August 28, 2012
It’s a question job-seekers are always asking: what will get me noticed? Whether it’s in your resume or on your LinkedIn profile, there are qualities that flicker like a broken monitor and immediately grab IT recruiters’ attention. We asked York Solutions’ top IT recruiters what they thought was most important when looking at an IT professionals LinkedIn profile page. Here is a list of the top 8:
- Professionalism. There is nothing that comes across as unprofessional more than grammatical and spelling errors. A nicely organized profile is important, as well. Recruiters take these things seriously when browsing through the LinkedIn profiles of IT consultants. Have somebody edit your profile if necessary to prevent such errors. It could determine whether or not you receive a call about an available opportunity.
- Title. Recruiters look for accurate titles. They need to know what your current or past positions have been in order to know if you are a good candidate for an available position. For instance, rather than listing a vague title such as “Senior Consultant,” use the title “Senior Data Warehouse Engineer.” Be sure to include the name of the company at which you held the position. This reflects your experience in a much more accurate way.
- Clear Explanation of Projects. Did you develop a new delivery model or did you turn your department around? Briefly describe how you did so. Your summary of projects must do two things: 1. Explain precisely what you contributed to the project 2. Explain what made your contribution important to the project (and/or company’s) success. FYI: Trying to use keywords that will get noticed is a good idea in theory, but going overboard can be disastrous. Spamming a bunch of keywords doesn’t demonstrate any value as a consultant.
- Job Tenure. While the length of the project isn’t completely in a consultant’s control, consultants who served a long-term role on a big project should make this a talking point. Recruiters want to know if you were with a client long enough to make a difference.
- Listing Dates Accurately. Don’t list the position length as “2012 to 2012;” that could mean you were there for a week or a year. Recruiters see vague dates as red flags. Include the month in both start and end dates.
- Specialization. Are you constantly using different languages, operating systems, or databases? Becoming an expert in a select few may actually be a better strategy. Recruiters look at the different technologies you’ve worked on, and being able to brand yourself as an expert is much more powerful than being a “jack-of-all-trades” type.
- Recommendations. This may seem obvious; but, IT recruiters really do look at your recommendations. You may believe you’re the greatest Database Architect in the world, but it won’t mean much if others are not vouching for your work. Recruiters want to see strong recommendations from managers referencing your recent work. Mashable offers some great tips on how to ask for great recommendations through your LinkedIn.
- Membership in a Professional Organization. Being part of a group of professionals demonstrates that you are always looking to network with others and improve yourself, taking your skills to the next level. Looking for an organization to join? More than 1,000 Minneapolis-area IT professionals have joined Think IT, a peer-to-peer networking and professional development group. There are organizations in nearly every metropolitan area nowadays, which means all you have to do is look around and you’re bound to find one that fits you.
Posted By: Briana Perrino and James Sweeney
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