3 easy tips to get back in the game with your Linkedin profile

7 years have passed. You have been working at that company, moving from one department to the next, one promotion after the other. All interviews have been handled internally. And all this time your LinkedIn profile has been patiently sitting in digital space, waiting for you to update it.

You know your profile needs a brush up. It’s been overdue forever. It has been on your to-do-list since weeks, months, or even years... silently being procrastinated and ignored. By now it has become this monstrous task you want to run away from but you have to do it. Does that sound like you?

We hear you. You are not alone in this. A lot of our clients are dreading to get started. But where to start? As Zig Ziglar wisely stated You don’t have to be great to start, but to be great you have to start… So we urge you to just do it, right now.
No matter what reason – whether you are in a job search situation or just feel that urge that your Personal Brand needs to get out there – you need to do it. The good news: Once you get started, it can be fun really to update, enrich, and bring your Personal Brand to life!

Here are 3 easy tips to start the process:

1. Change your expectation: Break down the elephant and do it in stages

The main reason why you might dread to revive your LinkedIn profile is because the task feels so huge. So much data to process.

Our advise: break it down.

Don’t expect your profile to be done in one session. If you want to fully showcase your authentic brand, it will need to be done in stages. You might not have all the ingredients in your hand right now. Actually, LinkedIn is a journey. It ain’t be done in a day, so be gentle to yourself and set a realistic timeline, which doesn't put you under pressure. But most important: start your journey not tomorrow, but today!

2. Start with the no brainers to warm up

To warm up begin with filling your profile blanks with the no brainers, in other words the “hard facts” that go without too much deep dive thinking. Here are some quick wins:

Contact details:
Complete them fully! People want to get in touch with you, so it's important to make it as easy and straight-forward as possible.
Don’t be shy to leave your phone number for recruiters, because you want them to contact you (first), not others.
Also, personalize your URL for increased findability.

Certification/Licenses:
Have you received any certifications during your last jobs? A certification as PMP, Prince2 project manager? Or Scrum master? Fill them in to increase the credibility of your skills and expertise.

Education:
You most likely have filled in the milestones of your education. But is there a way to spice it up to give it more detail? In your education field there is a description field where you can add more details about your studies. For example:

• Where have you majored or what was minor?
• Have you started or joined student initiatives you had started or joined?
• What can you share which shows more of you than the usual facts? Go back down memory lane, surely there must be more.

Something for the eyes: Enrich your profile with visuals!
Do you have any pictures of your achievements, something that you're proud of? Let the others know by embedding some images that will spice up your content!
Also make sure that the logo of your former employers, education institute and your voluntary work is also visible. It just brings your profile to life!

Little side tip: 
Before you start doing your changes, ensure that you switch off the notification button, else your network will be notified about each update. Here some instructions how to easily change your settings:

• Click the "Me" icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage
• Select Setting & Privacy
• Click Visibility on the left menu
• Under the Visibility of your LinkedIn activity. Click Change next to Share job changes, and work anniversaries

3. Put the icing on the cake: Show your Personal Brand

Ok, are you warmed up by now? Getting into the flow? Good! The sections you have been filling out so far are the must knows, showing the hard facts. But to be honest, it does not reveal very much about your Personal Brand, yet.

The next step is to make your Personal Brand profile. You want to make it authentic with who you are. And with that stand out from the mass, differentiate yourself out from all your industry peers, because you have something to offer no one else can offer. So before you continue filling out the rest ask yourself these questions:

• What are the few things that readers of your profile need to know about you and make them curious?
• What are your secret weapons that help you naturally to succeed?
  For example: What do colleagues and others always praise you for?
• What makes you tick to do what you do?
• What is your “Why”? What drives you to give 100% in whatever you do?

All these ingredients above – the combination of facts and your personal traits – make you unique and irreplaceable. It's your strength, no one else can copy that.
And it will become even more authentic once you get to the most challenging "core sections", that we will tackle in our next blog entry: Headline – About – Banner! You don't want to miss it, so stay tuned!

If you want more...

• Do you want to get started working on your Personal Brand?
  We have created a list of 7 ingredients of an authentic Personal Brand, which unapologetically reflects you. Simply sign up below and get inspired to explore your Brand. With downloading your free sample you will also receive all valuable tips on showcasing your Personal Brand for success!
• Do you want to deep dive into building your Personal Brand?
  Each month we have new spots to help people with exploring, positioning and showcasing their Personal Brand! Click here for our online program:
  “Build your strong authentic Personal Brand for a successful and fulfilling career” or just simply contact us for a free intake session (with no strings attached).