Touring LinkedIn Canada
This article was originally written for thestar.com
When it comes to bragging, Canadians aren't so great. Call it our famous sense of modesty, but a recent study found over half of people would rather talk about their colleagues' achievements than their own. With employment rates dropping among 25 to 54 year olds, that's not a great quality to have.
The Star's social media producers stopped by LinkedIn's Toronto headquarters to chat about what makes job hunters stand out on social media. What can we say? They love social media, we love social media. And with 433 million users around the globe and over 12 million in Canada they know a thing or two about online resumes.
““Invest some time in managing your brand because no one else will.””
Who’s in on the sit-down: Britt Mahaney and Simone Lai from Toronto Star and Jon Lyndon and Julie Dossett from LinkedIn.
Companies that offer perks like free breakfast and snacks are competitive to work for. So you need to make sure you can compete with top talent.
LinkedIn offers fun perks like hoverboards and free breakfast.
Simone: For our printscreen blog, we want to give readers something they can use in their daily lives, when they’re looking for jobs. So let’s start with a few tips on making a profile stand out.
Julie: You wouldn’t show up to a job interview half dressed. So not having a complete profile is handicapping yourself out of the gate. Start with a great selfie. You don’t have to spend a million dollars. Dress nicely, look straight at the camera. Also, think about your description as an elevator pitch. What’s your superpower? Use search words that are meaningful in your industry so don’t just say ‘looking for work” in your headline. That’s really not compelling.
Britt: How often should you post updates?
Julie: Keep it up to date. Opportunities turn up in unexpected moments so whenever you wrap up a big project, talk about it. Invest some time in managing your brand because no one else will.
Britt: If you engage more with your timeline and post articles you’re interested in, do you come up higher in the search algorithm?
Julie: It doesn’t juice your coming up in the search but we do see huge payoff when you’re ‘engaged.’ That could be liking posts, sharing articles or commenting on other people’s updates, whether it’s 50 words or 1,000 words.
Simone: What’s a big mistake people make that would be a red flag for an employer?
Julie: Not having endorsements and recommendations. Canadians are particularly really reluctant to ask but that stuff pays off. At the end of the day, people want to know what kind of person is going to join their team.
Hoffman's Garage is where monthly meets are held. It's important to show how you can work as a team and independently in your profile.
Britt: Simone and I sometimes get messages from people on Twitter or Facebook looking for jobs at the Star. But they don’t do their research and contact the right person.
Julie: Now and then we see people reaching out unprofessionally, and it’s like, what are you thinking? If you’re asking to connect with someone, do it professionally, politely and with good reason. Not just what’s in it for you.
Simone: If there’s someone you look up to but you’ve never met, how do you reach out?
Julie: Join groups– there are about 2 million. Observe what people publish and what they comment on because that becomes a meaningful point of entry for you to engage.
Britt: And that way you can establish yourself as an expert as well.
Jon: Exactly. You’re more likely to yield success than just messaging someone out of the blue.
Simone: And people do like to be flattered.
Julie: They really do. Be thoughtful. No one’s going to spend two hours coaching you but they might give you one or two bullets of advice.
Simone: What type of words are useful in your profile?
Britt: You seem to see words over and over again, like ‘creative,’ but some are cliché.
Julie: If everyone calls themselves a ‘creative, strategic leader,’ what makes you special? Banish the buzz. Think about the industry you want to work in and look at the job descriptions of people in your dream job. The algorithms behind those words are really important to recruiters. But don’t just use a bunch of SEO, or you’ll look like robot.
The games room. Hiring managers want to make sure new employees will be easy to work with and not robotic. So have fun with your social media too!
Simone: People want to know they can have a conversation with you so we’ve found authenticity and voice are key on social.
Britt: Thanks for chatting!
