My grandmother always use to say, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Maybe she was right.
If that’s true, then when it comes to looking for new opportunities, who you know (and who they know) is at the top of the list. Next, to that, it’s the quality of your profile.
Having a referral or a connection within or to a company goes a long way, but if your profile is so-so, the referral may be a wasted opportunity as 90% hiring managers, recruiters, and HR will look at your LinkedIn profile.
During a recent coaching session with a YP (young professional), we focused not only on how to create and build a strong profile but how to craft a unique, optimized summary. I suggested sending personalized connection requests to peers, co-workers from past internships, and former teachers, etc. He went from a bare profile with four connections to having a recruiter from one of the country’s largest consulting companies contact him about a full-time role. Surprised? I wasn’t.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
If his profile had remained as it was, think uninteresting, and lame with no industry keywords, I can guarantee the recruiter would not have found him. Had his profile been semi-built out, a recruiter may have found him but probably would pass due to the lack of information on his profile.
In short, the more built out your profile and network are, the more opportunities you’ll have.
Recruiters are searching for you. Help them, help you by building out your profile and network. Add industry-related keywords or look up job descriptions of the role you would like to have and add those keywords to your profiles.
Don’t forget to check out our posts written for young professionals.
Hey, Young Professionals – 5 Ways to Build Your Network
