How to Use the New LinkedIn for Executive Personal Branding - Part 3 - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

How to Use the New for Executive Personal Branding - Part 3 In Part 1 of this 3-part series on , personal branding and executive job search  I covered: Why All Executives Need to be on Getting Your Personal Brand Into Your Profile Customizing Your Profile URL for Better SEO In Part 2  I discussed: Why You Really Need to Include a Photo Taking Advantage of the Skills Expertise Section Expanding Your Network with Quality Connections Benefitting from ’s Company Follow Updating Your Network Part 3  here covers: Getting and Giving Great Recommendations Getting Busy With Groups Tapping into ’s Jobs Pages and Confidential Job Search   Getting and Giving Great Recommendations Work on cultivating relevant recommendations from the right people. You want their recommendations to reinforce your brand and the value you offer. It’s okay to let them know what points you’d like mentioned when they recommend you. More in my posts, How to Get the Best Recommendations  and Surprise Someone with a Recommendation. Write recommendations for others. People looking at their recommendations usually view profiles of those who make recommendations. Getting Busy With Groups Groups provide an opportunity to listen in on, learn from and join conversations with your network(s) and people who can help you achieve your career goals. See what groups your connections and target list of decision makers belong to by looking at their profiles. Join if theyre open Groups  and start contributing. Position yourself as an industry thought leader and subject matter expert, while rubbing elbows and staying top of mind with your target decision makers. To find Groups: Go to the search field at the top of your profile In the drop-down menu, click on Groups Enter relevant keywords Some groups are open to all and allow instant membership. For others, you may be subject to review by the group manager. When you join, elect to display the group logo on your profile. This is a good way to let people who are assessing you see that you’re an active, savvy user and to check out your Group activities. Join and begin giving value by commenting on existing discussions and starting your own. Post relevant news items that will be of interest to members. Add your own blog posts or articles to broadcast your personal brand and value proposition. Respond to Group members who need help. Join affinity Groups for your companies, industry and areas of expertise. Think about starting your own Group. Join Groups where you can learn from personal branding and job search experts. If you’re in an undercover job search, be very careful not to post anything to Groups that will out your search (more about confidential job search below). Tapping into ’s Jobs Pages has many exclusive job listings you won’t find anywhere else. Along with looking at Company pages for their job listings, as described above, look at the Jobs tab in the main menu along the top of any page for links to job descriptions and application capability. and Confidential Job Search Are you job hunting now or planning a search in the near future, but afraid your employer will find out, so you’re hunting on the sly? Are you afraid that even having a profile at all will out that youre job hunting? Dont worry. is an accepted (and vital) part of ongoing healthy career management. Being on doesnt mean youre looking for a job. But having a strong profile is one of the best passive search tools. Recruiters will probably find you and connect with you, if you look like a good fit for jobs they’re trying to fill. You can easily optimize your profile to make it more search-friendly, without having it scream I’m looking for a job. Make sure it’s updated with your latest achievements and contributions, and clearly communicates your ROI value to your target employers. Whenever you’re about to make changes to your profile, first turn off your Activity Broadcasts (this is different from your Activity Feed described in Part 2 of this series), so your connections won’t be notified that you’ve made a change and possibly be alerted that you’re prepping your profile for a job search. To change your Activity Broadcast, go to Settings, then Turn on/off your activity broadcasts. Choose Off and remember to turn it back On (Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations, or follow companies), once youre all finished making changes. Be careful about your contributions to Groups. Many Groups are open to public search. Dont broadcast that youre job searching here, or anywhere online or offline, especially on sites and web pages that are open to search engines. You’re probably not telling your real-life network that you’re looking, right? Don’t tell your online network either. Chances are your company’s other executives and c-suite all have a presence, and your company itself probably has a profile, too. Take a look at your co-workers’ profiles. Anything there hinting that they’re job searching? If you happen to know that any of them ARE job hunting, see how they handle it in their profiles. More in my post Using For Confidential Executive Job Search. Stay Current with ’s Latest Features by check the blog from time to time for tips, advice, new features and resources. Related posts: Online Presence and Personal Brand Management: 5 Things to Remember Social Recruiting and Your Executive Job Search ’s Free Executive Job Search Resources 00 0