Do you include your LinkedIn profile on your resume? If not, you probably should. If you’ve built a strong LinkedIn profile, it will be a great complement to your resume. It will also give hiring managers a clearer picture of who you are, your accomplishments, and if you’re qualified for the job for which you’re applying.
Whether or not you include it though, you may want to be aware of the fact that hiring managers will likely see it anyway; many, if not the majority, are using social media monitoring as part of the hiring process. At a minimum, they are going to check LinkedIn to see if you have a profile setup.
When job hunting, it’s important to make sure your resume is perfect, but you also need to take a close look at your LinkedIn profile. There are many telling signs a hiring manager or recruiter could see that may or may not land you your dream job.
- Does your resume tell a different story? At the very least, make sure your basic information with regard to job history, dates, etc is the same on your LinkedIn profile as it is on your resume. If you set up your profile some time ago, you may have been in a hurry and guesstimated at the dates of employment for a past job. If this is you, it’s time to update your profile to make sure it matches. The last thing you want is for a hiring manager to see the discrepancy and make decisions based on this.
- How badly do you want this job? If a hiring manager compares your resume to your LinkedIn profile and finds the two are identical, it may send a signal that, when applying for the job at hand, you did not tailor your resume to the particular job and it could have been one of 50 that you’re mass sending resumes out for.
- Are your strengths/highlights well displayed? LinkedIn is a great tool to share projects, presentations, or other media content that will nicely complement your resume. If you focus on an accomplishment in your resume of a great presentation, for example, is this included in your profile? Take a look at the additional features LinkedIn offers for users to incorporate content and media into your profile.
It’s a good idea to include your LinkedIn profile on your resume to make it easy for hiring managers to find if they choose to do so. They will likely do additional social research as part of the process, but why not create a great profile page and make it easy for employers to see? Resumes are simple and can be boring – supplementing with a strong LinkedIn profile can make the difference in landing the job!