What NOT to do on Linked In

Ken Gutierrez might be thinking is a good thing his Linked In profile is being viewed as many times as it is, and by the names and titles of those viewing it, he might even be sitting on pins and needles waiting for his phone to ring.


Dear Ken,

I am going to give you some news that may surprise you but it's important to know. Your current Linked In profile is a shining example of what NOT to do. Listing "Unemployed-looking for work" as your headline is about as captivating as McDonald's listing "Full of fat" on their billboards. It may be true but there are plenty of other options to choose from that will capture the audience's attention and land you a job much quicker.


In your case, something along the lines of "NY-Based Online Media Ad Sales Planner" is truthful, eye-catching and 100% more likely to get the attention of prospective employers and the 73% of recruiters that spend their time online.


Moving through your profile, it's shocking to see anyone in sales and the online media industry in particular have only 2 connections. Working with clients is what you did, Ken. Get those fingers working and start reaching out to build your network base up closer to 100+ contacts.

Lastly, you did a great job of mentioning that you worked with clients and sales team members on accounts throughout the world including the U.S., Canada, UK and Australia however, there's no information on what size accounts (dollar value) you worked on or what type of clients (Amex, Travelocity, MillerCoors, Axe, etc). Give yourself credit for the work you've done and you will see the results of your hard work while at Heavy.com pay off with interviews and networking, online and offline.

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If your profile feels like Ken's, don't worry. Many job seekers work hard to perfect the resume and then forget that Linked In is a virtual version of the resume. Your resume has one purpose: to land you an interview. With recruiters using Linked In as a tool to find high caliber candidates and employers sourcing qualified individuals from it's 65 Million professionals, make sure you've got a "Pimped Out Profile".

/A