Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

How to use LinkedIn’s tools to get a promotion

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One great feature of LinkedIn is that you can follow companies and keep on top of when people update their profiles indicating they changed jobs.

Just follow the Companies tab from LinkedIn’s top toolbar (see below):

Then, select a company of interest (you may choose a location a certain distance away from where you live or want to live):

Search companies or browse industries, and LinkedIn will show if you have anyone in your network working in those organizations. When you follow companies, you’ll receive regular updates when someone working for that company updates his or her profile indicating a change in position — maybe suggesting an opening to pursue via your network!

In fact, LinkedIn just released information suggesting the best months (statistically, per their network) to get a promotion. Their press release noted a Buck Consultants survey, “Compensation Planning for 2011,”saying workers in the U.S. can expect only modest pay raises this year, although salary increases for 2011 will average 2.8 percent, an increase from the two previous years.

According to LinkedIn’s data, the top three months for professionals in the U.S. to get promoted within their company are:

  1. January
  2. June
  3. July

Interestingly, their data show professionals in accounting, defense & space, education management, higher education, military, non-profit organization management and research tend to see a spike in promotions over the summer months more than other industries.

The data indicate a generational link to the timing of promotions. Their study notes that Millennials (born in the 1980s) “are the most likely to be promoted throughout the year (rather than just in January which is the case for most professionals).”

Job seekers (and anyone driving their own “career bus” should take advantage of LinkedIn’s tools. The amount of data they access regarding professional trends and the services they provide are extremely useful beyond simply sharing a profile. DJ Patil, LinkedIn’s chief scientist explains,

“LinkedIn was launched in 2003, but our data allow us to identify professional trends that span decades…By shedding light on professional patterns, we hope to help our members achieve their career goals by using LinkedIn in the most effective and productive way possible.”

“One of the best ways to get promoted is by promoting yourself,” said Lindsey Pollak, a career and workplace expert. “LinkedIn is the perfect place for professionals to get clients, vendors and other third parties to post recommendations on their profile. By encouraging other professionals to champion the work you do in your current role, you’ll be more likely to advance to the next level.”

Take a look at how LinkedIn suggests you leverage their social network to land a promotion:

Shine the Spotlight on New Skills

Impress your manager by learning new skills that go above and beyond your current role. Make sure your LinkedIn Profile is complete and includes all the skills you’ve acquired. Expanding your horizons while working full time is a commendable endeavor that’s worth calling attention to. If your company offers an education reimbursement program, take advantage of it. If you have industry certifications or went back to school for a higher degree, mention them in your profile and during your review.

Get Connections in High Places

LinkedIn Advanced People Search lets you search by title so you can find professionals that have the position you want to be promoted to. Reaching out to mentors and peers is one way to prep for that 2011 promotion. After the promotion, a strong relationship with a peer will give you a friendly ear you can rely on for advice if things get tough.

Toot Your Horn

Remind your manager of your accomplishments. Even if they were monumental, he or she may have forgotten about them. Document milestones in your career by requesting quality recommendations on LinkedIn. If a customer sends you an email thanking you for the amazing event you put together for them in record time, gently suggest that they provide you with a recommendation (if they feel comfortable doing so) and also forward the email to your manager so they’re aware of the praise you’re receiving.

photo by nan palmero

How to update your LinkedIn public profile URL

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Maybe you’ve heard that job search is moving beyond job boards and LinkedIn is the target of choice for many recruiters and hiring managers? This is not news; I have been sharing this information for years! A recent Wall Street Journal article reiterated the fact that many companies are looking at online social networks, such as LinkedIn, instead of advertising positions on job boards.

Need help knowing what to say when you look for a job?
Check out my new book: 100 Conversations for Career Success

I’ve written quite a bit about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. From your headline to your summary and skills to how you describe your experience, education, patents, etc…and everything in between. Today, I thought I’d point out a basic fix for LinkedIn that you may not realize is important: your LinkedIn public profile URL. This is mine (at the bottom of the picture):

Unless you updated your URL, it has a bunch of random numbers after your name. In other words, it would not be something you will want to copy an paste on your resume for people to find your LinkedIn profile, and it won’t be easy to share as part of your e-mail signature.

It’s very easy to update this URL to a “vanity” link. Simply EDIT your profile in LinkedIn and click on “Edit” at the end of where it shows your Public Profile (as shown above). You’ll see a screen that looks like this (I’m only showing the top):

Simply select to EDIT your public profile URL from this screen (right at the top). You’ll then see:

The page will list your current URL and give you the opportunity to update it to your name (if it is available). Try filling in your first and last name and click “SET ADDRESS.” If it is not available, try different combinations of your name with a middle name, or even use your credentials: JaneSmithMBA, for example. The goal is to have an easy-to-use URL that looks like it makes sense when you post it on your materials.

Once you find something that works and select “Set Address,” you are ready to go!

Having a vanity URL is important since it gives you an easy link to share, but it also makes you appear to be someone who knows what you are doing on LinkedIn — you’ll seem more socially media savvy than the next guy!

photo by tychay

How to achieve your business and career objectives

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The newest Personal Branding Magazine, published by Dan Schawbel (I am co-editor along with Jessica Lewis) is about how to enhance your personal brand online.

This is how Dan describes it:

Volume 4, Issue 3 is focused on teaching you out to become internet famous through video, sHowocial networking, and blogging. We’ve collected stories from the most well-known internet superstars to teach you how to do it too! We spoke with Julia Allison, Judson Laipply, and Mr. Chocolate rain himself, Tay Zonday. Gracing the cover is Chamillionaire, who is a Grammy award winning musician, and someone who has pioneers the use of social technologies in the music industry. I’ve always said that visibility creates opportunities, and when more people know you, the possibilities are endless!

Features:

  • Full paid issue (November 1st): 22 articles
  • Sample issue: 10 articles total, including how to make a good first impression, how to manage your digital image, and wardrobe tips.
  • Interviews with: Chamillionaire (Grammy Award Winning Musician), Julia Allison (Co-creator of NonSociety.com), Tay Zonday (creator of the Chocolate Rain viral video), Judson Laipply (creator of the Evolution of Dance viral video), Brian Solis (author of Engage), Amy Marin (Shaquille O’Neal’s social media manager), and Brian Clark (founder of Copyblogger Media).

This is my introduction to the magazine:

Are you taking full advantage of the tools available to enhance your personal brand online? Are you achieving your business and career objectives? This issue’s columnists offer some great tips to help achieve your goals. The first thing to remember? It’s not all about you! Celestine Chua explains how important it is to be a role model. If you write, do you think about what your readers want? Are you sharing valuable information that will make people want to come back again and again? If you make your audience your #1 priority, it’s likely they will appreciate you and your value, which in turn increases your online cache.

Authenticity (as always) holds a lot of weight in this issue. Are you faking it? Michael Durwin makes an important point when he says:  There is no “virtual” you: Your online self is a direct extension of your real world self.” How should you respond? He says, “Be yourself: But try to be the best you can be — your reputation precedes you.” Rich Nadworny agrees, “If you stand for something online, you’d better act that way in real life.”

Once you identify what you offer, it’s much easier to extend your reach. Sam Decker explains that social media “is primarily about an exchange …a personal brand is best built by facilitating give and take. That might look like connecting people, retweeting or contributing to others’ ideas and projects.” Are you making that two-way connection?

One great benefit of using the social web to share information about you is the opportunity to avoid the “push and pray” method in favor of the “pull and stay” approach. Georgina Taylor’s book review notes that Scott Stratten’s book UnMarketing offers a strong case for the latter, which is about “focusing on engagement as a means of building trust, creating value for the customer by giving them a sense of support from your business.” What are you doing to engage your target audience?

Success is about so much more than just being online. In his interview with Harry McCracken, Howard Sholkin, founder of technologizer.com, explains that he attributes some of his success to going “where smart people are, rather than expecting them to come to us.” For him, that meant having a presence on Twitter and Facebook, which was key to growing his site’s traffic. Jack Humphrey echoes this sentiment, noting that “your virtual you must span your own domain and key sites around the Web where your targets hang out.”

Extend it a step further, as being where they are is an important lesson for anyone. When I coach job seekers and entrepreneurs, that is advice I offer: find “your people.” If you are lucky, they are spending time in social media, but maybe it makes more sense to physically go where they are. That may mean attending conferences or speaking engagements in person. It’s worth it.

5 tips to write a winning resume

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With five candidates for every job, competition is fierce. Your online profile impacts your chances to win interviews, but your resume is still the most crucial element of your job search strategy.

Here are five tips to help you identify how to appeal to your targeted employers:

1.  Study organizations’ websites. Companies spend a lot of time, effort, and money compiling their public relations profiles for visitors. Look for repeated words and phrases, tag lines and hints about their philosophical approaches. Some employers include videos or testimonials from employees to illustrate their corporate culture.

What can you learn?

Is the company leadership focused? Team oriented? Do they value diversity? Is community service important? What are their goals? Do they specify problems they solve? What buzzwords appear multiple times on the sites? Studying their official online presence offers a window for you to determine a) if the job is a good fit and b) how to market yourself for the position.

Read the rest on my weekly blog on U.S. News & World Report’s Careers site…

How to target your resume for an employer

photo by Eileen Sand

How to use Facebook for your job hunt

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In the ever-changing face of social media tools, more and more applications and companies are focusing how how to use Facebook’s social graph of over 600 million users for professional networking purposes.

If you regularly use Facebook, it’s not news to you that they updated their settings and redesigned your “home” Facebook page. If you don’t regularly review your own Facebook profile, it may be time to start! It is important to know how your profile looks to others and to use it to your advantage. Visit your page and click on PROFILE.

You can see that it now displays photos as well as information about where you went to school, where you work, where you are from and your relationship status. In the past, this was data users only found if they went looking through the various tabs on your profile.

If you are clever, like Richie DeMatteo of CornOnTheJob fame, you can use this new set up to market your job hunt. He tagged himself in some messages and posted them to illustrate how you may manipulate the newest Facebook design to your advantage:

You can see CORN ON THE JOB instead of the photos that would normally be in those spots. Fun and original!

The design means that it is much easier for people to to learn more about you without much effort.

Learn how to use photos, the education and work section, languages and privacy settings to your advantage on my Job-Hunt.org column…

photo by jaycameron