So You’re Thinking About a New Job…

Perhaps you’re ready for a new job. Should you select the LinkedIn privacy setting that alerts recruiters that you are open to opportunities? Not so fast. It’s definitely not the first thing you should do.

 The first thing you should do if you’re considering that there may be greener pastures elsewhere is re-vamp your profile to make it memorable:

As you begin, be sure you aren’t broadcasting your profile changes: You don’t want all your profile changes to broadcast, particularly to your peers and current employer. LinkedIn has made that less likely to happen by offering you a choice of whether to broadcast a change right on your profile: select NO. You can also turn off broadcasting changes in your Privacy Settings.

Add visual interest: Have a new headshot taken; add an on-brand banner to replace the default banner (the blue banner with white connected dots); add photos and video to your summary and experience sections.

Hone your story: Your personal business story is best conveyed through your headline and summary: Although LinkedIn auto-fills your headline, you have 120 characters to customize it. If you are currently employed, build on your current headline by adding the value you bring to your role. Think deeply about the three things you most want to be known for and what differentiates you from others who do similar work. Identify the keywords by which you’d like to be found when others search LinkedIn. If you have a particular new job in mind, make some notes about how your business story relates to this new goal. This deep thinking should prepare you to write your personal business story in the 2,000 characters provided to you in the summary section. Make your summary memorable by using a story arc and writing in the first person as though you were speaking directly to your reader. Be sure to use your keywords!

Experience: You have 2,000 characters for each job entry. Describe your company (industry, size, markets, etc.) and your responsibilities, then enumerate your accomplishments in bullet points. Tailor what you choose to include based on the three things you want to be known for, your personal differentiators, and your keywords.

Skills: Make sure you move (and pin) your three top skills to the top of your skills inventory. You can and should list 50 skills. Don’t be concerned that several skills sound similar or are synonyms for other skills. People search using different terms and it’s good to have your bases covered. Delete skills you no longer wish to use or for which there is no longer a market.

Optional sections: Check out the optional sections available and use all that apply. If you are a volunteer make sure not only to list but also talk about your accomplishments in that role. People like to see what you are passionate about.

Have someone else proofread your material: Your grammar and spelling must be perfect. If you say that you are “detale orented” [sic] you lose your credibility quickly.

Once you’ve done your best job of preparing your profile to be reviewed by recruiters and potential employers, go to LinkedIn’s Job Search section and set up (and save) some pertinent job searches for yourself.

If you are currently unemployed and have done a great job preparing your profile to be reviewed by others, feel free to enable the toggle switch in the Job Section that alerts recruiters that you are open to new opportunities. My colleague Paula Norbom, Founder and President of Talencio, a nationally recognized recruiting and staffing company in the Health Technology Community, says recruiters often use that as a filter in their search to narrow the field. Thus, it’s a good practice for most people to use this feature. If you are currently employed at a manager level or below, the potential harm associated with someone finding out that you are open to new opportunities may be offset by the likelihood that recruiters looking for someone will utilize this filter. That is, if the job you’re seeking has many possible candidates, your risk of being missed in a search is high if you do not indicate your openness via this LinkedIn toggle.

My advice is different for executives, however, because the pool of possible candidates is much smaller and therefore no filter is needed; also the stakes are higher if your “confidential” search becomes public knowledge. I recommend that executives not indicate their openness to other opportunities via the LinkedIn toggle. Will that put you at a disadvantage? No, not for executive positions. My colleague David Magy, Principal of Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates, an international retained executive search based in Minneapolis, says that their recruiters search for exceptional individuals through many means and are undeterred by a lack of expressed interest in new opportunities.

In sum, how should you prepare for new opportunities? Get your profile in order first. Telling your authentic business story well is so important. Once you’ve done that, use the Job Search function on LinkedIn to set up and save some job searches so you’ll be notified when positions of interest are posted. Then, depending on your job status, you may choose to enable the feature that alerts recruiters of your interest. Senior executives are advised not to enable this feature.

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