world. For a business, I feel that it is imperative that you present you and your company as professionally and completely as possible on this platform. There are a couple of features that are available that I have discussed in other articles including my Top 5 Business Page Tips Series of articles. To create a business page you need an email address that is name@company – not gmail, yahoo or any other generic email tool. On the business page enlist the items that are available – the images, the products and services, careers, and the company status updates. From a lead generation perspective, the leads may not come to you, but the platform enables you to warm-up cold leads. For any business with a number of employees, each person should have a 100% complete profile using the keywords for their personal skills and within the employment description, the company keywords.

B2C – the advantages for a consumer driven business are also beneficial to a B2B business. Personal profiles should be complete for your key employees. Use the options to place your YouTube videos, links to specific landing pages on your website for each of your products, and if you have the staff to accommodate it, add up to three contacts per product or service.

The clear winner here would be a B2B business, but our business needs to be where our potential customers might find us. Is that LinkedIn?

Customize your LinkedIn URL

Customize your LinkedIn URL for better traffic

Why would you want to customize your LinkedIn URL? Does your LinkedIn public profile link look like this – http://linkedIn.com/in/someonesname-9482048q8488974

or like this (with your name of course) >>> If it doesn’t follow these directions or watch the quick how-to video below.

Step 1 – Go to Profile > Edit Profile

Step 2 – Find the URL in the box below your image

Step 3 – Select Edit

Step 4 – In the right hand column find the box that says “Customize your public profile URL”

Step 5 – Type in your name – no caps or spaces. You may need to add a middle initial or a number to your name. If you must add a number, use one that is significant to you, not just the ones that LinkedIn suggests.

Step 6 – Add the link to your resume, other on-line profiles, business cards (networking cards)

You can view a how-to video on how to customize your LinkedIn URL on YouTube by clicking below.

Where else would a customized LinkedIn URL come in handy? Do people connect to you or your business? If they can find you directly, it may make the difference in landing that next big contract or job!

Tag: resume