I just saw a great blog post on how LinkedIn can cause problems at work on Resume Bear, and it got me thinking that there are some things that job seekers should be aware of in addition to the excellent points mentioned in that article:
1. Sudden flurry of updates tell your network something’s a-foot. Every time you update one area of your profile, everyone in your network is updated. So imagine if you really start tinkering with your profile in earnest… that means there’s activity going on… and that you are cleaning up your act, possibly preparing for some action. Instead: take the profile off public visibility, update it with everything you intend to change, then make it visible again to avoid multiple updates. Better yet: regularly update your profile with one thing at a time, perhaps once per week. If updates are constant and regular, there are no red flags.
2. Reasons to be contacted. If you include “Looking for job opportunities” or anything that implies an active job search, you could be informing your employer indirectly that you are anticipating a change. If you are employed, keep your reasons to be contacted business-related only.
3. Using your work email address to register. So you have a robust network, lots of recommendations, and everything is humming along. Except you just lost your job as well as your company email address. Guess what? You could get locked out of your account if your employer decides to exploit this and changes the password on your LinkedIn account too. It would be a whole world of pain trying to get logged back in – so the point here is: Take your account registrations OFFLINE to a personal email account. You won’t regret it as you will always have control of who logs in… YOU!
4. If you are looking for work, use your personal phone number. I cannot tell you how many times people have included a work number when conducting a job search. Don’t EVER use company resources to look for work elsewhere.
5. Space out your recommendations. If you suddenly start going on a “binge” asking everyone and their brother to recommend you, this can also set up some red flags for your employer who might be monitoring your profile. Instead of asking everyone all at once, instead try pacing them out – like one per month. That way, again, a flurry of activity doesn’t suggest that something is going on in the background.
Photo: Soman