What message are you sending with your profile? Well if you are not paying attention you could be telling others not to choose you, intentional or not. Not looking for a new job? You could be turning down potential, customers, business partners and other opportunities. It’s not just about getting hired for a job in the traditional sense. If you are following me you probably already know why I am a big LinkedIn fan for reasons other than just a job search!

MESSAGE 1: Don’t bother opening my profile!

Before they even look at your profile you could be turning people away! This is beyond what your profile image could say about you, it is about how you present yourself overall. There are just a couple key elements to consider that will affect how people see you before they even take the next step of opening your profile.

First make sure you have an image that speaks the right language to your desired network. What is the right image for you? The answer is very subjective to your network, position and personal brand style. Whatever you decide is right for you, be sure to review it on both the desktop and mobile app so that you can make sure your image presents well in both formats. A few of my connections have great examples of different photo styles, you can check them out and get ideas for your image by clicking here. At the very least be sure you have an image loaded and please avoid selfies and sunglasses…unless of course you are a sunglasses salesperson!

MESSAGE 2: Help…I’m desperate!

Next, give serious thought to your current title. Are you between jobs? Well, you are not doing yourself a favor by making yourself sound too available. There is a fine line between available & ready for work, and desperate & unwanted. Consider using text that speaks to your desired position or your prime skill set. Take a lesson from Liz Ryan and declare yourself available as a consultant! While you can be somewhat creative here, beware of getting too vague in how you position yourself in your title. Whether employed, looking, or on your own: do not confuse your audience by leaving them guessing about where you fit into their business plan. Consider the change in text below.

• From: Sales Manager Seeking Next Opportunity
• To: Growing Sales Through Team Leadership

Changing the wording just slightly offers a different image to your network. Reading a ‘job title’ and the word ‘seeking’ or ‘available’, lends to a sub conscience image of passive behavior. This is the last message you want to send when asking to be hired for any position. In a sales leadership role people want to think of you as active, busy, ‘making things happen’. Notice how the second line starts with action, ‘growing’ and gives you an immediate feeling of an active and successful leader. Who would you rather hire: the ‘sales manager out looking around’, or the ‘team leader busy growing sales’?

MESSAGE 3: I am very good at nothing!

Buzz words: we love to hate them. With so many searches done by robots, we feel we need to load our profiles and resumes with words that will be picked up and moved to the front of the line. Unfortunately this has become a contest to see just how many keywords we can craft into one descriptive sentence. But what happens when a live human, a decision maker, actually reads your profile? Can they piece together any idea of what you really do? Or better yet, even if they can tell what you do, is your wording so similar to every other buzz-word-filled summary they see, that it no longer stands out? If you fear that the answer is yes, then look through some examples of dynamic summaries in your network to give you ideas to create your own story.

But what about the buzz words and the robots? OK, if you feel you need the security of keywords, try adding them in as a list at the end of your summary as special skills or areas of expertise. Reading them in this way, your reader will not be confused by trying to piece together what you really do in a sentence form. Below is an example of one way to list these.

• Special Skills: Leadership, Mentoring, Branding, Public Speaking, Category Management, Marketing, Merchandising, Product Launches, Presentations, Sales & Margin Analysis

Also, do not be afraid to use keywords in your summary, resume and experience. The key point is to make sure you are not over burdening your reader with too many in one line.

MESSAGE 4: I haven’t done anything worth mentioning!

The last message we will look at today is your experience. Now, you do not need to list everything you have ever done since you started mowing lawns in middle school (however I have considered it). It is important to let your network know what experience you have so they can understand what you bring to the table. Often times profiles only list the current or last position. This can say a few things, either you did not learn anything of value in your previous jobs, or you are too lazy to fill out your entire profile, to name a couple. I suggest listing a job history through your last three to four jobs or at least ten years, depending on your age and experience of course.

If you have been with the same company for many years, you have a couple options in order to show your progression.

• You can list one position with the company and list your different roles over the years in the description section, leaving one company logo and showing this as one position with a long tenure.
• Or you can list each position as separate experience altogether.

The first option will list your job showing your full length of time with the company, while the second will break it up by each position you held, showing your current position as how long you have been there currently. Which to use is a personal choice and will also depend on how many other positions you have to include in your profile.

For three quick tips that will only take three minutes each to enhance your profile, including how to make your experience section really pop, click here.

take ACTION

To finalize, do not let your profile hold you back. Remember, a great profile is not just for job seekers. How many potential customers, clients or partners are checking you out to decide if they want to do business with you? Do not send them any of the four deadly messages above that leave them feeling that they should not bother to hire you! If you fear you are sending these messages now, don’t panic. The links in this article as well as below will give you quick tips to update and change your profile in just a few easy steps.

Once again, thank you for continuing on this journey with me. I look forward to seeing the changes you make in the message you send. If you found this helpful, please help others to send the right message by ‘sharing’ and ‘liking’ this post.

What other good or bad messages do you see in profiles? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Andy Vargo is a motivational speaker, life coach and comedian who challenges you to ‘Own Your Awkward’. He is the author of the Awkward Journal series, host of the podcast, Own Your Awkward, and shares thoughts and ideas in his blog and video series available at awkwardcareer.com.

Originally published on LinkedIn April 1, 2015