Insights into the forces shaping our industry.

LinkedIn is a great networking tool for professionals.  It’s also a tremendous tool to help you in your job search.  I’ve had several candidates ask me recently for suggestions on how to make their LinkedIn page more searchable so I’ll discuss some points from my perspective.  The biggest things to focus on are filling in your work history with a summary of your responsibilities and accomplishments (including numbers where possible!).  In the summary section you can add keywords which I highly recommend doing for keywords related to your industry. People mainly search for you by titles and keywords.  The more broad your title the easier you are to find, for example Value Stream Leader may be your official title but you’d be more searchable if you put Product Manager or Product Marketing Manager.  Keywords are very important.  I focus in lighting so if you’re a Design Engineer and have experience with Solidworks, AutoCAD, LED’s , UL, CSA, etc. put that in your keywords and under your job responsibilities.  If you are a Regional Sales Manager include who you call on for example, specifiers, distributors, contractors, etc.  And include certifications such as LC, Lean, Six Sigma, EIT, PE, etc.  It’s also important to have your contact information public on your page under the “Advice for contacting…” section and I even recommend including it in the summary as well since it’s the first place people look.  If you have a degree be sure to include that in your profile as well, there are situations where employers are looking for a specific degree.