Should I stay or should I go? Get found on LinkedIn
Posted on February 12th, 2012 by David
Here's a guest blog from the wonderful Mildred Talabi, CV consultant, entrepreneur and author of '7 Keys to a Winning CV'.
About two months ago a young man came to me with a dilemma. This young man (we'll call him Jack) is smart, intelligent and focused – a junior engineer at a reputable London firm. Jack’s dilemma was that he had just been headhunted for a role and wasn’t sure what to do about it.
You may be familiar with headhunting already, but if you’re not, this is the process whereby skilled individuals – regarded as “top talent” – who fit a particular criteria are approached by professional recruiters (usually a highly skilled expert in the same industry operating on behalf of a company) for a specific role that generally has not been advertised to the public.
It all sounds very ‘cloak and dagger’ and to an extent it is because the job of the headhunter is often to lure these top talents away from their existing organisations and into the company the headhunter’s working for. In return, the headhunter is rewarded generously by the recruiting company for saving them valuable time and effort in finding the right candidate (this would typically amount to a small percentage of the annual starting salary of the filled position).
Prior to the giddy days of the internet, headhunting was done by on a word of mouth and secret phone calls and meetings basis. Now it has taken on an even more formidable form through social media and there's none that lend itself more easily to this than LinkedIn.
Jack was approached via LinkedIn – out of the blue he received a nicely-composed message in his inbox which flattered him on his rising talent in the industry and offered him the opportunity to work for a UK engineering firm at their new branch in Canada. After further investigation to determine whether it was a genuine offer (it was), Jack faced the dilemma immortalised by the 80s punk rock band, The Clash – should I stay (where I am earning good money) or should I go (to a place I've never been before for a potentially life-changing experience)? He has yet to reach a conclusion...
Despite the headhunted part being less common, Jack’s LinkedIn experience is far from unique – many employers are now turning to the social network as a way to find great candidates, whether this is via headhunters or a social media savvy HR team. If you’re currently looking for a job, it is imperative that a) you stop procrastinating and get on LinkedIn right now if you haven't already; and b) when you get there, you optimise your profile fully to make yourself available, should a recruiter come looking in your direction.
One of the best examples of a greatly optimised LinkedIn profile that I've come across is that of Phillip Khan-Panni a multi award-winning professional speaker and skilled copywriter.
Here are just a few reasons why Phillip’s LinkedIn profile is so great (you can view the full profile here – http://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipkhanpanni):
1) It’s crystal clear what he's offering as a service (speaking and writing);
2) His experience in his chosen fields are clearly displayed with evidence;
3) It’s also very clear what opportunities he's open to and to top it off, he has a very strong call to action – “Let's meet for copy. Or for coffee” – with his phone number prominently positioned in his title line.
Although Philip is not looking for a job but rather clients, you can apply some of the same principles to your own LinkedIn profile to help you attract attention from the right people.
Additionally, I recently discovered that LinkedIn run a free monthly webinar (http://learn.linkedin.com/jobseeker) on how to use LinkedIn to aid your job search. The webinar is an hour long and although some of the tips they offer is only available on the premium (paid for) version of LinkedIn, there is still a lot of useful information to pick up from it so sign up, get to optimising your LinkedIn profile and who knows, you too can have the same enviable dilemma as our friend Jack.
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Comments
Comment on February 16th, 2012 from David Nolan
I'm one of those "procrastinators" when it comes to Linked In. We've discussed some of the reasons for that before (http://www.employabilitycoaching.co.uk/networking-for-introverts). I think a key phrase from your response then was: "It depends what you are trying to achieve." If you want to be headhunted then maybe it is essential that you are on there, though I am still not comfortable with the idea that it is essential for all job seekers to be on Linked In.
For one thing, I'm not happy with the idea that any service provided by a single company should be "essential" for everybody, though I appreciate that is just the way things sometimes are - for example, who could get an office job now without an ability to use Microsoft software?
With specific regard to Linked In, a large chunk of a profile posted there is visible to those who are not logged in to the site. I'm not sure I want to freely share that sort of information about myself with the world. (Does that just make me old-fashioned?) Apart from anything else, is it not a useful resource for would be identity thieves? Even once you are logged in and can see who is viewing your page, I am not sure I want to be getting bothered about who is looking at my page and why. I have heard a few unsettling stories surrounding the use of that functionality - nothing illegal, but unsettling nonetheless. Seeking a new job can be an uncomfortable process as it is without giving oneself even more to worry about.
Have I got it all wrong? As your resident sceptic blog reader, should I be on Linked In promoting myself as a sceptical thinker who frequently refuses to accept conventional wisdom, or would that be more likely to scare off a potential employer?
Comment on February 20th, 2012 from Mildred Talabi
Hi David,
I hate to break it to you but yes, I think you do have it all wrong, well mostly!
You're right in pointing out that the information you post on LinkedIn is visible to everybody - but then that is the whole point of posting the information there in the first place.
Whether we like it or not (I'm firmly in the "like" camp), the internet, and with it social media, has and is absolutely transforming the way we live and communicate so yes, I do envision a day in the not too distant future where any jobseeker without a LinkedIn account or some other form of social media profile, would find it near impossible to find a job.
If you had mentioned computers to my parents generation when they were growing up, they probably would have laughed in your face and dismissed you as a crazy person, but yet here we are today pretty much unable to function without the technology previous generations lived blissfully carefree lives without.
So should you have a LinkedIn profile? Absolutely yes! You can either go quietly into the future now by choice, or go kicking and screaming later on when it becomes compulsory - the decision is yours...
> Oh and if you do decide to, feel free to add me as a connection :-)
Comment on February 20th, 2012 from David Shindler
As if to reinforce your message, Mildred, I saw this article today about Reed, the huge recruitment company, in effect saying using social media to find a job is essential http://www.marketwatch.com/story/reedcouk-advise-jobseekers-to-harness-social-media-2012-02-15.
But it does mean being aware of the pitfalls as well as the opportunities when posting profiles, so developing social media skills and awareness must become part of job seekers' capabilities. Digital literacy is part of being employable and demand for this is going to increase.
Comment on February 21st, 2012 from David Nolan
Ok, I give in! I have created a Linked In profile and included some highlights from my CV. For the time being, though, I have not posted a photograph and have chosen mostly to connect with professional colleagues or work-related contacts, not with people I have encountered through other interests.
My head is banging. I feel really uncomfortable about this, as though I have been forced into something against my will. It is already a case of being dragged in "kicking and screaming" as Mildred put it. I am not against social media - far from it, I've already used Twitter to make some great contacts associated with my hobbies - but I am reluctant to get my personal and professional lives mixed up, and I am very nervous about the pitfalls. Digital literacy can only go so far. It will help me be careful how I use this kind of tool, but my own behaviour cannot prevent me from being badly treated by others.
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