September 15, 2023 • 17 mins
Ready to make recruiters on LinkedIn stop in their tracks? With over 900 million active users, it might seem like you're just a drop in a vast ocean but fear not because Pete Newsome is about to arm you with some excellent tactics. In this Finding Career Zen podcast episode, Pete shares insights on making your LinkedIn profile shine brighter than the rest. He's got your back, from top-notch professional headshots to persuasive headlines, detailed summaries, and impressive accomplishments. And here's a secret: consistency is king - your resume and LinkedIn profile should tell the same compelling story about your professional journey.
But wait, there's more! Pete discusses effective networking strategies, the hidden power of Reddit, and other resources that could give you the edge in your job hunt. Remember, recruiters sift through countless profiles daily, and your goal is to make yours stand out effortlessly. And hey, if you're ever in a bind or need personalized advice, don't hesitate to reach out at questions@zengig.com. Here's to making recruiters sit up and take notice!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Newsome (00:00):
You're listening to the Finding Career Zen
Podcast.
I'm Pete Newsome and I'm goingsolo today to talk about
something that's been on my minda lot lately, and that is what
recruiters look for on LinkedIn.
I've been on LinkedIn a lotlately, more so than I have in
the recent past, and a couple ofthings have jumped out at me.
One is how many people arelooking for jobs right now.
(00:21):
I know the numbers, I see themath, I pay attention to what's
going on in the market, but whenI see how many applicants there
are for each job, it reallygives me a whole different
perspective on what the jobmarket is really like right now,
and that is to say, it's notgood.
The other thing I've noticed isthat a lot of people have
questions about what to do onLinkedIn, how to use it to give
(00:43):
themselves the best opportunityto be found, and that's really
what it's all about.
Some quick stats on LinkedIn.
It is a massive job network.
No one knows that, but I'm notsure many realize how big it's
become.
Over 900 million active usersright now, 58 million registered
companies, 61 million peopleusing it to look for jobs.
(01:03):
That is a huge number and a lotof competition for any
individual job seeker.
My staffing business has beenposting job openings lately on
LinkedIn and, as I mentioned,I've been alarmed by some of the
numbers that I've seen.
We'll have hundreds ofapplicants within a couple hours
of a posting and historically Ijust haven't seen numbers like
that.
You really need to do your best, put your best foot forward on
(01:27):
LinkedIn to stand out, becausethere's so many other people
trying to do the same.
Now here's the good news For anyindividual job seeker who
really wants to maximize theirvisibility most people aren't
going to do all of those thingsthat they should do.
If you're listening, pleasetake advantage of these tips.
Let's just get right to it.
Recruiters want to look forpeople who are professional.
(01:50):
One has the opportunity to usetheir own social media platforms
as they like, but it doesn'tmean that's how they should, not
in a professional setting.
If you have social mediaaccounts and you want to do
things that may be controversialor, let's just say,
unprofessional however youdefine that consider not doing
(02:11):
those things on LinkedIn.
Use some of the more personalsocial platforms that are out
there, because recruiters arelooking on LinkedIn.
They will look you up.
Even if they don't find youthat way, they will check out
your profile and get a feel forwhat you're all about.
Start with a professionalheadshot.
Don't clip anyone out of apicture if you can avoid it.
It doesn't have to beprofessionally taken, it just
(02:33):
has to be a professionalappearance.
Hopefully, the differencebetween that is easy to
understand.
Put your best foot forward withyour picture.
The next thing is your headline.
Recruiters are scanning.
They have so many people.
As I mentioned, 61 millionpeople are using LinkedIn to
find a job right now.
What is going to help you standout?
(02:53):
It's a headline that therecruiter can see.
Just like if you're in thecheckout line looking at
magazines, what's going to grabyour attention?
Newspapers have done it sincethey started being published.
It's all about the headline howyou want to be found, what you
want to be found for.
You need to put that in there.
If it doesn't have to beperfect in terms of coming up
(03:21):
with something overly creativeor gimmicky in fact, I would
argue against that you want itto be natural, but you want it
to be clear and easy tounderstand.
Start with that good headlinebefore you fill out the rest of
your profile.
Then put your summary.
Put it in detail, make it easyfor the recruiters who are
(03:41):
looking to understand who youare, what you're looking for,
what you're all about.
Think about telling a story.
Right, it's a story of you, thestory of your professional life
.
So, as you put this informationtogether, yes, it's ultimately
going to be a summary of yourprofessional history and the
jobs that you've had, but if youthink of it as a story that has
(04:02):
a beginning and an end end iswhere we are right now then you
want the recruiter to be able tosee progression.
You want the recruiter to seehow your career has evolved, and
don't make them work to try tofigure it out.
Now, that's probably a recurringtheme.
I don't know how many times I'mgoing to mention that in this
relatively brief episode.
So if I do it a bunch of times,just know it's because it's
(04:23):
important.
When recruiters have to stopand guess, it's a really bad
thing for the candidate.
They won't do it.
It is a reality.
The recruiters don't want tohave to figure out overlapping
data.
They don't want to figure outconflicting information between
a resume and a LinkedIn profile.
So I'll go ahead and say thatnow, make sure that your resume
and your profile on LinkedIn aresimilar Now.
(04:45):
It doesn't have to be exact,but it can't be contradictory.
So showcase who you are.
If you're passionate, if you'rededicated, if you're
enthusiastic about whatever itis you're doing, let it come out
in that summary and then, foryour experience, same thing.
It's all part of the sameequation.
Spell it out, be accurate, beclear.
(05:08):
Highlight your accomplishments.
This is a chance to back to thestory of you.
What have you done?
Use statistics, use numbers ifyou can.
If you won an award and it'sbeen the top performer, say
you're the top performer.
If you've grown a sales number1,000% year over year, use that
(05:31):
number.
So the more you can spell outthe specifics of what you've
accomplished, the easier it isfor you to stand out in the eyes
of the recruiter who's going tobe looking at it, because,
again, they're trying to compareyou and the moments that
they're looking at your profileto everyone else in their
candidate pool and, as we'veestablished, there's a really
large number of these days.
(05:51):
So tell that story.
Use action verbs where you canand make sure it's quantifiable.
Now, one thing you never want todo is exaggerate to a point
where you can't back it up.
So if it's on your profile,just like anything in a resume
or anything you filled out in anapplication, you have to be
able to defend it.
So the easiest way to do thatalways be accurate, always be
(06:12):
honest and you can exaggerate toa point.
Again.
You have to be your ownmarketer with this, but be
prepared for anything that'swritten on your profile or on an
application or in your resumeto be questioned in an interview
and be prepared to explain itin detail.
So you don't want to get caughtwith your hand in the cookie
jar there, but toot your ownhorn.
(06:34):
No one else is going to do itfor you in this situation.
Recommendations and endorsementsOK, I just said no one else is
going to do it for you, butactually that's not really the
case.
You can get people to do it foryou.
You can ask for recommendations.
The more the better.
It's a section that some peopledisregard completely on
LinkedIn, but it's anopportunity for you to have
(06:57):
others telling your story aswell and have those references
sort of baked in right from thestart on your profile when a
recruiter looks at you andencounters you for the first
time.
So ask for those references, orrecommendations, rather, and
endorsements.
Take advantage of that sectionof LinkedIn, if you haven't
already.
(07:19):
And then some of the otherthings you want to consider.
Those are the obvious, right,your profile has to look good,
your picture has to look good,your headline has to look good.
You have to tell a clear andaccurate and compelling story.
But what else can you do aboveand beyond?
So we'll call these advancedtips.
If you will Think of keywords,think of those things that are
going to be on a job descriptionIf you are in a role for any
(07:41):
period of time.
You know the buzzwords, youknow the phrases that are used
over and over.
Sprinkle those throughout yourprofile, just like when you
search for something on Google.
Recruiters are using keywordsearches on LinkedIn to find the
candidates who most closelymatch what they need.
And what they need is going tobe the skills and traits and
background that are listed on ajob description in some form or
(08:03):
fashion.
So if you want to match forthat job description and be
found for those things, wellthat's what needs to be on your
profile as well.
So keywords needs to besearchable.
Use those common terms for yourindustry.
The next thing and this iswhere so all of that is sort of
behind the scenes, right, didanyone can do.
No excuse is not to.
(08:24):
I'll go ahead and say that aswell.
If you haven't taken the timeto do those things and this
isn't the only place you can getthis information, the internet
is littered with it then that'son you right, because there
really is no excuse, just amatter of effort and willingness
to do it.
This next piece is a little moreuncomfortable for a lot of
folks, and that is to be engaged.
(08:45):
The LinkedIn rewards people whoare using their platform, who
are communicating with others,and that it's a great way for
you to be noticed by those whoyou want to be found by.
So whenever I talk about a jobsearch, I often use a phrase
cast a wide net.
That's the objective of any jobseekers.
You want to be found for asmany positions as possible.
(09:07):
Have people coming to you andif you're engaging on LinkedIn,
if you're commenting on otherposts, if you're building your
network not just by invitingsomeone or offering to connect
with them that's easy, anyonecan do that Take that extra step
and you'll get the benefit ofbeing found by more people by
(09:28):
expanding your network andhaving people see who you are
and what you're participatingfor.
So I'm not suggestingnecessarily you need to engage
people in their personal posts,but things that are industry
specific.
If you see people who work fora company you aspire to work for
, there's a perfect opportunity.
(09:48):
If they're actively commentingon LinkedIn and posting and
sharing, then you can get toknow them.
That way, you can do thatsubtly.
So active engagement issomething that you should 100%
take advantage of.
Now.
There was a job seeker not toolong ago.
I was watching it was someone Iknew who was looking for a job
and I saw this person who didn't.
They weren't really a bigLinkedIn user in the past, but
(10:10):
during their job search Inoticed that they became very
active, telling stories,supporting others, commenting
multiple times a day.
I mean, I was it keeping thatclose track, but every time I
pulled up LinkedIn, it seemedlike this person was making a
comment on my feed and justbeing so generous and supportive
of others and it absolutelystood out.
(10:30):
Now I don't know if that's whathelped her land a job in
particular, but I wouldn't besurprised if it did, because her
interaction just shot her tothe forefront of so many
people's LinkedIn page and ithad to help her get more
attention.
And when someone is just beinggenerous and helpful to others.
People are going to want to begenerous and helpful to them and
(10:53):
I, as I said, I have to assumethat that played a part in
helping this person to securewhat seems to be a really great
job.
So, be engaged, be aparticipant only then, not just
a bystander, not an observer.
Content creation Now this one isa little next level of
difficulty, right where I'mrecommending that if you really
(11:17):
want to stand out from the crowd, then you should consider
creating your own originalcontent.
What story do you have to tell?
Now?
The earlier you are in yourcareer, probably the more
difficult that is to do.
You may not feel qualified, youmay not feel knowledgeable,
that you don't have anything tosay.
Put those feelings aside, right, it is your opportunity as now
(11:39):
I think I'm saying for the thirdtime to toot your own horn, and
you can do that by creatingoriginal content that will get
you noticed.
Now, it needs to be relevant,it needs to be on point for what
it is you want to be found forand how you want to be thought
of.
But there's no shortage ofroutes you can take to come up
(12:00):
with ideas.
Ai has made that very simplefor a lot of us now to take
advantage of.
If you need brainstorming ideas, get on chat GPPT.
I'm not saying to use that foryour content creation, but it's
a great tool to use for ideasand tips.
So you can see content thatother people wrote.
(12:20):
You can try to rephrase it inyour own words, you can try to
add to it, you can build on it.
If you have ideas that have beenon your mind for some period of
time, everyone has thoughtsthat are in their head.
Put them on paper, put them onvideo and even if you don't want
to publish it right away, goahead and get your feet wet,
Record yourself, just like I'mdoing right now.
(12:42):
I've been recording podcastsfor a couple of years right now
and it's still not very naturalto me.
To be completely frank, I'mtalking solo today and that is.
I feel like a fish out of waterwhen I'm doing that, but I know
the subject.
I have the experience.
I'm not trying to talk aboutsomething that I don't have
knowledge of.
That would be an entirelydifferent deal.
(13:04):
So if you have confidence thatwhat you are sharing is accurate
or interesting to someone elseand, by the way, if it's
interesting to you.
It probably is interesting tosomeone else.
Just get on Reddit.
I didn't use that tool.
I was talking on a live streamabout Reddit the other day and I
made a comment I'll make againhere, which is for every
(13:25):
interest you may have, there arethousands and thousands of
people who have a similarinterest, and that's what's made
Reddit so successful is that itaccommodates every niche anyone
can have.
So if you have an idea that youthink, hey, this is relatively
obscure, not that many peoplemay be interested, you may be
very surprised to realize thatthere are a lot of like-minded
(13:45):
folks out there who you canconnect with.
So it doesn't have to satisfy amass group.
If you have something that youwant to share or content that
you think is interesting, itjust has to satisfy enough
people, and sometimes morespecific content is going to
play out much better, becausepeople will be more interested
(14:06):
and take the time when thosethings that they're personally
invested in right, either as ahobby or a passion.
So try it.
Try it, even if it'suncomfortable.
Go ahead and start postingcontent, whether it's written,
whether it's video.
Take a shot.
Create the content, even if youdon't want to post it right
(14:27):
away.
Share it with people you trustand rely on, get their honest
feedback, and I say, go for itright, because by not doing it,
it won't help you be noticed, itwon't help you be found, so you
may as well take that step.
The next thing I'll say is justabout networking in general.
On LinkedIn, there are so manyresources that you can take
(14:48):
advantage of in terms of groupsthat are out there, and so if
you haven't already become amember of different groups and
seen what others are doing orwho you can follow, right, if
you are, if you're a senior inyour career, you probably have a
pretty big network, but if youdon't, then you have to build it
somewhere, and the way to dothat is so easy today.
(15:10):
I mean, when I was coming outof school, linkedin didn't exist
, and so I had to meet oneperson at a time, and now you
have access to hundreds ofthousands I mean millions of
people on LinkedIn, and some ofthe groups are massive and have
super activity.
Whether you're in marketing orfinance or IT or law, whatever
your specialty area is, thereare giant groups of people who
(15:33):
are like-minded, who you want tomeet, who you want to know, who
you can connect with and whoyou'll be found by, and so
recruiters look for all of thesethings.
So we're talking about how toget recruited here, what
recruiters are looking for, andthey want someone who is very
easy.
Ultimately, here's the bottomline with what recruiters want
(15:55):
they want to find the perfectcandidate with as little effort
as possible, not because they'relazy, but because they want to
get to the finish line.
The finish line is finding thecandidate who's going to be
interested in the job that theyhave, that they're recruiting
for, who's a good fit for it,who's going to interview well,
who has the right background,who's going to be liked by the
(16:16):
hiring manager and who's goingto want the job.
And so if you can tell thatstory right who you are, what
you've done, what you're lookingfor, what you're all about,
make that very clear and easyfor the recruiter to understand
then you're going to have asuccessful time being recruited
on LinkedIn.
If you don't, you're not.
So hopefully this helps.
(16:37):
If you have any questions, I'dlove to hear from you.
Questions@z engig.
com.
Give me feedback, tell me whatI'm missing, tell me where the
gap is, where you could benefitfrom having content that we
haven't created yet.
Also, of course, check outzengig.
com, where we have informationon pretty much every aspect of
the job search, as well ascareer advice for so many
(16:58):
different scenarios.
So I won't do a huge commercialon that, but questions@ zengig.
com.
Let me know if you still haveany after listening to this and
good luck with your hot.
Thanks.
Have a great day.
You're listening to the Finding Career Zen
Podcast.
I'm Pete Newsome and I'm goingsolo today to talk about
something that's been on my minda lot lately, and that is what
recruiters look for on LinkedIn.
I've been on LinkedIn a lotlately, more so than I have in
the recent past, and a couple ofthings have jumped out at me.
One is how many people arelooking for jobs right now.
(00:21):
I know the numbers, I see themath, I pay attention to what's
going on in the market, but whenI see how many applicants there
are for each job, it reallygives me a whole different
perspective on what the jobmarket is really like right now,
and that is to say, it's notgood.
The other thing I've noticed isthat a lot of people have
questions about what to do onLinkedIn, how to use it to give
(00:43):
themselves the best opportunityto be found, and that's really
what it's all about.
Some quick stats on LinkedIn.
It is a massive job network.
No one knows that, but I'm notsure many realize how big it's
become.
Over 900 million active usersright now, 58 million registered
companies, 61 million peopleusing it to look for jobs.
(01:03):
That is a huge number and a lotof competition for any
individual job seeker.
My staffing business has beenposting job openings lately on
LinkedIn and, as I mentioned,I've been alarmed by some of the
numbers that I've seen.
We'll have hundreds ofapplicants within a couple hours
of a posting and historically Ijust haven't seen numbers like
that.
You really need to do your best, put your best foot forward on
(01:27):
LinkedIn to stand out, becausethere's so many other people
trying to do the same.
Now here's the good news For anyindividual job seeker who
really wants to maximize theirvisibility most people aren't
going to do all of those thingsthat they should do.
If you're listening, pleasetake advantage of these tips.
Let's just get right to it.
Recruiters want to look forpeople who are professional.
(01:50):
One has the opportunity to usetheir own social media platforms
as they like, but it doesn'tmean that's how they should, not
in a professional setting.
If you have social mediaaccounts and you want to do
things that may be controversialor, let's just say,
unprofessional however youdefine that consider not doing
(02:11):
those things on LinkedIn.
Use some of the more personalsocial platforms that are out
there, because recruiters arelooking on LinkedIn.
They will look you up.
Even if they don't find youthat way, they will check out
your profile and get a feel forwhat you're all about.
Start with a professionalheadshot.
Don't clip anyone out of apicture if you can avoid it.
It doesn't have to beprofessionally taken, it just
(02:33):
has to be a professionalappearance.
Hopefully, the differencebetween that is easy to
understand.
Put your best foot forward withyour picture.
The next thing is your headline.
Recruiters are scanning.
They have so many people.
As I mentioned, 61 millionpeople are using LinkedIn to
find a job right now.
What is going to help you standout?
(02:53):
It's a headline that therecruiter can see.
Just like if you're in thecheckout line looking at
magazines, what's going to grabyour attention?
Newspapers have done it sincethey started being published.
It's all about the headline howyou want to be found, what you
want to be found for.
You need to put that in there.
If it doesn't have to beperfect in terms of coming up
(03:21):
with something overly creativeor gimmicky in fact, I would
argue against that you want itto be natural, but you want it
to be clear and easy tounderstand.
Start with that good headlinebefore you fill out the rest of
your profile.
Then put your summary.
Put it in detail, make it easyfor the recruiters who are
(03:41):
looking to understand who youare, what you're looking for,
what you're all about.
Think about telling a story.
Right, it's a story of you, thestory of your professional life
.
So, as you put this informationtogether, yes, it's ultimately
going to be a summary of yourprofessional history and the
jobs that you've had, but if youthink of it as a story that has
(04:02):
a beginning and an end end iswhere we are right now then you
want the recruiter to be able tosee progression.
You want the recruiter to seehow your career has evolved, and
don't make them work to try tofigure it out.
Now, that's probably a recurringtheme.
I don't know how many times I'mgoing to mention that in this
relatively brief episode.
So if I do it a bunch of times,just know it's because it's
(04:23):
important.
When recruiters have to stopand guess, it's a really bad
thing for the candidate.
They won't do it.
It is a reality.
The recruiters don't want tohave to figure out overlapping
data.
They don't want to figure outconflicting information between
a resume and a LinkedIn profile.
So I'll go ahead and say thatnow, make sure that your resume
and your profile on LinkedIn aresimilar Now.
(04:45):
It doesn't have to be exact,but it can't be contradictory.
So showcase who you are.
If you're passionate, if you'rededicated, if you're
enthusiastic about whatever itis you're doing, let it come out
in that summary and then, foryour experience, same thing.
It's all part of the sameequation.
Spell it out, be accurate, beclear.
(05:08):
Highlight your accomplishments.
This is a chance to back to thestory of you.
What have you done?
Use statistics, use numbers ifyou can.
If you won an award and it'sbeen the top performer, say
you're the top performer.
If you've grown a sales number1,000% year over year, use that
(05:31):
number.
So the more you can spell outthe specifics of what you've
accomplished, the easier it isfor you to stand out in the eyes
of the recruiter who's going tobe looking at it, because,
again, they're trying to compareyou and the moments that
they're looking at your profileto everyone else in their
candidate pool and, as we'veestablished, there's a really
large number of these days.
(05:51):
So tell that story.
Use action verbs where you canand make sure it's quantifiable.
Now, one thing you never want todo is exaggerate to a point
where you can't back it up.
So if it's on your profile,just like anything in a resume
or anything you filled out in anapplication, you have to be
able to defend it.
So the easiest way to do thatalways be accurate, always be
(06:12):
honest and you can exaggerate toa point.
Again.
You have to be your ownmarketer with this, but be
prepared for anything that'swritten on your profile or on an
application or in your resumeto be questioned in an interview
and be prepared to explain itin detail.
So you don't want to get caughtwith your hand in the cookie
jar there, but toot your ownhorn.
(06:34):
No one else is going to do itfor you in this situation.
Recommendations and endorsementsOK, I just said no one else is
going to do it for you, butactually that's not really the
case.
You can get people to do it foryou.
You can ask for recommendations.
The more the better.
It's a section that some peopledisregard completely on
LinkedIn, but it's anopportunity for you to have
(06:57):
others telling your story aswell and have those references
sort of baked in right from thestart on your profile when a
recruiter looks at you andencounters you for the first
time.
So ask for those references, orrecommendations, rather, and
endorsements.
Take advantage of that sectionof LinkedIn, if you haven't
already.
(07:19):
And then some of the otherthings you want to consider.
Those are the obvious, right,your profile has to look good,
your picture has to look good,your headline has to look good.
You have to tell a clear andaccurate and compelling story.
But what else can you do aboveand beyond?
So we'll call these advancedtips.
If you will Think of keywords,think of those things that are
going to be on a job descriptionIf you are in a role for any
(07:41):
period of time.
You know the buzzwords, youknow the phrases that are used
over and over.
Sprinkle those throughout yourprofile, just like when you
search for something on Google.
Recruiters are using keywordsearches on LinkedIn to find the
candidates who most closelymatch what they need.
And what they need is going tobe the skills and traits and
background that are listed on ajob description in some form or
(08:03):
fashion.
So if you want to match forthat job description and be
found for those things, wellthat's what needs to be on your
profile as well.
So keywords needs to besearchable.
Use those common terms for yourindustry.
The next thing and this iswhere so all of that is sort of
behind the scenes, right, didanyone can do.
No excuse is not to.
(08:24):
I'll go ahead and say that aswell.
If you haven't taken the timeto do those things and this
isn't the only place you can getthis information, the internet
is littered with it then that'son you right, because there
really is no excuse, just amatter of effort and willingness
to do it.
This next piece is a little moreuncomfortable for a lot of
folks, and that is to be engaged.
(08:45):
The LinkedIn rewards people whoare using their platform, who
are communicating with others,and that it's a great way for
you to be noticed by those whoyou want to be found by.
So whenever I talk about a jobsearch, I often use a phrase
cast a wide net.
That's the objective of any jobseekers.
You want to be found for asmany positions as possible.
(09:07):
Have people coming to you andif you're engaging on LinkedIn,
if you're commenting on otherposts, if you're building your
network not just by invitingsomeone or offering to connect
with them that's easy, anyonecan do that Take that extra step
and you'll get the benefit ofbeing found by more people by
(09:28):
expanding your network andhaving people see who you are
and what you're participatingfor.
So I'm not suggestingnecessarily you need to engage
people in their personal posts,but things that are industry
specific.
If you see people who work fora company you aspire to work for
, there's a perfect opportunity.
(09:48):
If they're actively commentingon LinkedIn and posting and
sharing, then you can get toknow them.
That way, you can do thatsubtly.
So active engagement issomething that you should 100%
take advantage of.
Now.
There was a job seeker not toolong ago.
I was watching it was someone Iknew who was looking for a job
and I saw this person who didn't.
They weren't really a bigLinkedIn user in the past, but
(10:10):
during their job search Inoticed that they became very
active, telling stories,supporting others, commenting
multiple times a day.
I mean, I was it keeping thatclose track, but every time I
pulled up LinkedIn, it seemedlike this person was making a
comment on my feed and justbeing so generous and supportive
of others and it absolutelystood out.
(10:30):
Now I don't know if that's whathelped her land a job in
particular, but I wouldn't besurprised if it did, because her
interaction just shot her tothe forefront of so many
people's LinkedIn page and ithad to help her get more
attention.
And when someone is just beinggenerous and helpful to others.
People are going to want to begenerous and helpful to them and
(10:53):
I, as I said, I have to assumethat that played a part in
helping this person to securewhat seems to be a really great
job.
So, be engaged, be aparticipant only then, not just
a bystander, not an observer.
Content creation Now this one isa little next level of
difficulty, right where I'mrecommending that if you really
(11:17):
want to stand out from the crowd, then you should consider
creating your own originalcontent.
What story do you have to tell?
Now?
The earlier you are in yourcareer, probably the more
difficult that is to do.
You may not feel qualified, youmay not feel knowledgeable,
that you don't have anything tosay.
Put those feelings aside, right, it is your opportunity as now
(11:39):
I think I'm saying for the thirdtime to toot your own horn, and
you can do that by creatingoriginal content that will get
you noticed.
Now, it needs to be relevant,it needs to be on point for what
it is you want to be found forand how you want to be thought
of.
But there's no shortage ofroutes you can take to come up
(12:00):
with ideas.
Ai has made that very simplefor a lot of us now to take
advantage of.
If you need brainstorming ideas, get on chat GPPT.
I'm not saying to use that foryour content creation, but it's
a great tool to use for ideasand tips.
So you can see content thatother people wrote.
(12:20):
You can try to rephrase it inyour own words, you can try to
add to it, you can build on it.
If you have ideas that have beenon your mind for some period of
time, everyone has thoughtsthat are in their head.
Put them on paper, put them onvideo and even if you don't want
to publish it right away, goahead and get your feet wet,
Record yourself, just like I'mdoing right now.
(12:42):
I've been recording podcastsfor a couple of years right now
and it's still not very naturalto me.
To be completely frank, I'mtalking solo today and that is.
I feel like a fish out of waterwhen I'm doing that, but I know
the subject.
I have the experience.
I'm not trying to talk aboutsomething that I don't have
knowledge of.
That would be an entirelydifferent deal.
(13:04):
So if you have confidence thatwhat you are sharing is accurate
or interesting to someone elseand, by the way, if it's
interesting to you.
It probably is interesting tosomeone else.
Just get on Reddit.
I didn't use that tool.
I was talking on a live streamabout Reddit the other day and I
made a comment I'll make againhere, which is for every
(13:25):
interest you may have, there arethousands and thousands of
people who have a similarinterest, and that's what's made
Reddit so successful is that itaccommodates every niche anyone
can have.
So if you have an idea that youthink, hey, this is relatively
obscure, not that many peoplemay be interested, you may be
very surprised to realize thatthere are a lot of like-minded
(13:45):
folks out there who you canconnect with.
So it doesn't have to satisfy amass group.
If you have something that youwant to share or content that
you think is interesting, itjust has to satisfy enough
people, and sometimes morespecific content is going to
play out much better, becausepeople will be more interested
(14:06):
and take the time when thosethings that they're personally
invested in right, either as ahobby or a passion.
So try it.
Try it, even if it'suncomfortable.
Go ahead and start postingcontent, whether it's written,
whether it's video.
Take a shot.
Create the content, even if youdon't want to post it right
(14:27):
away.
Share it with people you trustand rely on, get their honest
feedback, and I say, go for itright, because by not doing it,
it won't help you be noticed, itwon't help you be found, so you
may as well take that step.
The next thing I'll say is justabout networking in general.
On LinkedIn, there are so manyresources that you can take
(14:48):
advantage of in terms of groupsthat are out there, and so if
you haven't already become amember of different groups and
seen what others are doing orwho you can follow, right, if
you are, if you're a senior inyour career, you probably have a
pretty big network, but if youdon't, then you have to build it
somewhere, and the way to dothat is so easy today.
(15:10):
I mean, when I was coming outof school, linkedin didn't exist
, and so I had to meet oneperson at a time, and now you
have access to hundreds ofthousands I mean millions of
people on LinkedIn, and some ofthe groups are massive and have
super activity.
Whether you're in marketing orfinance or IT or law, whatever
your specialty area is, thereare giant groups of people who
(15:33):
are like-minded, who you want tomeet, who you want to know, who
you can connect with and whoyou'll be found by, and so
recruiters look for all of thesethings.
So we're talking about how toget recruited here, what
recruiters are looking for, andthey want someone who is very
easy.
Ultimately, here's the bottomline with what recruiters want
(15:55):
they want to find the perfectcandidate with as little effort
as possible, not because they'relazy, but because they want to
get to the finish line.
The finish line is finding thecandidate who's going to be
interested in the job that theyhave, that they're recruiting
for, who's a good fit for it,who's going to interview well,
who has the right background,who's going to be liked by the
(16:16):
hiring manager and who's goingto want the job.
And so if you can tell thatstory right who you are, what
you've done, what you're lookingfor, what you're all about,
make that very clear and easyfor the recruiter to understand
then you're going to have asuccessful time being recruited
on LinkedIn.
If you don't, you're not.
So hopefully this helps.
(16:37):
If you have any questions, I'dlove to hear from you.
Questions@z engig.
com.
Give me feedback, tell me whatI'm missing, tell me where the
gap is, where you could benefitfrom having content that we
haven't created yet.
Also, of course, check outzengig.
com, where we have informationon pretty much every aspect of
the job search, as well ascareer advice for so many
(16:58):
different scenarios.
So I won't do a huge commercialon that, but questions@ zengig.
com.
Let me know if you still haveany after listening to this and
good luck with your hot.
Thanks.
Have a great day.
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