As a manager, you may spend plenty of time reviewing the profiles of potential candidates. But how much time do you spend working on your own profile? Are you making sure your profile highlights both your personal brand and your company brand? Does your profile reflect well on your skills and potential, and also on the skills and potential of those around you? Do you call attention to yourself by reflecting positive attention on others? If not, maybe your profile could use some adjustments. Consider these tips.

Read your profile from a candidate’s point of view.

Put yourself in the shoes of a candidate searching for a responsible company and a promising position under a competent, reliable manager. Does your LinkedIn page inspire trust and confidence? After you’ve considered your profile from a candidate’s point of view, take look from the perspective of an executive recruiter or a higher level employer who might be looking for a candidate with strong leadership skills.

Learn from what you see.

After reviewing dozens or hundreds of candidate profiles, apply what you’ve learned as you shape your own. Are you impressed by candidates who use excessive buzzwords or overstate their accomplishments in transparent ways? Probably not…and those who are reviewing your own profile aren’t impressed by these moves either. If you have a pet peeve or a specific profile move that makes you light up, know that you aren’t the only one who feels this way. Practice what you preach.

Keep your language concrete and clear.

Skip the buzzwords, and more important, skip the vague language. Use terms that are concrete, not abstract, and eliminate every phrase or descriptor that applies to everyone in the world. For example, go through your profile and remove words like “track record,” “driven,” “passionate,” “motivated,” and “strategic.” These are overused words that mean very little and don’t set you apart from others at your level of experience.

Don’t fear brevity.

If you remove every empty buzzword and discover that your profile is now the size of a postage stamp, don’t worry. It’s always better to keep your message relevant, specific, and short than to load the page with excessive rambling corporate-speak. Managers and executives do this far too often, and it typically causes readers and reviewers to tune out and skip over vital details. A short profile does not suggest a short work history; it suggests a busy person with a life outside of social media and a talent for executive summary.

Include a photo.

Your profile will get more views if you include a photo, no matter what you look like. Just choose a clear portrait-style image of your face, and make sure you’re smiling.

For more on how to use LinkedIn to attract the attention of potential employers and respect of potential candidates, contact the staffing team at Cordia Resources.