By Riel LaPointe, Toronto Financial & IT Recruiter
Getting your foot in the door, getting noticed by recruiters, and taking the next step in your career can be challenging. You are competing with so many great talents that you cannot afford to cut corners during your job search.
One area where marketers, and many other job seekers, fail to differentiate is their resume and LinkedIn profile. Perhaps it’s because LinkedIn makes it easy to cut and paste your resume or format your LinkedIn profile to resemble a resume, or maybe it’s because people are overlooking the different role each plays.
Pay Attention To LinkedIn All The Time
Most of us are guilty of it. We only pay attention and are more active on LinkedIn when we are looking for a new job. Much like your resume, you update it when it’s time to get serious about your job search. This could actually hurt you.
LinkedIn should be kept up to date, and you should be using it to network and connect with other professionals and recruiters in your industry all the time. Keeping your profile in the feed of your connections regularly could create opportunities for you.
Optimize Both but in Different Ways
Keywords have become an important part of the job search process. How you use them, and which keywords and phrases you use should vary.
For LinkedIn, gain an understanding of the types of keywords people are using to search for marketing professionals. What skills, experience, and education are important? Use this information to strategically fill out your profile.
For your resume, optimize it based on the specific keywords and phrases that are used by the hiring organization in the job posting.
Be Specific with Resumes, More General with LinkedIn
Catering your resume to the specific job you are applying for is a sound strategy. Every job post is unique, and so should your resume and job application. This allows you to highlight your skills, experience, and other information that is the best fit for the job.
With LinkedIn, you don’t need to be as specific. The goal with LinkedIn is to engage with a larger and wide-ranging audience. This means you can be more general with your profile. You don’t have to give away the farm, either. Make sure your profile is detailed, but also has recruiters and hiring companies wanting more, providing them with a reason to contact you.
More LinkedIn Tips
10 Buzzwords You Should Delete from Your LinkedIn Profile – NOW!
5 Creative Ways for Marketers to Improve Their LinkedIn Presence
IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm supporting clients across the country. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Technology (IT), Accounting and Finance, Consumer Goods, eCommerce and Retail, Financial Services and Insurance, B2B and Industrial, Operations and HR, Professional Services and Legal, Media, Digital and Marketing, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences, Emerging Technology and Telecom, and Sales. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto and operates internationally via Aravati Global Search Network. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
