LinkedIn: Networking Beyond Your Contacts

In early August, LinkedIn announced that it now has over 175 million members across the globe, with over 3 million of those members being in Australia. Add this to the 2 million Company Pages that exist on the platform, and it becomes clear that LinkedIn is one serious, professional networking tool.
Connecting with colleagues, friends and other professionals via LinkedIn is one of the best benefits of being a member. Yet what happens when you want to network beyond your current contacts?

You might want to get in touch with an industry executive, connect with a potential employer or introduce yourself to a headhunter.

What should you do before you make contact?

1. Refresh Your Profile

Before you start diving into new LinkedIn connections, it’s crucial that your LinkedIn profile is accurate, detailed and up-to-date. Ensure that your work history is included, along with details of your experience, skills, education and any other relevant information. This should align with what you’ve included in your executive resume.

You should also focus on your summary, since this is one of the first things a reader will encounter when reviewing your profile. Use short, succinct sentences, and employ bullet points where possible to highlight your talents and achievements.

2. Have Your Executive Resume Ready

If you make a successful connection with someone outside your network, it is vital to have your executive resume ready, especially if you are seeking additional contacts to progress your career. An outstanding executive resume can create a strong impression, and could lead you to the next career opportunity, while a poorly written resume will have your opportunities dissipating quickly.

Make sure your executive resume is fully updated and adequately reflects your competencies and expertise in relation to your industry. If you are unsure about how what an executive resume should contain, our executive resume writing service can help transform an average resume into a highly effective one that will help you get an interview.

3. Who Are You Contacting?

There are over 3 million people on LinkedIn in Australia and so you will need to be selective about whom you are contacting.

Research is key when it comes to connecting with executives, firstly because you will only want to contact those who can influence your career and secondly, because you will need to know whom it is you’re going to be dealing with.

If you don’t know whom to contact, a good place to begin your research is with employers in your field, or with executive search consultants and or headhunters who specialise in your industry.

4. Decide How To Make Contact

There are many ways to make new connections on LinkedIn, but if you are searching outside your circles, the best way is to make direct contact with someone is through the official mail system, called ‘InMail.’

You will need to purchase InMail credits and use them to send an email to your desired contact (if you don’t receive a response, your InMail credit is returned).

Make sure that you include a detailed but brief introductory note in your InMail message (the same as you would with any email) that effectively describes who you are, your present situation and why you’ve decided to contact this person. Be clear and concise in your message and remember to keep it short – executives are busy and they don’t have time to read one-page emails.

5. What Next?

Once you’ve successfully received a response and made a new connection, it is important to keep the relationship going. Depending on whom you contacted, you could politely request a meeting or offer to send them your executive resume. Alternatively, you may simply choose to join a LinkedIn ‘group’ that your contact belongs to. You can also follow the contact (or their company) on Twitter, Facebook or other networking sites.

Are you ready to make contact?

At Resumes Australia, we specialise in executive resume writing, with the expertise to tailor your executive resume and your LinkedIn profile for the greatest success.

Good luck connecting!

How to Increase Your LinkedIn Connections

Having a profile on LinkedIn is essential for any business professional in today’s modern world. With over 3 million members in Australia, LinkedIn can improve your employment prospects, enhance your career and ultimately prove vital as you climb the corporate ladder.

Of course, the more relevant connections you have on LinkedIn, the more chance you have of obtaining success.

But if you’ve exhausted all of your current contacts and your wider work community, how can you still increase your LinkedIn connections?

Join Groups – Joining and participating in LinkedIn groups is an excellent way to not only increase your connections and grow your network, but to also promote your profile. Search for groups that are relevant to your industry, and once you’ve gotten to know the members there, invite them to join your network.

Twitter, Facebook & Other Social Media Sites – Are you connected to people on other social media sites like Twitter, Facebook or Google+? If so, why not connect with them on LinkedIn as well? The beauty of this is that you have already established a relationship with these people and so they become your “1st” contact on LinkedIn. This can open up many possibilities for you to connect with 2nd and 3rd contacts as well.

Check Your Resume – If you have details of your resume and work history on LinkedIn (or elsewhere), browse through it and connect with people from your past. This might be co-workers from a role you had 10 years ago, or even old classmates and university colleagues. You never know where these people might be now or what opportunities they could open up for you. More often than not, they’ll be happy to rekindle their relationships with you and connected on LinkedIn, too.

Leverage Your Current Connections – If you’ve already connected with your current colleagues and friends on LinkedIn, it may be time to branch out and start making contacts with people you don’t necessarily know directly. Ask your contacts to introduce you to new people or browse through your contacts’ networks to see if there’s anyone you may have missed. Alternatively, there may also be 2nd or 3rd contacts you might want to approach.

Maximise Your Profile – Of course, one of the best ways to get found on LinkedIn is to maximise your profile. Ensure that your skills and goals and resume are up-to-date, and use relevant keywords in your descriptions as well. If you obtain a new skill or qualification, add it in. You can also include any memberships or external groups that you belong to. Remember to update your ‘contact preferences’ as well, to let others know that you’re open to career opportunities, new ventures, job enquiries, business deals and expertise requests.

Update Your Status – Keeping your status up-to-date is a great way to keep your profile visible and seen, especially on your connections’ “feed” pages. Sharing links, commenting on other posts and using ‘LinkedIn Answers’ will help keep you active in the LinkedIn world, and will enhance your current relationships and potentially gain you some new ones.

Do you require assistance writing or polishing up your LinkedIn profile and/or your professional resume? Just contact Resumes Australia today!

Regards,

How & Why You Should Join a LinkedIn Group

LinkedIn Groups can be extremely advantageous to any professional looking to enhance their career, find a new job or meet like-minded executives in their industry.

Groups on LinkedIn provide users with a specialised platform to make valuable contacts, discuss industry trends, professional interests, and potentially showcase their executive resumes.

 

With the rapid growth of LinkedIn members across the globe (LinkedIn now has over 150 million members worldwide, with 3 million in Australia alone), the Groups are a fantastic place to be.

“Becoming active in LinkedIn Groups,” says Lindsey Pollak, via the official LinkedIn blog, “is like attending a professional conference every time you log on.” If you’re thinking of becoming involved in one of LinkedIn’s Groups, these beginner’s tips will assist you in getting started.

#1. Decide Which Groups

LinkedIn currently has over 1.2 million groups registered on its site – so how do you choose which ones are best for you? Start by joining groups that relate to your current industry and connections. These might be groups formed by your company, business circles, university alumni, or professional associations. You can also see which groups your contacts belong to, and simply join the same group.

#2. Join Industry Groups

Joining an industry group can be very beneficial for your career. In these groups, you might choose to ask for advice, make new contacts or request informal interviews from members who belong to companies you’d like to work for. This is an excellent way to possibly progress your career and bring your professional resume to the attention of the people who matter most.

#3. Define Your Interests

If you have other specialist areas that you are interested in, try searching for these using the Group Search function. This will search group titles, categories and conversations, and find groups that relate specifically to your interests. Be specific in your searches; if you’re interested in “primary market research,” for instance, use these as your keywords instead of “market research.”

#4. Get To Know the Group

Before you begin commenting and participating in any group, get to know it first. Assess its members, conversations, hot topics, and the ‘Manager’s Choice’ discussions. Once you’ve familiarised yourself, you should start interacting with the group. Introduce yourself, showcase your expertise but remain professional at all times. Be open, yet strong in your discussions as this will help your comments and opinions have an impact.

#5. Reach Out

Reach out to any individuals who you feel might benefit or influence your career. Make contacts with these members and add them as connections to your private network. If a contact seems interested in knowing more about you, send them your well-written professional resume and/or organise a meeting (if feasible), or even a telephone conference.

As always, keep participating! The more discussions and groups you join, the better your opportunities will be and the faster your career may advance. If you require help with your professional resume, Resumes Australia can help, too.

Regards,

LinkedIn Establishes New Group Search

“Are you looking for a job? Because I know someone … who knows someone …”

Sound familiar? It should! Like a professional resume, online networking has become one of the key tools in the employment arena. Rather than trawling through job sites or newspapers, many job candidates (not to mention employers and recruiters) are now focusing on digital networking to search for new jobs and advance their careers.

With LinkedIn’s New Group Search, finding a network of like-minded professionals to connect with in your industry has become easier.

Introduced only a few weeks ago, New Group Search allows you to conduct searches across the 1.2 million groups on LinkedIn, to help you find those that are relevant to your employment profile or your professional interests.

So what’s new about it, exactly? Previously, if a user conducted a group search, the search algorithm only sifted through the group titles and descriptions. Instead, New Group Search also adds in the best results based on how well your search matches online conversations. Furthermore, users can actually see, in the search results, if anyone from their current network is a part of their chosen group.

From a candidate’s point of view, LinkedIn’s improvement of the search tool is a positive one, giving users the ability to locate more groups and join more discussions, thereby enhancing their professional profile and connections.

This opens up a realm of possibilities for the job hunter and the opportunity to connect with many more relevant professionals. To put it simply, this is a chance to promote yourself to people in your industry who you might not have previously linked to, and it could potentially set the scene for showing them your professional resume.

New Group Search follows shortly on from the update to the ‘People You May know’ function, which was recently improved to produce more accurate networking suggestions for users, based on their employment history, education and current network.

So What’s Next?

Ensuring you have a professional resume will benefit you greatly. While LinkedIn is fantastic for networking and building your profile, most employers will still probably request a resume from you. Is your professional resume up to scratch?

Did you know that the resume writing and executive resume services at Resumes Australia can rewrite and customise your resume, expertly highlighting your skills, experience and achievements? Contact us today to find out more!

Regards

Executive Women Australia Seeking New Members

LinkedIn Has 3 Million Aussie Members, Executive Women Australia has 5000+ and wants more…

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn has quickly grown to be the largest, professional networking site worldwide, now boasting 150 million members globally (as of February 2012), with 3 million members in Australia alone.

 

According to Clifford Rosenberg, Managing Director for LinkedIn in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, “this milestone is significant for LinkedIn, as it demonstrates that professional networking online is becoming an essential part of professional life for Australians. We estimate there are around 4.8 million professionals in Australia, which means over 60 percent of Australia’s professional population is now on LinkedIn.”

Following in its footsteps is the professional networking group Executive Women Australia. Currently, only 8% of the executive workforce in Australia is made up of women, with 4.1% as line managers.

And with I.T., Financial Services and Accounting being the top three industry sectors represented on LinkedIn (and the top three companies represented by employees being Telstra, NAB and CBA). Given the above statistics, one wonders, how many of these people are women in senior positions.

Executive Women Australia is keen to change the current trend of the decline of women in senior management in Australia. They now have 5000+ members and are seeking to expand their membership dramatically.

With a strong presence on LinkedIn, Executive Women Australia is inviting new members, who wish to build their profiles and make considerable headway in the Australian business world, to join their network.

Born out of the Corporate Responsibility Network Australia (CORNA), Executive Women Australia is a professional network for Australian women in executive roles. The goal of CORNA and EWA is to inspire, motivate and provide women with useful resources so that they can further their careers, build stronger businesses, and increase the status and volume of executive women across the nation.

Through this group, businesswomen are given the opportunity to engage in career-focused consultations, attend professional conferences, enhance their business practices and strategic approaches, and gain from being part of a multi-lateral corporate social responsibility organisation. Members are also invited to exclusive events, workshops and seminars, and to engage in mentorships, all of which work to develop a universal framework for sustainable business strategies and professional networking.

In addition to its 2012 expansion, Executive Women Australia is currently offering a half day ASX Corporate Governance Council Gender Reporting Readiness consultation, as well as a strategic leadership platform through which members can communicate their unique and diverse business solutions and showcase their innovative accomplishments in regards to business, the environment and the community.

This comes shorty after the ASX CGC’s release of its revised Principles and Recommendations, which have been significantly modified to encompass the much-needed change in the professional treatment of gender diversity in Australia.

With these council developments and the opportunities offered by Executive Women Australia, CORNA hopes to see a growing enthusiasm for the careers of women in the executive sphere, while giving its members the opportunity to leave their mark on Australia’s corporate responsibility arena, both now and in the future.

Do you know someone on LinkedIn who may benefit from joining Executive Women Australia’s (EWA) LinkedIn group? I encourage all executive women to join EWA and participate in their online LinkedIn discussions and networks.

Regards

Step Up and Be Ready for a Career Change in 2012!

Why You Need Executive Resume Writing and Coaching

It doesn’t seem long ago that joining a company meant you were committing yourself to a life-long career choice and sustainable employment. However we’re now living in a time of fierce business competition on a global scale, which means to stay competitive, companies need to re-examine their operations and reduce costs to be more efficient and profitable.

It’s a fact that today’s employment world is more difficult than in the past. If you read the news, you’ll soon learn that markets are dimming and job advertisements falling. There’s also plenty of information published about the worldwide economic outlook and the impact that this is having on hiring decisions.

With all this doom and gloom published daily, the best solution is to remain positive and be prepared. If you didn’t commit to a New Year’s Resolution for 2012, now is a good time to think about work volatility, risk, and to give yourself a personal job assessment.

Manage Your Career More Effectively
To prevent a career disaster, develop your own career management plan, so you are not caught off guard. Here are my top tips when times are tough, to help you avoid the most common mistakes, and stay ahead:

• Be prepared for change
• Learn to adjust quickly to change
• Start by building a strong professional network today!

Being Prepared for Change
It can be quite confronting thinking about employment change. However, by remembering that “whenever one door closes, another one opens” and by ensuring that all your bases are covered, you’ll be better prepared!

Keep Your Skills Current
This is essential if you want to offer value to a future employer. Also, keep up-to-date with your industry’s certifications, and abreast of trends.

Keep Your Professional Resume Up-to-Date
Be ready at a moment’s notice to apply for a new position and to attend an interview. There’s nothing worse than rushing to make changes to your resume and risk making mistakes.

Learn to Adjust Quickly to Change
Finding positive outcomes, when your career is edging towards insecurity, requires you to be strong. Start by believing in yourself, and you’ll be better positioned to keep your career momentum going. You’ll also be better prepared for change, and able to adapt quickly, if you think positively, avoid over-analysing, and start planning your exit strategy as soon as possible.

Start Building a Strong Professional Network Today!
Be sure your LinkedIn, social media, and career site profiles are up-to-date and an accurate reflection of your current skill set.

If your professional network is limited, get working on it! Build your connections with professional associations, university groups, and former colleagues, to foster relationships that will help you to identify career opportunities.

How Up-to-date Is your LinkedIn Profile and Resume?
Whether you are looking for employment or just thinking about your next career move, now is the perfect time to engage a professional writer to update your LinkedIn profile, professional resume and cover letter. Resumes Australia can help you to showcase your abilities and values to a potential employer.

Resumes Australia has the best resume writers in the country who can help you with a winning Professional Resume and Cover Letter. View our resume writing packages today!

Best Regards

Is Facebook Set to Reshape the Employment Scene?

Once upon a time Facebook was considered a personal “play tool” to keep you up-to-date with friends and activities. It was initially viewed as a huge distraction, and a big time waster! Taking a closer look at the world of internet popularity, Facebook now comes in at second place to Google. With over 800 million users, Facebook is no longer a social utility that connects people with friends, it is also about connecting people to work.

While many people say LinkedIn is the first choice for social-media job searches, Facebook members are also finding huge success.

Some of the biggest companies and recruitment agencies now use Facebook to tap into the job market and engage new talent. Millions of people are now also using Facebook as part of their job search strategy to follow companies they are interested in working for.

Getting the Most out of Your Facebook Job Strategy

Here are my top Facebook strategies to help you get the best results in your job search:

1.    Spread the word to your Facebook connections. If you’re searching for new job opportunities, don’t be afraid to ask your Facebook friends if they know of any roles, or if they can refer you to a recruiter or hiring manager.

2.    Expand your social networks with LinkedIn and Facebook. Make sure you edit your profile on Facebook to include as much information as possible, and also ensure your LinkedIn profile is current.

3.    Be careful with your privacy settings. Remember that employers do look on Facebook and they will find out more about you. They will also make a judgement based on the image that you portray. If you’re using Facebook for your family and friends only, then make your profile completely private, and create a new profile or page for your professional image. If you are using Facebook to attract recruiters and hiring managers, be careful what you post, and ensure that employers can only locate your professional page!

4.    Join Facebook groups related to your career.

Follow groups and share information. Look for job search resources.

How Up-to-date Is your Corporate Profile and Resume?

Whether you are looking for work on Facebook or LinkedIn, embrace these social media tools, and consider getting a professional writer to update your profile, professional resume and cover letter. Resumes Australia can help you to attract new career opportunities. Our exclusive LinkedIn Profile writing service is designed to get you noticed. Once you have this completed, you can use snippets of it elsewhere so that you maintain a consistent and professional profile online.

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The Importance of LinkedIn Recommendations

Having good recommendations appear on your LinkedIn profile is so important in today’s world of online recruitment. Endorsements from your former colleagues are an extremely effective selling tool, particularly if you are job hunting.

Asking for a recommendation from a relevant colleague or business manager is considered the norm on LinkedIn, so there’s no need to feel awkward.

The main objective of a LinkedIn recommendation is that someone feels strongly enough about you to provide you with a written testimonial. What’s the worst that could happen? If you were to receive negative comments, take the information on board for personal evaluation. There’s no rule that says you must post negative feedback about yourself!

Recommending others on LinkedIn…

On the flipside of receiving recommendations, is, in turn, providing endorsements for your colleagues. Whilst it is essential that you gather the best testimonials for your own profile, it is equally important that you give honest recommendations about others. Remember that your profile and reputation will be associated with the recommendations you make.

Changing Your Mind

Whilst it is always a good idea to think long and hard before committing to a recommendation, it is never too late to change your mind! A colleague that you once well-respected, may now have a different perspective on work, and your positive recommendation may no longer be applicable.  The good news is that removing your recommendation is possible, and transparent. The recipient will not be notified if you withdraw your recommendation. It is simply removed from their profile.

To withdraw a recommendation:

•    Position your cursor over Profile at the top of your home page.
•    Click Recommendations.
•    Click the Sent Recommendations tab.
•    Click Edit next to the recommendation.
•    Click the Withdraw this recommendation link under the member’s name.
•    Click Confirm.

Need help with your LinkedIn Profile or Resume?

Did you know that every day more recruiters and companies use LinkedIn to search for new employees? By boosting your LinkedIn profile and professional resume, and by building strong networks and referrals, you can improve your online visibility and hopefully get more interviews.

Resumes Australia offers an exclusive range of Executive Resume Writing and LinkedIn packages, visit Resumes Australia today to learn more!

LinkedIn News – Volunteer Work Makes You More Employable!

Announced this week by LinkedIn, you can now add your volunteerwork,and the causes you are most passionate about, to support your LinkedIn profile.

You may be thinking that your volunteer contributions are irrelevant to job search or that this new LinkedIn feature is pretty small in the grand scheme of Social Media job networking?

Power Your Career with LinkedIn

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job as an Executive Career Coach is helping people reach their full potential. So often candidates are on the verge of success but don’t have the background or know-how to showcase their skills and abilities in a way that is relevant to today’s tough job market.

Relationship building is the most relevant way to explore the many career choices and opportunities available to you. There are now over 100 million professionals who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and career opportunities, giving you access to the largest audience of influential professionals worldwide.