In my last post, I proposed a new definition of the term “resume.”
Resume – a description of an individual’s career that defines that person’s personal and professional brand, qualifications, skills and accomplishments. It should be accessible on demand and in real time by an interested party, such as networking contacts, prospective employers or prospective clients.

 
If we accept that the current job and career management market requires a new way of thinking about how a set of qualifications are presented, it makes sense to talk about how to started with marketing qualifications in the current and emerging market. So – how do we get started with a new “resume”?
Getting started means developing a profile, and for the purposes of this conversation, I’d like to focus on developing an effective Linked In profile. According to Linked In, there are more than 55 million accounts in that social media community. So building a profile that’s visible and effective can be a very important tool, and it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for that next great career opportunity or you’re simply looking to build an effective professional network. Building a Linked In profile is – at least in my opinion – as close to a requirement for most of us as you can get in today’s marketplace of ideas and opportunities.
Here are three tips on getting an effective profile started:

1. Build your brand. What is it you are selling to the market? Visitors to your profile should not be forced to guess what you do, what you do best and what you want to do next.

2. Tell your story. Your profile should not be a simple restatement of your resume. Why bother if that’s all you’re going to do? Let visitors “see” what motivates you, what you’re passionate about, and a bit of your personality. You can do this by writing a profile that reads conversationally.
3. Focus on key words. Think carefully about what search you would enter at Linked In or Google to find yourself. What are those crucial key words that get to the very heart of who you are and what you do best? Then, build your profile around those terms. Use three or four in your headline. So instead of, “Operations Professional,” you are, “Director of Operations | Motivational Leader | Efficiency Expert.” Make your headline sing out the core key words tied to your brand.

Obviously, there’s a lot more to writing a great profile, but if you try these tips, you ought to see an increase in the traffic across your own profile as more and more people find you.
Good Luck!