resume tips

Resume Tips: Inconsistency v LinkedIn Damages Your Job Search

resume tips

Essential Advice for Jobseekers

In this article, we discuss resume tips to help you align your resume and LinkedIn profiles. Essential reading to help you land your dream role. Especially as, on average, each corporate job attracts 250 resumes for just one vacancy.

Your resume simply must stand out. But with many hiring recruiters turning to LinkedIn to avoid poor and costly hires, your LinkedIn profile must also sell you. Consistency between both your resume and LinkedIn is crucial to your job search.

Why You Must Treat Your LinkedIn Profile Like Your Resume

The Jobvite Recruiter Nation Report identified that 87% of recruiters regularly use LinkedIn. Having only a resume is no longer enough. In fact, when reports indicate that as many as 85% of employers discovered applicants had fibbed on their resumes, hiring managers are digging deeper to understand a truer picture of their candidates before moving forward.

Thus, whatever you claim on your resume must reflect the professional image you portray on your LinkedIn profile – not just to strengthen your application, but to also ensure you land a job that you can suitably fill and progress in.

5 Steps to Optimize and Align Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile

1.     Plan Your Resume

Before you start composing your resume, you must design it to allow you to stand out for this specific role. Here’s what you must consider:

·       Know Your Objectives

Make a list of your career objectives. What is it that you want from your next job? How do you see your next job advancing your career, and helping you to achieve your longer-term objectives? Being able to show that your objectives align with those of the hiring company is crucial.

·       Focus on Key Skills, Experience, and Achievements

Employers want to see factual evidence that you already hold the skills they need for the role and a future within the organization. What are your skills, experience, and achievements that are relevant to the role you’re applying for? Do you have a unique skill or qualification that others may not have?

·       Use Keywords

Take a highlighter to the job description and identify keywords to incorporate in your resume. These are crucial for your resume when you want to get an interview. They help a recruiter quickly understand what your skillset is and whether it matches the job description. When used correctly, they dramatically increase your chances of getting an interview.

2.     Compose Your Resume

Now, ensure your resume is slick and concise, incorporating all the above points into it. There’s no space for long paragraphs or descriptions. Hiring managers want bullet-pointed lists, skills that include their job description keywords, and clear evidence that your professional life so far has led you to become the best person for the job.

3.     Create a LinkedIn Profile Aligned with Your Resume

Now base your LinkedIn profile on your resume. Make sure your education, qualifications, and employment all match with what you’ve stated on your resume. Ensure all your posts and LinkedIn activity reflect the professional person you claim to be on your resume, and never use it as a personal platform that could draw doubt over your professional ability and focus.

4.     Create a Compelling LinkedIn Headline

Your LinkedIn headline briefly outlines why you are unique, plus it appears next to your photo and in search results – so it’s a big deal. You have only 120 characters to make an impact. Here’s how:

  • Start with job title, area of expertise, or specialism that outlines what you do.
  • Add your company name, showing commitment to your employer.
  • Now, add your unique selling point – a slogan-style short sentence that makes employers sit up: ‘People Officer of the Year’ is an example.
  • Contain relevant keywords. Your job title was one, but add another to make you more searchable. For example, ‘People Management’ or ‘Team Management’.

Your LinkedIn headline has a strong message, and is the first impact you can make on the many hiring managers out there.

5.     Be Committed

Finally, you must keep on top of updating and reviewing your resume and LinkedIn to be effective. Set aside 60 minutes each month to review both, and revisit steps one to four to ensure your efforts remain fresh and powerful.

Get in Front of Employers Today

At Everest Recruiting, we hack through the crowds and get you in front of the best employers that are looking for your skills and abilities.

Yes, you need to be committed in the maintenance and effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile and resume. But we can drastically increase your exposure to some of the very latest jobs you won’t find on mainstream jobs boards. We’ll also ensure your resume is as powerful is it deserves to be.

Submit your resume with Everest Recruiting today and make a start to your future.