Listen, agree and do nothing is an all too common pattern
n
GETTING IT DONE
I most often work with clients in a two-hour screen sharing session and we can get through a lot – adding or updating key sections of LinkedIn. I’ll take you through what I do with my clients so you can use it as a checklist for your own profile.
Headline – making it represent what you have to offer instead of it being the default job title and company
Summary – create one from scratch or make it a compelling representation of your expertise
Experience – add jobs and appropriate descriptions
Skills – add keywords and move skills into a prioritized order
Education – remove dates from education if appropriate and ensure the right one shows at the top of your profile
Other sections (organizations, organizations, etc. – add or ensure they’re showing up correctly
Connections – review best practices in adding connections, e.g. who to add and how to personalize invitations to connect
Settings – understand the implications and adjust settings as necessary
Special – Depending on my clients’ focus, we can usually get the job search dash board set up or explore how to initiate activity to gain positive attention from potential clients
WHEN WE’RE DONE
Sometimes clients will say during our working session – “Oh, I’ll finish that on my own. Let’s move on to the next section now.” They may tell me they want to think about something or continue working on it on their own. We cover a lot of content and sometimes they’re overwhelmed or too tired to absorb more at the time. That’s a reasonable response and can be a great opportunity for them to continue learning or make even more improvements to their profile. I’m fine with that follow-up.
FOLLOW UP
I include two weeks after our working session where I’m available by email to continue answering questions or review additional changes they’ve made. I offer this largely because I’m a teacher at heart and I like my clients to continue learning. Some people like to quietly and privately go off and wordsmith some of their content before they’re ready to show it and I’m happy to review it when they’re ready. Some people start to think of more questions that grow out of the work we’ve done during their session.
Continuing to work on your profile after you initially do a review and update is critical to catch small things that might have been missed on the first pass and also ensures you remain comfortable manipulating LinkedIn.
For many clients, their primary follow-up activity is to grow their network. They understand why. I teach them how. We identify who.
THEN WHAT HAPPENS?
What often happens at that point is… nothing
WHAT’S YOUR FOLLOW UP PATTERN?
Do you start training programs, diets or new good habits and then fail to follow through? I’m not going to give you a hard time about all the things you haven’t followed through on but I would encourage you to spend at least 5 minutes a day on LinkedIn. Make sure each relevant section is complete, spell-checked and as compelling as possible. If it’s all looking good, consider what activities on LinkedIn you might do to gain visibility, grow your network and add value to your existing network.
For more about being active on LinkedIn, see Why and How You Should Get Active on LinkedIn.
Let me know if you need help.