INTERVIEW: What’s New on LinkedIn?

September 26, 2022 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

Join me for another Peak-Careers Interview. We explore some of the more recent updates on LinkedIn.

My guests today are, Bob McIntosh, Hannah Morgan (Career Sherpa), and, Kevin D. Turner. Today we explore the latest greatest and maybe not so great elements of LinkedIn from three LinkedIn experts who have many years experience on this platform.

Here are my two questions:

(1) What are the latest updates to LinkedIn that you like?

(2) Are there any features on LinkedIn you’d like to get rid of?

Here are a couple of the resources mentioned in the interview that you may want to bookmark.

1. Identify Your Market Value Titles & Associated Skills 🔘 Go to LinkedIn’s Career Explorer https://lnkd.in/dfTi9sn 🔘 Scroll down the page of visual directions until you get to a box in the middle of the page that asks you to [SELECT YOUR CITY] 🔘 Enter details and select from the provided dropdown boxes for [SELECT YOUR CITY] and [ENTER A JOB] (the Dropdown options for [ENTER A JOB] will be your Market Value Title(s), you may do this for current, next goal, and previous Job Titles) 🔘 When the new set of skills populate the [Skills for ____] box that appears below [ENTER A JOB], copy those skills down with the Market Value Title. The Dropdown options will be your Market Value Title BEST RESOURCE: Check out this article for more details on how to use Career Explorer, including a 3 Page downloadable PDF on this feature: https://lnkd.in/e_vaYtG5

2. [#Social hiring], [Hiring in network], & [Meet the team] Filter continues to slowly roll out, now 60 days in, what’s the easiest way for a Jobseeker to find out who in their network is hiring? https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6973965093155840001 If you don’t have the feature yet try this work around link: Hidden Link: https://lnkd.in/eghegARt

Check out this blog that Hannah recommended. Donna Svei’s blog on using Career Explorer

BIO’s

Bob McIntosh, CPRW is a career trainer and coach who leads more than 15 job-search workshops at an urban career center, as well as counsels job seekers on every aspect of the job search. His colleagues rely on Bob to critique their clients’ LinkedIn profiles and conduct mock interviews. In addition, Bob has gained a reputation as a LinkedIn authority in the community where he leads workshops for non-profit and for-profit organizations. Job seekers from across the state attend Bob’s LinkedIn workshops. His greatest pleasure is helping people find rewarding careers in a competitive job market. For enjoyment, he blogs at Things Career Related and contributes to Recruiter.com. Follow Bob on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.

She founded CareerSherpa.net to combine her career expertise with her love of writing, speaking and social media. Hannah is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Kiplinger, Forbes and Money Magazine. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.

Hannah is active across social media including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Kevin D. Turner is Managing Partner at TNT Brand Strategist with over 30 years of experience in all significant business aspects. Starting his career at Sony and progressing to National Sales Manager, he then served as a VP of Venture Capital at Stone Holdings, CEO of American Teachers Inc, VP of Sales & Marketing at Thomas Nelson, and TurneRRounD. Even led the global expansion of the Nonprofit 50, American Heart Association, into 140 countries, as their Director of International Development and Strategy.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and The Adventure of Finding Me in New Zealand. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association and the Mid-Atlantic Career Counseling Association’s Professional Contribution’s Award in 2020.

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INTERVIEW: LinkedIn, The Latest and Greatest

September 6, 2021 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

What are the latest and greatest changes happening on LinkedIn? If you are not paying attention closely to LinkedIn, you may have missed some of these changes. And you may be missing out on the opportunity to take advantage of them. I am thrilled to interview these three LinkedIn “heavy hitters” who share their knowledge and tips that you don’t want to miss out on.

Guests today

Bob McIntosh, CPRW is a career trainer and coach who works at an urban career center and earned the distinction of a LinkedIn’s Top Voices, Hannah Morgan, Career Sherpa is a trainer and job search strategist and a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers, and Edythe Richards is a career counselor and trainer who has helped thousands of people locate and sustain meaningful employment. She is the founder of A Top Career.

Today I ask our experts

What are some of the newer and possibly under-utilized features of LinkedIn
and suggestions on how to leverage them?

Biographies

Hannah Morgan is a trainer and job search strategist. She has worked in outplacement services, a graduate school career center, a department of labor one-stop and as a recruiter/HR generalist. She is a nationally recognized author and speaker on job search trends and was previously a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers. She founded CareerSherpa.net to combine her career expertise with her love of writing, speaking and social media. Hannah is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Kiplinger, Forbes and Money Magazine. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success. Hannah is active across social media including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Edythe Richards is a career counselor and trainer who has helped thousands of people locate and sustain meaningful employment. She is the founder of A Top Career, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm that empowers people to clarify values, resolve stressors, and balance personal priorities with professional pursuits. She is also the creator and host of several podcast series, including Myers-Briggs Question Corner, and EQ at Work.Edythe is a Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF), Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), Myers-Briggs Master Practitioner, certified Gallup Strengths Coach, and a certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner and Trainer with a Master’s in Counseling. Connect with Edythe on LinkedIn and follow her on Twitter.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and The Adventure of Finding Me in New Zealand. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association and the Mid-Atlantic Career Counseling Association’s Professional Contribution’s Award in 2020.

Sign up here to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You will also receive the career practitioner’s weekly email on a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.

INTERVIEW: How to Write Your LinkedIn About Section

September 21, 2020 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

The LinkedIn About section is one of the most important sections of the profile in my opinion. Would you like some expert advice on how to write your LinkedIn About section? Or how to improve it?

Check out this lively and informative interview I had with three LinkedIn experts asking them how they help their clients develop their LInkedIn About section. It was truly wonderful fo hear these folks thoughts and techniques, and yes, laugh together while we were doing it!

Listen to this Peak-Careers Interview with Hannah Morgan, Bob McIntosh, and Sabrina Woods share their ideas on the About section and also how to engage on LinkedIn as a way to send a consistent message on LInkedIn.

This is a follow up to my blog What is Your LinkedIn Message?

How to write a linkedIn about section interview — Hannah Morgan, Jim Peacock, Sabrina Woods, and Bob McIntosh discuss how to write your LinkedIn About section and more.

Today I ask our LinkedIn experts

What is your approach to helping clients develop their About Section?
and
What are two tips on how to engage others and “send your message” on LI?

BIOS

Bob McIntosh, CPRW is a career trainer and coach who leads more than 15 job-search webinars at MassHire Lowell Career Center, as well as coaches job seekers on every aspect of the job search. His colleagues rely on Bob to critique their clients’ LinkedIn profiles and conduct mock interviews. In addition, Bob has gained a reputation as a LinkedIn authority in the community where he leads webinars for non-profit and for-profit organizations. Job seekers from across the state attend his LinkedIn webinars. Bob is also an instructor for Peak Careers, where he teaches a LinkedIn online semimar. His greatest pleasure is helping people find rewarding careers in a competitive job market. For enjoyment, he blogs at Things Career Related. Follow Bob on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Hannah Morgan is one of this year’s LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and a nationally recognized author and speaker on job search strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to combine her career expertise with her love of writing, speaking and social media. Her mission is to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. See her website: careersherpa.net, or follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Sabrina Woods is a Holistic Career / Life Coach & Linkedin Trainer with 20 years in the career services field at universities including Harvard, Northeastern and the University of London. Her joy comes from tapping holistic and mindfulness-based practices while helping people with career transitions. Sabrina also facilitates workshops and train-the-trainer sessions ranging from the Myers Briggs to Mindfulness to Networking. Her workshops combine her insights, enthusiasm and infectious energy. Sessions have been taught in the US, UK and Middle East. Find her on LinkedIn. For more info: www.sabrina-woods.com.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association.

What is Your LinkedIn Message?

August 31, 2020 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

_{Image thanks to www_slon_pics from Pixabay}

Every word and every sentence on your profile is a message you are sending to people. All (or none) of the actions you take on LinkedIn, are a message. I encourage you to think about your LinkedIn message today.

Your LinkedIn message begins with the words on your profile, what you choose to include and/or exclude, and what you choose to do on LinkedIn. Let’s start with the words you choose.

WORD CHOICE

GOAL: To use the words that best describe what you do and are the words used in the industry you want to work in.

These are all words that have similar meanings.

Training. Educating. Teaching.
Counseling. Coaching. Advising.
But what is the message that each sends?

What words are used in your industry, or the industry you want to work in?

I used to call myself a career counselor or an academic advisor, but I much prefer to use the word “coach” now because it implies a different relationship with my clients. I am not going to tell them or advise them what to do. I want the client to figure things out and what is best for them, by coaching them through the process.

That simple choice of word change carries quite a bit of weight in how people perceive me and what I provide.

SENTENCES

GOAL: To demonstrate your value in short snippets of information so that people will actually read it.

I like to say when working with a client that your LinkedIn About Section should be written for the public, not your English teacher. Your English teacher wanted paragraphs that led with a sentence to set the theme and then at least three more sentences to support that theme or thought. Your paragraphs need to be shorter than this on LinkedIn.

Here is an example that comes from my About section of my LinkedIn profile. The About section is where you have 2000 characters to highlight whatever you want about yourself. Notice this snippet is two sentences and only takes up three lines (excluding the title).

★ CAREER COACHING ★

I believe people know what they want to do deep down in their hearts and I embrace the idea of “intentional serendipity” in all my work. Often people just need someone who can reframe their situation to see new opportunities.

Less is best. I could have written much more, and probably did when I first drafted it. What is the essence of what I want people to know? How do I get that in two sentences?

VALUE vs TASKS

GOAL: To let people know what value you bring to the workplace and what skills do you want to continue to use.

The “old school” resume was a list of tasks and duties found on the job description. So many people simply move that information to their LinkedIn profile. Hiring managers and recruiters don’t want to see that on the resume nor do they want to see it on your LinkedIn profile. If everyone is using similar job descriptions, what makes you unique? This only tells me what you did do…not what you want to do or are really good at.

Hiring managers want to see your value. What do you bring to the workplace that makes you unique? What have you done to improve the workplace in the past? (And they will make the assumption you will do similar things in the future). I found this example in one of my first connections profile that demonstrates what I am talking about.

My clients are able to tell persuasive, captivating career stories with their unique promise of value throughout the following expertly crafted collateral:

► Powerfully Tailored Executive Résumés.

► Customized Cover Letters and Correspondence specific to job search strategy.

► LinkedIn Profiles highlighting organizational impact and leadership capabilities.

► Personal and Professional Executive Bios that focus and elevate their narrative.

► Insightful, Persuasive Interviews adding authenticity and credibility to career collateral.

When you read this, you really get a sense of what value she offers her clients.

YOUNG OR OLD
EXPERIENCED OR INEXPERIENCED

GOAL: You should choose if you want people to know how long ago something happened. It is your LinkedIn message and you decide when to highlight dates and when not to.

You should make a conscious decision on whether or not you want to include dates and over ten years of experience. In general, I recommend that my clients only go back ten years. What happened fifteen or twenty years ago was an eternity in many ways because the world of work has changed so much.

Although…some people may want to go back further because they want to send the message that they can do a specific set of skills or have knowledge of a specific industry. It is your message, you must decide.

For clients who are over forty-five or so (it depends), I recommend that they not include the dates of college degrees. If I were to put up my graduation in 1979, people would make assumptions whether they wanted to or not. There is so much implicit bias in all of us. Hmmm….he’s old. I wonder…

By leaving it off, I am choosing my LinkedIn message.

A recent college graduate, you always want to include dates. Hiring managers need to know that they are looking at a person who recently attended college and will typically not have a lot of work experience. They could have internships or taken industry-related courses, but they are not looking for ten years of experience. So, go ahead and tell them the dates.

ACTION vs INACTION

GOAL: To demonstrate that you are committed to your profession and support learning and networking.

LinkedIn is the place for your professional online presence. Is your profile completely filled out? If not, is it because you do not know how to do it? Or you don’t care? Or you are unorganized? The last thing you want is for others to look at your profile and ask themselves questions like these, or worse, fill in their own responses. (Read my blog, Start from the Beginning if this is you). You get to choose how you are presented to the world so take advantage of all LinkedIn has to offer.

Did you “like”, “comment”, or “share”, any posts on LinkedIn recently? If so, it shows up in your Activity Feed.

Have you written any recommendations on LinkedIn for any of your first connections?

What about writing a LinkedIn article? Blog? Not everyone will want to write original work, but you sure can “like”, “comment”, or “share” someone else’s work.

What is your LinkedIn message?

Can you improve it?

KEYWORD image thanks to Wokandapix on Pixabay
LinkedIn image thanks to QuinceCreative on Pixabay

Want to learn more about how to advance your skills on LinkedIn? Check out this 5-week online seminar with Bob McIntosh.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

INTERVIEW: Brand Yourself On LinkedIn

September 25, 2019 by Jim Peacock Leave a Comment

Learn from these two experts on how to brand yourself on LinkedIn. What makes you unique? What is your value? What is your story? LinkedIn is much more than just a social media platform. Learn how to create a strong Headline and About section from Shelly (a.k.a. LinkedIn Superwoman) and Hannah (a.k.a. Career Sherpa).

MY GUESTS TODAY ARE: Shelly Elsliger, President of Linked-Express and Hannah Morgan, Career Sherpa

Watch and listen to these two LinkedIn experts for their advice on creating a quality Headline and “About” section (formerly called Summary) and their top 2 tips on how to ‘engage’ with others.

BIO’S

SHELLY ELSLIGER is an engaging LinkedIn Trainer and President of Linked-Express. She is also referred to as LinkedInSuperwoman. Shelly coaches and empowers executives, diverse leaders, aspiring women leaders, business students and job seekers, as well as corporate teams; inspiring them to maximize their professional branding potential, social influence, and leadership ability on LinkedIn. Shelly is a Forbes writer, A Woman of Inspiration Nominee, and on the list of Globally recognized LinkedIn trainers. You can find her at linkedexpress.ca and connect with her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/selsliger/

HANNAH MORGAN provides actionable job search and career guidance. She loves keeping track of the latest job search trends and social networking strategies. Her work has been featured in numerous national media outlets such at Money Magazine, Huffington Post and USA Today and is listed as a top resource by some of the top names in the careers industry. Hannah is the author of “The Infographic Resume” and co-author of “Social Media for Business Success.” You can find her on Career Sherpa.net To keep up with job search trends, follow her on Twitter @careersherpa, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Check out more Peak-Careers interviews here.

Want to learn more about LinkedIn? Check out the 5 week, discussion-based online seminar with Bob McIntosh here.

JIM PEACOCK is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching. He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move

Sign up to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more. https://peak-careers.com

Using LinkedIn to Research: Who would have thought?

September 5, 2019 by Jim Peacock 4 Comments

Using LinkedIn to Research: Who would have thought?

LinkedIn may be social media but it is also the largest career database in the world. (Profiles of people, their career paths, jobs, and companies). Too many people do not realize the value of using LinkedIn to research.

Yes, LinkedIn is:

your professional online presence
like your resume showing your experience and skills
a place to find jobs
a great networking platform
an information-sharing platform
also, a platform where you can do a ton of researching on companies and career pathways

Read this article or watch my screen capture to learn how you can:

Discover a company mission, goals, and values
Get a sense of the company culture
Identify people who work there now or did in the past to learn from and network with
See the career path of people who work (ed) there doing the type of job you want to do
See which skills, credentials, and training people have that are doing the type of work you want to do
And if you are lucky enough, to better prepare for an interview

After you have your LinkedIn profile to “All-Star” status (you don’t want people to see you are researching them or their company and have a profile that does not show your best)…

And, after you have refined your search and focused your career goals (even in broad terms, not necessarily narrowed down to 1 or 2 companies but at least you will want to be exploring some specific types of jobs)…

And, after you have done some research to identify your top 50 companies you are interested in learning more about… (Stuck in a Job Search? Find 50 Companies)

…then you are ready to use LinkedIn as one of your tools in your toolbox to discover mission, goals, values, culture, and much more.

Here are three areas in LinkedIn to research companies, career pathways, and people.

Watch this screen capture of how to research companies on LinkedIn
(You can follow along with the blog below)

Youtube LinkedIn — – – – CLICK ON THIS IMAGE FOR SCREEN CAPTURE

For demonstration purposes, I went to the Best Places to Work in Maine website and found a company I did not know well, called NFI North, Inc which provides mental health services.

Step 1] Company Research – Learning about their culture and career pathways.

In the SEARCH bar, type in the company you are researching and make sure you click on the “Company” logo.

This brings you to the company’s LinkedIn page. If you are interested in this company, or when you are interested after your research, click on “+Follow” so that you will begin to receive posts, announcements, and jobs. Look on the left side of the screen for the below tabs.

HOME tab. Read what they have posted here to get a better understanding of the company culture.

Are they active here?
What are they posting?
Jobs?
Helpful tips?
Does this “feel” like a company you’d like to work for?

*Note: look to the right side of the screen and you’ll find “Similar pages”. This can be a very serendipitous way of discovering other similar companies

ABOUT tab. Typically gives you a nice overview of the company

JOBS tab. Yep…this is where you’ll find current job openings. Don’t worry if there are none posted or no jobs you’d like to do. Right now, research is what you want to do to find ways to network so you learn about jobs BEFORE they are posted.

PEOPLE tab. Here you will find six columns. You can only view two at a time and must navigate using the “Previous” or “Next” links to the right. (see image below).

This is where you can identify people who work there, where they live, what they do, where they studied, what their major was, skills they have identified as needed in their jobs, and how you are connected. This is a treasure trove of information!

I recommend starting with the 3rd panel over, “What they do”. Click on the “Next” link. Then, click on the “Show more” at the bottom.

Find an area you are most interested in and click on it. (see image below).

This will then show you the people who are doing that job function.

Pretty cool 🙂

I choose “Community and Social Services” and at NFI North, it brings up 54 employees.

You can then choose one of the six panels to narrow down your search even further as to Column 1 “Where they live”

Panel 2 “Where they studied”

Panel 4 “What they studied” You may want to find people who have a similar major

Panel 5 “What they are skilled at” This may help you determine skills you already have or skills you may want to develop

ACTION: this is where the “largest career database in the world” can help you look at career pathways to get to the job you want. Begin checking out some of the profiles of people and see how they got to their job. All the people who meet your criteria can be found below the chart. Pretty amazing isn’t it?

Step 2] Advanced Search – Identifying people who work there or worked there.

I like to start by going to the SEARCH bar in the upper left of LinkedIn, putting my cursor in the box, and press ENTER. (no need to type anything in this now – I’ll show you why)

I like to use the “All Filters” function which will allow us to find people who currently work at NFI North and who worked there in the past. Both can be very helpful in understanding company culture. Click on “All Filters” and you will see a number of options. Find “Current Companies” and type in the company you are researching. It should pull up their logo. Select it.

Then do the same for “Past Companies”.

APPLY – In my case, it shows 7 people who are connected to me. One of them is a 2nd level connection (Derik) and six are 3rd level connections.

*Note: My 2nd level person identifies which of my 1st connections are connected with Derik – If I want to connect with Derik, I could always reach out to these folks for introductions.

ACTION: At this time you could review these people’s profiles to see what they do there, but I want to continue the research.

*Note: Do NOT connect from this screen because it does not allow you to write a note. When connecting always go to the person’s profile, choose CONNECT, and add a note as to why you’d like to connect.

Let’s click on “ALL FILTERS” again in the upper right.

Many times I am looking for “warm connections”, so I want to see if anyone graduated from the same college as me. Scroll down and type in your college. I selected the University of Maine (even though I didn’t graduate from there, I’m pretty sure no one graduated from Oregon State University at NFI 🙂

APPLY

In my example here of using LinkedIn to research, I have one possible “warm connection” who attended the University of Maine. If you do not know this person, I do not recommend connecting. You can always connect later if you do an informational interview or meet them somewhere. Right now, your focus is researching.

Now you know people who work there, people who worked there in the past, and how you can find alumni. A good start for your company research. Remember, LinkedIn is a tool to use. If you want to reach out to any of these people, find their contact information and ask for 10-15 minutes of their time…but this is another blog.

Step 3] Leaving LinkedIn to research on company websites & social media

Click on “Visit website” at the top and begin to explore the company’s website.

Is their messaging consistent with what you’ve learned so far?
Does their mission resonate with you?

Typically at the top or the bottom of the website, you will find their social media links. You’ve already done the LinkedIn research, now check out their “messaging” on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else they are.

Is their messaging consistent with what you’ve learned so far?

Use your analytical skills to determine content but also pay attention to your instincts and feelings. Not everything can be explained with data, and you want a company that “feels” right to you.

There are many other ways to use LinkedIn as a “tool in your toolbox” to learn about companies, develop your network, and identify possible careers. This is just one way that many of my clients will use LinkedIn as the largest career database in the world.

————————————————–

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching. He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move

Sign up here to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.