"How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile" with Brenda Bernstein [Podcast]

Podcast #160 – Marc Interviews Brenda Bernstein, author of “How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile”

Description:

Brenda Bernstein, award-winning Certified Executive Resume Master, Certified Master Resume Writer, and accomplished editor and LinkedIn trainer, holds an English degree from Yale University and a J.D. from the NYU School of Law. Her signature presentations on How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile have been attended by thousands of job seekers and other professionals seeking to establish a professional image on LinkedIn. Over her 15 years as Senior Editor at The Essay Expert, Brenda has coached hundreds of professionals and companies to write resumes, essays and other materials that result in sought after job interviews, admission to top schools, and measurable business success. She has written three highly-acclaimed books: How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, How to Write a WINNING Resume, and How to Write a STELLAR Executive Resume.

Key Takeaways:

Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2^nd Half of Life, 3^rd edition is available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Powells.com, BooksaMillion.com, and many other fine online retailers. I am working on the audio version of the book but this is taking longer than planned. Look for this to be out in February of 2020.

Next week, I will be reporting on what it is like being an expat in Mexico. I will be giving an update on health insurance and healthcare, shopping, and safety.

Now on to the podcast…

The 3 Ls are :

Locatability
Likability
Aliveness

Locatability

You want to be found. There are 2 main factors:

The number and quality of connections
Keywords

How many connections are enough connections? The answer is it depends. Check out How Many LinkedIn Connections are Enough Connections? Brenda says it depends but recommends having at least 1,000 connections. She also says to be careful who you connect with. Fake profiles do exist.

Keywords are very important. The first place to put keywords is the headline. Put your job title in your headline. The more specific the better. Look at job descriptions to see what job titles recruiters might be looking for.

Put keywords in the job title field after your official job title.

Likable

The first thing in being likable is your picture. Brenda talks about branded photography where the photographer asks you for 3 words that you want to convey through your picture.

The LinkedIn banner is the next most important image. Do not use the default image.

Be careful when putting text on your banner image. You will need to test it on different size screens because the text could get covered up.

Next is the summary section. Use Unicode graphics.

Make the summary personable.

Aliveness

Keep connecting with people. Keep updating your profile. Share things that you find interesting.

Use multi-media materials in your profile.

Brenda recommends getting on LinkedIn 15-20 minutes a day.

Get off LinkedIn and network. Most jobs are still gotten through referrals and networking.

Every time Brenda travels she wants to meet people over lunch or coffee.

Brenda tells people to “do you”. Come across as a unique individual.

Her book How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile is available on Amazon.com

You can reach out to her LinkedIn.

Her websites are www.theessayexpert.com and TheExecutiveExpert.com.

The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else. Marc is recruiting new members for the next cohort. If you are interested in the Career Pivot Membership Community and would like to be put on a waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.