Linkedin Tips

A LinkedIn professional profile that's written by an expert will give you tremendous visibility, nationwide reach and job offers or results!

Yes, LinkedIn is the #1 Source for Talent for Employers in 2023; LinkedIn Offers Job Searchers a Huge Return on Investment for Free/Small Monthly Fee...

By Darrell DiZoglio, CPRW of http://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 3/11/2022, All Rights Reserved;

College, university and graduate school Professors all over the USA make it a point to teach their students about the tremendous benefits of a well-written, fully optimized LinkedIn profile before they graduate because even those in the world of academia know that a great LinkedIn profile is the gift that keeps on giving. However, inexplicably, many professionals still call me each month who never taken advantage of the massive, free online-marketing power available to them with a (free/very low cost) professional profile on Linkedin.com. As of March 2022, LinkedIn has over 500 million professionals worldwide as members, ranks #10 in the US for Internet traffic, ranks #15 worldwide for Internet visitors and has over 2,555,000 incoming links from other websites online feeding it traffic. When you consider that there are well over 9 million other websites out there competing for attention, that is a truly remarkable SEO feat. No wonder Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016. They had the vision to recognize LinkedIn as the 800-pound gorilla of the sector for decades to come.

It's no coincidence that the vast majority of professionals that call me for assistance without a LinkedIn professional profile, have suffered through 6, 12 or 18 months of unemployment/underemployment because their competition has LinkedIn working for them 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Frankly, investing in a high-quality, professionally written LinkedIn profile is more essential today than ever before. Going without it when you are in a job search is like walking 7 miles to work every day in all sorts of weather, while your peers arrive in their new Tesla S vehicles. Review this excerpt from one of my client's LinkedIn profiles (above) to see what a powerful statement it makes. But, what you cannot see is the incredible visibility LI offers you in Google, Bing & Yahoo! search engine results, social media marketing visibility and all the professional networking opportunities that will result from being active twice per week on LI. That's right building and maintaining your professional network is mission critical to your job search/career advancement/mission to upgrade to top tier employers etc. How often have you been only one or two connections away from capitalizing on an insider's recommendation to a hiring manager at Apple Inc., Google, LinkedIn, Meta (fka Facebook), Goldman Sachs, Lockheed Martin or TESLA?

Think of your LinkedIn professional profile as a resume that will have 10-20 x the visibility of your current resume with the hiring committee you want to reach most. Frankly, if it wasn't for the fact that all interviewers want/need a copy of your resume for employment interviews, LinkedIn profiles would have made resumes obsolete already, since they offer multiple advantages, have more info to employers (e.g. LinkedIn recommendations), and are so easy to access with the LinkedIn Advanced People Search. Yes, there's a small investment in a professionally written LinkedIn profile, but the return on investment is 10-20 x and repeats annually once hired vs. the alternative which will likely be monthly financial losses from extended unemployment/ underemployment. Now that the Coronavirus Pandemic and Lockdowns are finally over, why shouldn't you be capitalizing from LinkedIn's 24-7, 365 days per year marketing power?

Unbeknownst to most professionals, another significant reason employers and recruiters flock to LinkedIn is because the majority of LinkedIn professional profiles belong to people who are already employed. Today, passive candidates are the preferred candidates by employers and recruiters. Infact, passive candidates are preferred by a wide 10 to 1 margin. That is because employers are sold on the idea that passive candidates stick/flourish far more often than unemployed candidates. I do not agree with this, nor do I think that this is fair. Nevertheless, employers are set in their ways and Recruiters must follow their clients instructions, especially those in business, government, and education. Did you know, LinkedIn offers a stealthy "I am open to new career opportunities alert" that only Recruiters can see? No, thankfully, your current employer cannot see this alert.

Without a doubt, job searchers love LinkedIn because of the massive free visibility and unlimited professional networking opportunities therein. Employers, recruiters and HR professionals all reap numerous benefits from LinkedIn too. Employers love it because the Advanced People Search feature allows them to discover the best talent in any niche promptly versus manually sifting through thousands of résumés by hand, which is tedious work indeed. Until now, employers had to buy expensive software packages like Oracle's Taleo Recruit to automate candidate filtering. Now, any employer can do it regardless of size or budget with LinkedIn's Advanced People Search. Yes, employers pay for this service, but it saves them so much time that it is well worth the monthly fee.

LinkedIn has a new "Open to Work" feature that is only visible to Recruiters and other hiring Managers, not people from your employer. However, as far as I know, unless there is a scarcity of people in your profession (e.g., Nurses, Doctors, and Truck Drivers), many employers prefer to hire passive candidates vs. the unemployed because the washout rate is significantly less for passive candidates. Because there have been millions of people laid off nationwide in 2022, any extra edge you can will help.

Hiring Managers definitely appreciate LinkedIn profile recommendations from former supervisors, clients and business partners at the bottom of each candidate's profile. Who could ask for better, more transparent evidence than a LinkedIn profile recommendation from a credible source? Any hiring manager only needs to click on the person's name who wrote the recommendation to examine that professional's profile to evaluate the authenticity/credibility of the recommendation (employers love this because it helps them reduce their new hire washout rate). Employers have always wanted independent, verifiable proof that candidates are top performers, effective managers or employees with high potential. Now they have it, exclusively with LinkedIn. These recommendations are more important than ever today, because many employers only give out job titles and dates of employment during employment verification. (Click here for an ideal example of a LinkedIn profile.)

Today, without an impressive LinkedIn profile most employers will pass you by without a second thought even if they do find your résumé. They like to see reviews on your past performance, the number of connections you have and your photo, which only come with LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile, résumé and cover letter all go into your file when you are being interviewed and considered for employment. As you know, employers prefer passive (employed) candidates because they normally stay and flourish more than unemployed candidates. The LinkedIn Advanced People Search tool allows them access these preferred candidates. Better yet, they can filter and select the top ten well-qualified candidates in mere minutes for interviews.

Consequently, this means professionals of every type must be on LinkedIn to improve their professional networking, chances of being hired and career advancement (promotions) because LinkedIn is easily the #1 resource of talent for employers. Further, it always pays to be recommended by a trusted insider instead of introducing yourself as just another one of 5900 monthly who respond to a single job posting. Today, we have a huge glut of unemployed/underemployed talent with 15 well-qualified candidates for each job opportunity, so job hunters must pay attention to employer's preferences now more than ever. Thus, if you want to avoid the gut-wrenching pain of extended unemployment take full advantage of all that LinkedIn offers you. Do invest in a professionally written LinkedIn profile to distinguish yourself from the masses and keep growing your professional network. What worked ten years ago no longer works, just trust me and you will save 6-12-18 months of wasted effort in your job search. Optimize your LinkedIn profile well before you are laid off too. This way, you will be found by employers while you are still a passive candidate and you will have excellent leverage when it comes time to negotiate your salary.

Do you want to earn more interviews, increase your income and advance your career? Certified Professional Resume Writer, Darrell DiZoglio can help you with that at http://RighteousResumes.com.

The LinkedIn Guide for Newcomers and Job Searchers

By Darrell DiZoglio, CPRW of http://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 05/26/2015 all rights reserved.

In recent years, LinkedIn has reached critical mass and gone public. It has been ranked as the 10th most popular website in the world and as high as 7th-10th most popular website here in the US for quite some time now. LinkedIn has also become the #1 most popular professional networking website, the #1 résumé database/candidate database for recruiters/employers and it is incredibly popular with entrepreneurs, marketing, advertising and sales professionals as a lead generation resource. Finally, LinkedIn is easily the most popular website for job hunters as well. This is because most professionals know that professional networking is the most efficient way to find new employment and advance as a professional.

Yes, it is true a small minority are frustrated with LinkedIn and complain loudly. However, these people are either misinformed or they simply do not understand that the following truths apply to LinkedIn profiles just like everywhere else:

The Law of Supply and Demand - If your profession/industry is a high growth/high demand one you will do well. Conversely, if you are in a declining/consolidating/cyclical field, be realistic about your chances of being hired or move to a growth industry.
Garbage in garbage out – You need to have a top 5% LinkedIn profile here to distinguish yourself from the masses, ditto for your actual résumé and cover letters. Generic content is weak and useless, so always avoid cheap and fast typists and online résumé builders.
Perception is reality – Hiring managers are paid to judge candidates and select only the best, therefore if your profile and photo is not professional, it will hurt you more than help you.
By the inch it’s a cinch, by the yard it’s hard – Most folks are blissfully unaware that a proper LinkedIn profile averages 8-10 pages when printed. That is a lot of writing, editing and proofreading. If you are more experienced, it could be 10-14 pages when printed.
Results matter - This is one good reason why proven Certified Professional Résumé Writers aka LinkedIn Profile Writers are so popular. The other good reason is that missed opportunities are far more costly than expert assistance.
Visibility matters - The larger your network is the more visibility you will have on LinkedIn. This is a fact, so forget about only connecting with people that you already know, that is terrible advice if you are or will be in a job search.
Search Engine Page Rank is important online, so keywords and SEO strategy are very helpful.
You get what you pay for - LinkedIn is not really 100% free, whenever you are in a job search, are actively trying to advance your career, need to generate new business or need to recruit top talent you should have a paid membership. Paid memberships are still very affordable.
Employers still have all the same preferences – Local candidates are ideal, hiring someone known/recommended is always the goal, industry-specific experience is essential in most cases and passive candidates are generally favored over unemployed candidates by a 10:1 margin.
Hiring Managers, HR Directors and Recruiters are very busy people – Cater to them by having an outstanding summary that compels them to continue reading further.
Hiring Committees Make Data Driven Decisions – Tell the truth. Résumés and LinkedIn profiles require nonfiction writing. Hype, exaggeration and storytelling repel employers. They should be reserved for fiction writers and entertaining.
Effort is required – You will need some time to build, grow and maintain your network, develop great LI profile content and participate in helpful LinkedIn groups that are aligned with your career goals.

If you want faster/better results in your job search you can hire a proven Certified Professional Résumé Writer (know that great writers do not work for peanuts), pay for a LinkedIn membership (increased visibility/better search engine ranking/more LI emails etc.), actively participate in LinkedIn groups online/online networking and post an ideal LinkedIn profile photo (dress for success). Otherwise, know that you can make slow steady progress over several months. I am sure it would help you to see how powerful a fully optimized LinkedIn profile can be so, here is a direct Link to an Executive Resume Writer's profile http://linkedin.com/in/darrelldizoglio (please connect with me) and review those 75 LinkedIn recommendations.

Finally, it is essential that you understand that LinkedIn is no longer optional. If you have a weak profile or you are not found in this talent database today, your job search results will be dismal and your job hunt will be much longer than average. Unless you are in a profession where there is a serious shortage of talent, a LinkedIn profile is essential. Obviously, be realistic about your expectations, results take a bit of time. Meanwhile be persistent with your job search and continue professional networking online with LinkedIn as well as in person. If you keep all of the above info in mind, I guarantee that your LinkedIn membership will be a positive and rewarding experience.

Do you want to be winning from the beginning in your job search? Do you want to earn plenty of interviews? Then contact Darrell DiZoglio, CPRW at http://RighteousResumes.com today. After all, your competition already did.

Top Ten Ways LinkedIn Can Help You Earn Employment

By Darrell DiZoglio, CPRW of http://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 1-24-2015 all rights reserved.

Everyone knows that professional networking is the surest way to advance your career. However, when was the last time you had the inside track for a job and were hired chosen because of it?  LinkedIn is the revolutionary networking website that has been trying hard to unite and empower all professionals since 2003.
In my humble opinion, you have to approach online professional networking opportunities just like you do in real life. After all professional networking is just a meeting of the minds/spirits anyway.

I can promise you, if you expend some effort on LinkedIn, you will get a fine return on those efforts for years to come.  Creating a complete LI profile there may seem daunting at first.  But chip away at it in stages during your normal downtime, or delegate it and before you know it, you are done.

Fortunately, all or most of your existing contacts can be found on LI, but make sure you connect with them all manually because the automated system will spam them. When writing your own LinkedIn profile remember that it is an online resume with a huge audience, so it had better be top notch.  After that you want to focus on making relevant connections, getting recommendations, best answer awards and enhancing your profile with attached documents like some recommendation letters, PowerPoint demonstrations, audio files or more photos.

Think of it like a modern day career portfolio that just happens to be on the Internet. Here are the top ten ways the all new LinkedIn will help job hunters in 2013 and beyond:

Employers and Recruiters always search for candidates on LI and routinely examine LI profiles; this is your big chance to impress them.  It is very likely your LI profile will be linked to your resume and cover letter, so employers can make a fully informed decision for hiring and promotions from within.

The Groups within LinkedIn have active discussions or Questions and Answers forum where you can have questions answered by the experts in that field:  Hiring Managers, Human Resource Managers, Job Coaches, Resume Writers, and Recruiters. More importantly you can make lots of friends there and friends do help each other out. The LI groups are especially beneficial because you already have something in common with everyone in the group. This makes it much easier to connect and make friends.
Many job listings are exclusive to LinkedIn because higher quality candidates are being recruited there every day. Get the inside track to your next job opportunity by knowing:  "Who is in my network at this Company?"

Your profile itself is a powerful marketing tool and it ranks high in the Internet search results from Google, Yahoo, Ask.com and Bing. You can pursue employment opportunities on LI in stealth mode without your boss knowing. LI groups allow you to focus in on your profession, job hunting and those areas where you need help. The most powerful empowerment is through the new doors opened by personal networking.

What makes LinkedIn unique and special is this is where Hiring Managers, HR Directors and Managers, Recruiters and Headhunters all search to find the best and the brightest talent. Essentially, it is the world's largest resume/CV database by far (try that People Search/Advance People Search). So far in 2013 LinkedIn has 2.25 million members! It has also been proven, according to Psychology Today, that well socialized employees tend to fit in better with existing teams than others. Every HR Manager knows you cannot train folks to be nice, you have to hire nice people.

A fully optimized LI profile reveals plenty of great information like transparent endorsements, your connections, best answer awards, writing ability, groups you belong to and hopefully a professional photo too. My suggestion is to take full advantage. Personal networking has always allowed people to get the inside track to any job. When you use a great introductory cover letter along with your resume, which references your inside connection you are no longer a stranger. Frankly, there is so much success using this technique, I often wonder why folks bother to submit resumes to any job postings where the employer is not even identified.

Many job postings are purely for information gathering purposes (resume databases, marketing list sales and telemarketing list sales) especially wherever posting a help wanted ad is free like Craig's List. In summary, you cannot afford to be without LinkedIn because the results you get there with a quality profile are so much better. However, you must go on the offensive to see results, earn interviews and build your network. Interact with the LinkedIn community/professional groups and actively network to create your own opportunities because in this challenged economy many are without work for 1 to 2 years.

Want to earn more interviews and advance your career? Contact Certified Professional Resume Writer, Darrell DiZoglio by clicking here http://RighteousResumes.com your competition did.

7 Stealthy Job Hunt Success Tips for LinkedIn

By Darrell DiZoglio, CPRW of http://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 1-22-2013 all rights reserved .

Hopefully, you know by now that LinkedIn is one of the most successful and valuable professional networking websites around. At the current time, it has well over 140 million members worldwide. I cannot say enough good things about the results from this social media website for adults. I get tons of feedback from my own experiences and from the experiences of my clients. Therefore, I think this is a fair and accurate assessment.

Everybody knows if you want to go places professionally, you need a professional network to back you up, especially in a recession. Even if you are an entrepreneur, like me you need some visibility to remind folks you are there as a valuable resource whenever the need arises.

It is this nationwide visibility that comes with a LinkedIn profile that is in fact so valuable. A fringe benefit from LinkedIn's popularity as the professional networking website, is that Hiring Managers, HR Managers, Recruiters and Headhunters shop there for the best and brightest talent available. Still because LinkedIn is primarily focused on networking first, everyone can post their profile there in plain sight for all to see without worrying about being stealthy. Frankly, you amount to a grain of sand on a beach anyway, so know that your boss has 1000 other more important things to focus on.

Even if the boss were to inquire why you are there, it is for the networking of course. It is good to keep in mind that seeking employment, extra part time earnings or career advancement is never ever wrong, as you owe it to yourself and your family to provide to the best of your ability.Since your boss might be paranoid because you are a key employee or executive, you will want to use the privacy settings available from the account settings menu on the top right. You can make your current activity, which is normally published on your profile private.

Then you can make your connections private (only while you are actively employed and seeking work). LinkedIn also sends out network updates once a week on your activity to all your connections. To avoid informing your boss of all your clandestine job search activity, simply drop your boss and his assistants as connections (they are not notified and send you emails anyway) and/or discontinue your network updates. Also, on the very bottom of your profile make sure it says you are not seeking new career employment opportunities by checking the appropriate box.

For some bizarre reason, which I have yet to fathom, many employers instruct their recruiters to only focus on candidates who are currently employed (passive job searchers). Now you can join professional groups, local networking groups and job hunting groups and network your way to a job to your heart's content without alerting your employer. One important point I would like to stress is that your online profile (a résumé) should be of superb quality and/or professionally written to make you stand out among the masses seeking employment. LinkedIn also recently came up with a premium job hunter membership for a reasonable monthly fee. This may also be of great benefit as it allows you to appear first in search results and allows you unlimited access to other important features like the people search.

Also note when you have a larger network, a healthy number of best answer awards and recommendations, you are much more attractive to prospective employers. Fully optimizing your profile is most helpful. Finally, the jobs postings on this website have the employees who are also in your network listed just to the right of the actual job description and required qualifications. LinkedIn must be the most helpful free career advancement service available anywhere in my humble opinion. Good luck in your job hunt my friends.

Resume writing is serious challenge for everyone so delegate your resume, cover letter and Linkedin profile writing to http://RighteousResumes.com. You will be glad you did. (Click the link in blue.)

Essential Advice for Writing Linkedin Profiles and Résumés

By Darrell Z. DiZoglio, CPRW of http://RighteousResumes.com  Copyright 6/29/2012 all rights reserved.

Both Linkedin profiles and résumés are definitely both absolutely essential for job hunters today.  Honestly, your Linkedin profile is so much more than an online résumé.  There are a handful of differences noteworthy differences, especially considering there is no official rulebook for resumes or Linkedin profiles.  Obviously, if properly done our Linkedin profiles, resumes and cover letters are not just documents they are powerful opportunity portals.  Here is my expert take as a Certified Professional Résumé Writer who writes both:

First, the vast majority of people with a Linkedin profile are actually employed, thus their profiles need to be more subtle marketing efforts.  Sure, they would still pounce on their dream job, but they do not want to announce officially to the world or their boss they are officially looking.  Fortunately, the main mission of Linkedin.com is to promote professional networking.  As you know, recruiters often focus exclusively on great candidates who are already experienced, successful and gainfully employed in the same industry.

For employed professionals, your résumé and cover letters can boldly announce you want a new job because they are normally sent to employers confidentially or they can even be posted without identifying contact information (with your email).  To maximize effectiveness, your resume and cover letters should be sales and marketing documents.  For decades, I definitely have noticed the candidates with the best marketing and sales efforts always win in the race to be hired.  (Desire and enthusiasm are important and measurable ingredients hiring managers do actually consider on paper and interviews.)

For the unemployed, your Linkedin profile should be a magnet for multiple opportunities, as it will likely get you a tremendous amount of exposure if, that is, it is fully optimized, well written and contains actual evidence of your past outstanding performances.  In many ways, it is actually more important than your résumé as it has so much more potential for exposure to employers, hiring managers, HR Managers/Directors and recruiters. The rules at Linkedin limit you to one and only one profile, where with your résumé you can maximize impact and effectiveness by targeting it to each job specifically.  This is a major advantage for the job hunter of course, as you will know who your audience is each time before you send your own cover letter and résumé.

Whereas, with the Linkedin profile, you do not really know who is reading your profile ahead of time so it is highly beneficial to cast a wider net that attracts hiring managers for job target #1, #2 and #3.  Any successful advertising professional will tell you can really be more successful when you cater to a known audience preferably your ideal target market.  Casting a wide net with your Linkedin profile is strategically important (remember you only have one) because you will be hired much quicker with three job targets or three preferred industries instead of only focusing on only one.  Since most people are multi-talented anyway, it is just a matter of making an effective public declaration in writing.

By now, I hope you understand that all your career documents must be powerful advertising, marketing and sales documents.  Your future success or failure hinges on them making a positive impact.  They are not going to work well in this economy, when they are only brief statements of your work history.  Employers definitely will view a well-connected candidate as more socially adept, so do not put up a profile on Linkedin and stop with two connections.  Take full advantage, of the incredible networking opportunities that abound there and the free exposure you will get from the Google, Bing and Yahoo search engine results.

I myself really appreciate the opportunity to have all the additional evidence on a Linkedin profile.  I suggest you take full advantage of the professional endorsements, best answer awards from the Q & A areas in your areas of expertise and all the networking opportunities in relevant professional groups.  This additional evidence (recommendations, best answer awards, the size of your professional network and community service) gives employers a better picture of the real you and your potential as an employee.  After all, if you were a hiring manager, wouldn't evidence be important to you when you are selecting and hiring a candidate?

Believe me it pays to distinguish yourself especially when this is the #1 resource for talent acquisition among hiring managers, recruiters and HR professionals today.  My advice is to give your Linkedin profile an equal amount of effort as your résumé and cover letters.  In case you are wondering there is a reason why well over 160 million professionals use Linkedin today. To see a fully optimized Linkedin profile looks like click here.

Resume writing is serious challenge for everyone so delegate your resume, cover letter and Linkedin profile writing to http://RighteousResumes.com you will be glad you did. (Click the link in blue above before it is too late.)