When you fill out your LinkedIn profile, you might be tempted to cut and paste the information from your resume because you think your LinkedIn profile information should be a carbon copy. This is a major job search mistake! Finding a job in engineering is no different from any other profession, and experts say that 80 percent of the top-tier jobs are never advertised. Here are four ways to craft your LinkedIn profile so that it stands apart from your professional resume.
Your LinkedIn Profile Is More Personable
That’s why LinkedIn is such an important all-encompassing showcase for your skills and your professional accomplishments, and why your LinkedIn profile cannot merely be a photocopy of your standard resume. For starters, the resume format rarely speaks in the first person, but on LinkedIn in you’re talking directly to other members, so it’s acceptable to use “I”.
LinkedIn Gives You More Breathing Room Than Your Resume 
LinkedIn allows endless links to your brilliant work samples, special skills and videos that define you. A paper resume, on the other hand, is limited to one or two pages. Take the opportunity to fill out your LinkedIn profile with pictures of your work, videos, PowerPoint presentations or any engineering-related writing you’ve had published. A head shot, which rarely appears in resumes, is the first thing LinkedIn visitors see.
Your LinkedIn Profile Is A Branding Statement
One of the main advantages of LinkedIn profiles is that it prompts you to describe yourself and your assets in a brief blurb (up to 2000 characters) atop your profile summary. This is a great opportunity to define your own personal “mission statement” and toot your own horn. Many resumes are crowned with an introductory statement, but that almost always amounts to a simple re-hash of your work history bullet points. The difference is that LinkedIn branding statements are meant to summarize you, not your resume.
Your Resume Is Very Targeted – LinkedIn Is A Broader Brushstroke
It’s no secret that most job applicants customize each resume they send to best mirror the needs of the organization they’re applying to, and there’s nothing wrong with tailored resumes. However, your resume is only going to be seen by one person at a time, and focused on their requirements. On LinkedIn, your profile is searchable, and available to be viewed online 24 hours a day by any other LinkedIn members. You may be contacted for positions that you didn’t even know existed, positions that you qualify for based on your whole profile package.
For more help in finding your next engineering job in Atlanta, contact Engineering Search Partners or fill out our Career Wishlist. Good luck!
Photo via FreeDigitalPhotos.net