Transcript of Getting Noticed by Recruiters on LinkedIn

Stacey Delo
Hi, everyone. Happy Tuesday. Welcome to our Tuesday webinar series where we talk about what is it your turn to do? Are you ready to go back to work? Are you heading out to have a baby? Are you looking to level up in a new position, or just find something more meaningful or better? These Tuesday sessions are for you. And today we’re talking about one of our favorite topics, LinkedIn, and how specifically, there are things that you can do on your LinkedIn profile that is constantly evolving and changing and very critical in a job search to really stand out with recruiters. So we’re going to get right into that in just a couple minutes. I’m Stacey Delo. And along with these lovely women, and Jordan, who’s also with us today, run prey, which is a career resource for women returning to work or pivoting to something new, different, better. Our mission at prey is to stop sidelining women talent, and we do this through three primary channels. One is our boutique job board. We’ve listed a few of the companies that are hiring with us right now, these are companies looking to hear from you, they want you to apply to these jobs. And they’re not afraid of a resume gap. Hooray. I want I wanted to couple I wanted to point out really quickly. Trupanion is a pet insurance company. And they’re hiring on the customer service side of things, and are looking for someone who speaks French. So if you speak French, or you know someone who speaks French, please take a look at that position. There’s also a $1,500 signing bonus with that Trupanion has posted with us a few times and they’re an interesting company. So definitely take a look at that Aspire ship is a free training program. And I mean free for you to get trained in the art of sales. They’ve developed a program that wants to help get more women into SAS sales, in particular, and it’s an on demand video course that you can take at your own time. And then you can choose to sign up with them to be represented essentially to the companies that are looking to hire through them. And again, it’s the employers that would end up paying a spire ship, you would not be paying them anything. So it’s a really interesting service that I really encourage you to check out it is on the job board. Next level planning is a financial advisory firm in Chicago, Chicago area. A couple of those are remote or remote and hybrid. The Bank of America or turn ship. We had the Bank of America focus on a couple weeks ago a really great webinar and their program, you have to apply by March 13. So keep that in mind. Ziff Davis is a media platform that they’ve got two returnships posted with us right now one is more of an engineering based company Ookla. And the other is everyday health. And that position is specifically within their pregnancy area of everyday health. So great, great opportunities there. The return ship means you’ve got 16 weeks of of training where you’re paid. And then you can you know, hopefully network into a full time position streamlet Zurich metal, Special Olympics of Philadelphia and que tu integrity are a few more of the companies that are listed on the site. And I’ll let you all go there and check those out. But I just wanted to kind of highlight some of those cool ones right now. Um, webinars. This is another way that we stop sidelining women talent through these sessions that we offer where we really want you to walk away, feeling like you’ve learned something that you can apply to your next job search and to feel empowered.

This next one that I got here on March 1 is not us. This is the California conference for women, which is a really big event. And they are hosting a free career fair on March 1, you can find the link on our website. If you go to opera group.com/inspire. Or if you look on the calendar, I think it’s posted there as well. This is a great way to test out your skills with hiring managers in a kind of lightweight way. And to hear who’s hiring and what they’re hiring for. So really encourage you to sign up there, we also have a code that I can dig up. If you want to attend the actual conference that’s provides a discount. So stay tuned for that, I’ll probably put it in the newsletter this week. Next, Next, we’re going to be talking about how to write your resume if you have a gap on it. And we’re going to be joined by Hey there social media, which is a group that we’ve worked with in the past, they’re amazing women who’ve basically created a program on how you can be your own social media business owner. That’s also on the job board if you want to learn more about it in advance. But Emily, who runs that is going to come on on March 8, and talk with us, then we’ll be doing transferrable skills, which we’ll talk a little bit about today for your LinkedIn profile. But thinking about how to really call out those transferable skills that you have and put them on a resume, put them in your LinkedIn profile, talk about them with folks you might be interviewing with or just doing informational sessions with. And then we’ll talk about how to nail the interview. And these are, all of these are going to Tina and Megan who are here with us today are going to be joining us to talk us through those. So please sign up. Next, we have just a brief overview of our coaching kits. These are popular kits that allow you to kind of choose your own adventure, if you will, we recognize that no job search is the same. And so if there are pieces of what you need help with, that you need tailoring to, these can be tailored to you, we sort of have a framework that we work within. But not pictured here is a career change coaching package as well. So I encourage you to go to the kits tab on our website and explore these and then you can reach out to see you know if there’s something that you need customized, but you know, our goal with these is to get you where you need to be as quickly as possible. Okay, so for some inspiration today, I just wanted to give a shout out to the US women’s soccer team who really led the fight toward equal pay for their team and earned it as of today. They are, it’s you know, here in this little synopsis, they’re going to receive back pay for the years that they played where they weren’t paid equally to men. And then they received confirmation that going forward, they would be paid equal to men. You know, I read these things, and I get super excited. I am frustrated that it takes this kind of a long drawn out fight to make these things happen. Sometimes that’s the way the world works, unfortunately. But this is a real when Meghan Rapinoe I thought said it really well. I just want to read her quote from this New York Times story. She said she called the settlement a monumental whim for us and for women. And then she said, what we set out to do was to have acknowledgement of discrimination from US Soccer. And we received that through back pay and the settlement, we set out to have fair and equal treatment and working conditions. And we got that through the working conditions settlement. And we set out to have equal pay moving forward for us and the men’s team through US Soccer. And we achieved that. March 1 marks the beginning of Women’s History Month and on March 8 is International Women’s Day. And then I believe early April is where we talk about equal pay day and we highlight these issues that you know, continue to exist. But this is a really big moment. Not just for women’s sports, but for women in general. And I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you to these women for sticking with this and not just not just letting it go away.

And with that, it’s time for us to get started and get to work And Tina and Megan here are experts in your resume. They do the resume review and LinkedIn profile review. If you sign up for those coaching kids, they also do extensive coaching on returning to work or career change. And so they really are in touch with hiring managers and recruiters on a regular basis, and really staying on top of what makes a standout LinkedIn profile. So I’m excited to have them share with us some of these little and big things that you can do on your LinkedIn profile today. And I will, I will chime in here and there with a few things but take it away, ladies.

Tina Mondragon
Good morning, everyone, or good afternoon. We’re glad to have you all here. Stacy, you can go to the next slide because I love the quote that we have on this slide. So we are super excited to have you all here. Today we are going to talk about some some tips that can help you get noticed by recruiters on LinkedIn, you all have your profile and you want recruiters to notice you on LinkedIn. So we’re going to tell you some things that you can do today that can help you put yourself in their limelight. And I love this quote that we have, it’s it has been said if you are not on LinkedIn, you do not exist from a professional point of view, LinkedIn, if you do not know but as you are, we might know it is the professional social media platform. And it is critically important for people who are returning to the workforce transitioning to a new kind of work starting a business, it’s really important to be on LinkedIn, it has about 800 million members in over 200 countries 98% of recruiters are utilizing it. So if you’re serious about your job search, simply having a LinkedIn profile is something but it’s not enough. So we’re going to talk about some tips that can help you get noticed by recruiters that can find you on LinkedIn, we’re going to share some ways just some simple things that you can do that can help you get noticed by recruiters, LinkedIn has really changed the way the recruiting world has been. Because they can tap into you on your profile that’s on LinkedIn it’s make it makes it easier for you to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn. And it makes it easier for recruiters to find you. So we’re going to discuss some of those simple tips today to get you started on that.

Megan Strickland
Great, hi, everyone. Okay, so before we get into the art tips, as Tina mentioned, some of the benefits of LinkedIn. With this platform, you can proactively build, manage and promote your professional brand. And you may think like, you know, I’m not an influencer, I’m not a CEO, or you know, I’m just someone looking for a new job, we’re looking to get back into the workplace, you still have a brand. So we’ll talk more about that. But it just, I mean, any time that we have a meeting with someone or anytime we’re working with someone, the first thing I do is look them up on LinkedIn just to see you know, to see sort of who they are and what they do. So it really is an important tool. You can reposition yourself for today’s marketplace and job opportunities. If you are returning to the workplace and the market has shifted a little bit. This is a great place for you to sort of reconnect. Like Tina said you can inform recruiters about yourself and your professional goals. You can tap into and expand that works. It is a really easy place to reconnect with people that you went to college with or people that you went to high school with, or people that you worked with in your very first job, you know, they they will remember you and they’ll remember the work that you did then so it’s a really easy way to reconnect with people. You can also identify partnerships and synergies if you’re looking to maybe build your own business or to expand your business or get new customers. And then it’s a great way to learn. Learn from specialists in their space learn from thought leaders learn from other just people on LinkedIn companies groups jobs that are open so the benefits really our MLS

Tina Mondragon
Okay, so our tip number one is you want to build your brand stay so you can go to the next slide that will show you how you can start to build your brand on LinkedIn. Number one is you need to have a photo a professional photo according to LinkedIn. A profile that includes a photo is 20 times more likely to be viewed than Those without one. So it’s important to have a photo there, they’re nine times more likely to receive connection requests. If somebody doesn’t have a photo on LinkedIn, and I don’t know them, if I’m hesitant to connect back with them. So it’s pretty critical that you have a photo on your LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have one, it’s super easy to have somebody just go in the back yard take a picture of you, you want it to look professional professional. I’ve seen some with one time I saw one that somebody had a big hat on in sunglasses, you couldn’t see their face. So you want it to look professional, approachable. A photo that looks like you, I know, some people that might have a picture that’s 20 years old, you want it to look like you it’s okay to have a picture a few years old, but you want it to look like how you would look, if they met you in the interview or saw you on a zoom call, make sure your face takes up at least at least 60% of the photo is what they recommend on LinkedIn, be the only picture the only person in the picture. Don’t have your your pet with you, unless you’re going to be working in an environment that maybe wants pets to be there. It’s professional, it’s a professional picture. And where would you would wear to work, make it simple, professional, approachable.

Megan Strickland
Great, okay. And also, you want to choose an appropriate banner. So the banner is what goes behind your photo so that on the left, it’s the sort of pinkish, purplish maroon, and on the right, the one with the globe. So this just is I mean, if you if you’re, first of all, if you’re building up your LinkedIn profile, this does not have to be perfect. While you’re adding to your LinkedIn profile, this can just be the template. But as you get more comfortable with LinkedIn, it is helpful to just have something that draws the recruiters attention to your profile. And also that represents something that you’re either trying to do or trying to accomplish. So the one on the left, Brenda, you can see that she she’s providing a tip, a tip and her LinkedIn profile. And then the one on the right, she’s a coach, a worldwide coach. So having a picture of a globe and someone’s can represents maybe part of her brand, or what she’s trying to achieve. So you this, again, doesn’t have to be perfect. This can be something that you work on over time, and there’s really easy ways to do this. Um, Canva is one place where you literally pick a photo make like two or three clicks, and then it automatically formats perfectly for your LinkedIn profile. But this is just something to think about as well.

Stacey Delo
Yeah, one thing I wanted to just say they offer, they do offer kind of template banners that you can choose. Or you can like Megan was saying be more creative and make Tina and Meghan may talk about this a little bit later. But Canva is a great place to turn to for this, it’s free. And they actually have it says LinkedIn Banner as a template. And there are sort of pre built ones that you can go and customize if you need to, or just download. So it doesn’t have to be shouldn’t feel paralyzing. But it is a place to be a little more creative. And just think about how the visuals of what you want to present look,

Tina Mondragon
I would agree, they do have Canva does have a lot of free banners, they do have some that are for charge. But you can buy them for a few dollars, if you’re really tied to a photo that you must have that’s from LinkedIn, they’ll charge just a few dollars to add that to your profile, you don’t need to get a whole membership on Canva to do so. But there are so many free options that are available there that I would take a look there. And if you can’t find one there then just Google LinkedIn background templates and they’ll come up with a lots of other sources on the web that you can find them and in

Megan Strickland
Canvas, so this purplish one, let’s say she got this in Canva and it had different type or maybe this is the type that it had. You can go in and customize the type to say whatever it is that you want. And again, it’ll be formatted perfectly for the LinkedIn banner. So Canvas pretty awesome and it’s really easy to use.

Stacey Delo
Yeah, and we’re gonna get into more about the top here but you can really get a sense from these screenshots here. About You know, if you’re if you’re thinking about on a computer and you pull someone up, this is what you’re going to see. It’s a you know, the above the fold, if you will from a newspaper it is it is the opening shot that you have with what someone sees. So kind of think about it in that perspective. Yep.

Tina Mondragon
It’s creating your brand right there just from those two pictures. before you’ve even read anything right at the top, they’re already creating who they want you to perceive them to be and who they are you on LinkedIn. It’s important. Yeah.

Stacey Delo
Okay. Let’s see. Is that it? Is that right?

Tina Mondragon
That’s right. Yep. Okay, yep. And so another way of creating your brand is to craft your LinkedIn headline, your headline and your job titles that goes right under your name on your LinkedIn profile. Some would argue that your job title is the most important field. And we’d strongly recommend that you use all 120 characters to its full potential that’s on your LinkedIn profile. You want to write a headline that rocks is what I tell people. The profile headline and a job titles are weighted heavily in LinkedIn search algorithms, as well as recruiters searching you on LinkedIn. They’re ever recruiter is likely to begin their search with to sit specific job titles, and candidates with a matching job title in their headline and experiences, you will appear higher in their results as they’re searching for you on your LinkedIn profile. So it’s, you need to be thoughtful about what you’re putting up there in your headline. Sometimes people put titles up there of things they possibly haven’t done, but they know they have all of the skills to do and the experience to do and then helps recruiters find them on their LinkedIn. It’s it’s also not just your job title. It’s the first major piece of information that people see in your headline is has your picture your banner, you could put what you’re passionate about what’s important to you, that could be important to the company’s mission that you’re putting up there and your headline. So you should communicate who you are as a professional in a sentence or two right there at the top, the more specific about what you want to be and who you want to be on LinkedIn is what sets you apart from the competition on LinkedIn. So you want to highlight specific skills that you want to be known for, for your brand, how you want people to be finding you, you have 120 characters to use in that headline, which is plenty of space to communicate exactly who you are, and what you want to be.

Stacey Delo
Okay, I’m gonna just go back to the screenshot. The next Oh, the next one. Okay. Um, and the only thing I’m going to add about the, the headline is that it also carries with you when you post on someone else’s, if you comment on someone else’s post on LinkedIn, like congratulations or whatever it is that you’re saying that title carries through with you. So it is something that it exists on your page, but then it has legs outside of that

Tina Mondragon
page. Great point. And there’s a great example so you can see Stacy right there she’s got her book title behind her. She’s got her photo and then all of these great titles underneath her she has a prey which is the company she’s obviously working with a mom which is great she’s got that right up there author so already she’s creating the brand on who she is and what she wants people to know for for she’s got her book there your turn career kids and comebacks are working mothers guide. It’s just perfect you know who she is and what she’s all about just by this title here and her photo and her picture all of it right there.

Megan Strickland
I think this is actually a slightly old screenshot but so it also now you have CEO of a pray right Stacy,

Stacey Delo
I changed my title all the time. I play around with it because you can and so my title is probably different than what this was. Also I updated my photo because this one’s a little old. Hopefully I still look somewhat like this person but I do try to keep the the photo updated. And, and then I just play around with the headline based on I don’t know what month it is.

Tina Mondragon
I love Stacey that you mentioned that you you change it and you change the title because that’s really an important point. Titles change at companies and if you want a recruiter to find you, if you have your title that you did 10 years ago and you’re wanting to pivot or get back into that role, check in See what job descriptions are saying that title is called today, you can change that to a more relevant title on your LinkedIn profile, and that will make it easier for them to find you. So I do recommend changing that all all the time or when it’s necessary to have recruiters find you on LinkedIn.

Stacey Delo
Yeah, and you can, you can turn off notifications, I find that sometimes people are really worried about alerting their group their their network, that they’re they’ve done something on their LinkedIn profile, you can go into your settings and make sure that you aren’t sharing so I’m not spamming people, every time I change my title, or my headline up here, it can be just something that you’re doing, I sort of think of this, like a portfolio that’s just constantly evolving. And, and that it’s just, you don’t want to be caught having to make a lot of updates, when you’re in the sort of, I don’t know, almost like a panic mode or something. You know, sometimes, if you’re currently working, and you haven’t paid attention to your LinkedIn profile in a couple of years, it’s really important to go ahead and start updating it so that you know, if something, if something came along that you were interested in, you know, I’ve talked with people who’ve been laid off, and they haven’t paid attention to their LinkedIn profile, and they don’t have any connections. And so then they’re just trying to sort of quickly move ahead when they could have been doing this all along. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. So Tina, and Megan are making good points about just keeping it fresh. Okay.

Megan Strickland
Okay, our second very important point is to write a strong summary statement, so that you can go to the next slide. Yes, so that is the section that goes right below your headline. So depending on how people are viewing your LinkedIn profile, whether they’re viewing it on their computer or on their phone, different Pete, like different parts will be viewed right away without them having to scroll down. So the fact that’s why the the first three pieces that we just discussed are so critical, because those are the first thing that they will see no matter how they’re viewing your profile. But if they are a recruiter, and they’re going to be using search features, your about section is also very important. So this is where you want to match your skills to the relevant job description. And of course, you it’s it is different from your resume in the sense that you’re not going to be tweaking it every time you apply for a job. So you want some of the general language and key words that are in job descriptions you are aspiring to have. But your LinkedIn needs to have the searchable keywords because recruiters will be using that. So for example, if you are just so just how like as you’re combing through job titles, look for the keywords that run through all of them and make sure those are in your about section. So that’s the first most important part because it will be searched. And then the second thing is you want to write your summary statement for people to read. So you want it to have some personality and really represent you, but still being conscious of the search optimization. So it can be more personal than the summary statement in your resume, which we typically don’t use first person and it’s not always full sentences. Like here, you really can describe yourself more, because you have more space, but you also want to really be conscious of those searchable keywords.

Tina Mondragon
To add to that, in your summary statement, when people view your profile, there are only seen the first two to three sentences. You can type more than that, but you have to click about to learn more. So those top two to three sentences, you really want to have what it is you want to say right there. So people see that at the top. And like Megan says, make sure you have one. It’s truly amazing how many people still leave this field blank when creating their LinkedIn profile. I see it all the time, it’s your chance to really tell your story. So don’t just use it as listing all the skills and the job titles you have really try to bring to life why those skills matter to you and why you want recruiters to reach out to you it can really make a difference in having that in your summary statement.

Stacey Delo
And I think they you want to put both hard skills and soft skills in this section. Correct? Yep. So if you’re a public relations expert or a marketing expert, brand expert, whatever it is, you want to make sure that that though Chuck, those words are in there as much as you want. Maybe something like excellent communicate, I don’t I I’m speaking off the cuff here. But does that sounds correct to you? Well,

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