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How do I delete a LinkedIn profile?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how valuable is having an "optimized" LinkedIn profile in getting a job at a senior leadership level (e.g. Senior Manager, Director, VP? Why?

  • I am currently pursuing opportunities at a senior leadership level in my field. When looking at the statistics that LinkedIn provides (# of people who view my profile vs how many times my profile has been included in search results), the numbers seem somewhat low. This has lead me to believe that my LinkedIn profile could potentially be tuned to get more individuals to check it out and ideally contact me about new opportunities. It seems like there are a lot of people out there who have written articles as well as others who claim that they can help tweak your profile to make it more appealing to recruiters, hiring managers and the like. In the past, I have used resume writing services, each of which took my resume and screwed it up so badly that I had an even harder time finding a job using what they gave me than what I had originally. Now that LinkedIn is the de facto standard for recruiters and others looking to be hired and to hire people, how valuable is it to have an "optimized" LinkedIn profile? If so, why? If not, why not? PS I have actually tweaked my resume based on feedback from some people who consider themselves to be "LinkedIn experts". Their results were so atrocious that once I reverted it back to what I had originally I had much better results.

  • Answer:

    In the last 2 months I've received 6 'career opportunity' messages from recruiters on Linkedin...and I'm not even job searching. Optimizing your profile to be found for your desired keywords is Linkedin 101.  Most recruiting searches begin with personal networks and Linkedin x-ray searches.  I know this from my personal career experience and being a student of Linkedin job searching since 2007.  If you're not getting contacted by recruiters multiple times per month you're profile simply isn't optimized. I blog on 'social job searching' over at http://jobsearchmavericks.com -- you can reach out to me personally there.

Jason Pratt at Quora Visit the source

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Rating: 10 I think its worth it to have your linkedin profile up to date, as well as continue to grow your network and share relevant content to "brand yourself". All of this is part of what can help you land the job/position of interest. I do not think your profile however needs to read like a resume, alas that is personal preference. Also, consider relevant references on your profile as well. I am a huge advocate of linkedin and have had much success professionally on different levels.

Sharon Markowitz

I am sorry but for me all these LinkedIn assistance or resume writing is akin a "dating adviser" that is a comedy cliche. LinkedIn is your professional network, it is who you are professionally.

Alex Jouravlev

I'd be careful listening to LinkedIn Experts, and I are one :) You have to know what your goal is. An internal search-optimized profile can be useful to get more views, but that could also lead to a lot of worthless views. An external profile can be good, but it tends to be more about validation and contact info than actual results. What's in your profile matters far more to your job search then how many clicks. It's no different than traffic conversion for a website. What do you want? Does your profile give you those results? If not, then it can be optimized. If you're looking for help, you need to talk to recruiters and executives that would hire you. The difference in how we look at your profile is much different than what most people assume is true. For C-level positions, LinkedIn is not as useful as it is for senior leadership at the level you described. You're in the sweet spot for searches. As for the results you experienced - changing your profile leads to better results because activity boosts your ranking, and there's a follow-on effect. Don't read too much into that. The basics. Good picture Titles of what you want to be recruited for Short summary that tells a story Experience filled out Spell Check Rich Media Added Some recommendations for the last couple jobs Keywords of specific skills or technologies or languages or softwares you're good at or that are common to your intended jobs. Good luck. Message me if you have questions.

Jim Durbin

The word optimized is nebulous unless we know optimized to what, for what goal(s)?However base on your desire for a rating, here is what I suggest:I would recommend optimizing your LinkedIn Profile for two things:#1 - Optimized to clearly show the viewer who you are and what you do - Rate - 10Otherwise the viewer is not going to have a clue who you are and how you can help them in a Senior Management role.#2 - Optimized with the right keywords for your goals - Rate - 7If your profile does not use the right keywords, relevant to the position you want to do, regardless of seniority, your profile will not show up in the top of the lists for executive recruiters who may be searching for you.I hope this is helpful.Reach out to me on http://about.me/tlburriss if I can help you in any way.

Teddy Burriss

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