Candidates with a solid track record and a good LinkedIn brand are more likely to find a job faster than those who do not.
To be clear, one without the other is a big negative when you are trying to stand out to recruiters and search firm consultants.
If you have not started to construct a digital brand, do not despair. It is never too late. In fact, taking the initial steps it is not that complicated. So, stop delaying and get busy. If you do it right it will pay dividends.
Here are four points for you to understand:
- Decide your vision for your professional life. What do you want to accomplish with your career, and how do you want to be seen and known? Finally, when you retire, what job would you like to be doing?
Coach’s Note: Your vision may change over time just as a corporate strategy will change. Businesses evolve. So do professional goals and brands.
- Develop your Value Brand Statement (VBS). This is taken from your strengths and your accomplishments. Your VBS should be constructed from four or five (no more than five) signature strengths and the value you have delivered. You want to develop a statement that you can use to succinctly define who you are and the value you will bring to an organization. You will use this in interviews and, for example, when you introduce yourself to a new boss.
Coach’s Note: One-hundred words equals about a minute. Your statement can and probably will be longer, but like a politician’s stump speech, you will rarely use it all at one time. You will use bits and pieces to answer questions or to introduce yourself to different groups. Executives who understand their VBS typically do a better job interviewing. They are more focused.
- Post Content. Corporate recruiters and search firm consultants rely on LinkedIn to identify potential candidates. Develop a communications strategy and highlight your VBS as well any recent accomplishments by your team. Develop mini-case studies. Look for interesting news stories or essays that reflect your values and post those. When appropriate, adds your thoughts.
Coach’s Note: Never engage in snarky debate or post political commentary on LinkedIn. We are a divided nation. Do not alienate half the population. The person who may offer you your dream job may have an opposite political view.
- Be generous in your praise. The enormity of content on LinkedIn, for example, provides ample opportunity for you to congratulate the successes of others and to reaffirm the inspirational quotes that are fairly common to the platform today. Always take the high ground and post comments that will strike a positive chord and reinforce your brand.
Coach’s Note: We all have strongly held beliefs. But we do not all agree. Keep that in mind. Save your political convictions for your personal Facebook page. Think of LinkedIn as a platform for your best self, your better ideas.
Interviewing Skills At ACHE Congress
Join Chrishonda Smith, CCDP, SHRM of OhioHealth and John G Self, an author, blogger and executive career transition coach, for a dynamic MASTER COURSE on interviewing skills at the American College Healthcare Congress in Chicago, March 23- 26. This is one of the more popular and highly rated sessions of the Congress The session is at 2:15 PM on Wednesday, March 25.