Phase 1: Professionalize Your LinkedIn
Why do I need a professional LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool when entering the job market. It allows recruiters and hiring managers to quickly see a snapshot of your experience and get a feel for what you bring to the table. Ensuring you have a professional and complete LinkedIn page will help significantly during your job search. Your profile should reflect what you want to be known and searched for. The most challenging part will be translating your military experience into easily digestible content for readers of all backgrounds. To help with this, don’t only consult with veterans, but also individuals with no military background to ensure you are hitting the mark.
Below are some good practices when it comes to LinkedIn.
NOTE: LinkedIn premium is available at no cost for US Military and Veterans. Follow the link for instructions to activate:
1. Make sure you have a professional profile picture.
This is someone's first impression of you. So ensure you have a photo of yourself that exudes what you want your future hiring manager to see.
#OPENTOWORK photo frame– Recommend adding this to let recruiters and others on LinkedIn know you are looking for new opportunities.
2. Update your headline:
to convey the most important points of your profile. A good rule of thumb is adding the following in your headline: Big certification names, MS or MBA (if applicable), Service Name, one or two roles you want (ensure they are closely related).
Example:
Olivia Smith
Cybersecurity Analyst | Cybersecurity Consultant | PMP | CISSP | US NAVY Veteran
3. Add a wallpaper:
Use this as an opportunity to add something fun and personal or for personal branding.
4. Add your location:
Recruiters can filter by this.
5. Contact Info:
For contact info, be sure to list your personal email (if your personal email address is not professional, create a new one) and changeyour LinkedIn URL to something more personal. Follow this tutorial to do so: Manage Your Public Profile URL | LinkedIn Help
Example:
The default LinkedIn URL assigned looks something like: linkedin.com/in/albert-einstein-4826161b8 you want to change it to something easy to find such as: linkedin.com/in/ScientistEinstein.
6. Turn off “People also viewed:
on the right side of your profile–it displays your competition :)
To do so go to “Account Preferences”, then under “General Preferences” go to “People also viewed” and select “off”.
7. About:
The “About” section is for your future employer/recruiters/clients to get a flavor of what you’ve done and what you’re about. It should be no more than 5-6 lines and briefly touch on: What you do, your business impact, why your work matters, and who you are.
Example:
Cybersecurity professional providing technical security solutions for Fortune 500 companies during high-impact cybersecurity incidents caused by cyber threat actors. Proven success in forensic analysis using Microsoft Azure-enabled tools in complex environments and creating and presenting polished technical deliverables in a fast-paced environment.
US Navy Veteran with extensive experience leading technical projects in the Intelligence Community and Information Security space.
8. Experience:
The “Experience” section is your most important section. It essentially is your “LinkedIn Resume.” Be sure to list your current and past positions and for the descriptions be sure to include what you did, why you did it, and business impact. Be sure to avoid acronyms here, especially military jargon. You want anyone to be able to pull up your page and have a base level understanding of your experience.
9. Education:
Add your education and any certifications & licenses to your profile.
10. Make Connections:
Be sure to have at least 30-50 connections, especially within your chosen field(s). Don’t be shy. Feel free to reach out to people that have similar backgrounds as you. While optional, including a personalized note with your connect request may help grow your network.
11. Volunteer Experience:
Make sure to list any and all volunteer activities you participate in. Companies definitely look at this.
12. Skills & Endorsements:
There are differing opinions on the “Skills & Endorsements” section. Some say if you have more than 5-10 you will come off as “jack of all trades and master of none”. Either way, you want to get a couple of endorsements for each skill you list.
13. Accomplishments:
Make sure to list all awards + notable achievements.
Additional Notes:
Using industry standard keywords throughout your profile will help companies find you via search method.
Example: If a company is looking for a Cloud Architect they could find your profile by using a boolean search of “cybersecurity” AND/OR “architect” AND/OR “cloud” AND/OR “security” AND/OR “cloud computing”, etc.
Once you think your profile is squared away, head to Michael Quinn’s page. He not only provides great transition resources but he is a LI influencer whose profile is top notch.
