LinkedIn and SlideShare are two of the most important tools to improve your online visibility! When you use them together, it gives your personal brand the one-two punch to improve knock the socks off future employers!
Online visibility is key:
What recruiters find, or don’t find, when they search for you online, influences their decision to contact you. Increasingly, recruiters are searching the Internet and social networks to source candidates! 93% of recruiters will review a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision according to Jobvite’s Social Recruiting Survey.
Visual content is popular:
Visual marketing is a hot trend you can apply to your job search by creating a career portfolio rich with visuals.
One of the best ways to do this is to upload your documents into SlideShare, a free service which publicly share files to the web. Then embed the links within your LinkedIn profile. The real benefit to using SlideShare is that you increase online content which makes you more likely to turn up in search results and it gives you a chance to show off your stuff.
Slip your documents into Slideshare:
Sometimes it’s challenging to come up with ideas of what information is worthy of uploading into Slideshare. Here’s one idea. You’ve received emails from customers, colleagues or managers that offer appreciation or recognition. But you are the only one who has seen these words of praise. It is up to you to make the positive feedback public.
First, use PowerPoint, or your favourite presentation software, to compile the testimonials. If you don’t have permission to use the testimonial, you can leave off the last name or identifying information.
Testimonials are just one idea. Think about other documents that provide proof of your skills and abilities, such as samples of your work.
- Did you create a flow chart or process?
- Did you write a summary report or technical instructions?
- Did you design a form, logo or website?
- Do you have an infographic resume?
Be sure you consider the confidentiality of the information you share. You may be able to remove identifying information or data. Or you could re-create a generic version of the document.
Next, create a free Slideshare account and upload your presentation. Be sure to give your uploaded document a title which includes your name, completely fill out the description section and tag the file with appropriate terms someone searching for your qualifications would use. This helps you show up in search results.
Most importantly, don’t forget to share your SlideShare documents as status updates on LinkedIn and other social networks so people can check them out.
And an added bonus: as a free user of SlideShare you receive an email that tells you how many people have viewed your SlideShare presentations.
Turn LinkedIn into your online portfolio:
As the go-to source for hiring professionals, you will want to make sure you’re LinkedIn profile is robust and tells your story. Jobvite’s Social Recruiting Survey reports that recruiters look at your LinkedIn profile to evaluate:
- Professional experience
- Length of professional tenure
- Industry-related posts
- Mutual connections
- Specific hard skills
- Cultural fit
- Examples of written or design work
Take your profile to the next level. Uploading your traditional text resume into LinkedIn is a no-brainer. But don’t stop there.
You can embed files or links within the summary or work experience section of your profile. Just look for the blue paperclip. Embed the link to the SlideShare documents you uploaded. You can also embed screen shots, videos, or links to your personal website or portfolio.
Job search is marketing:
If you aren’t thinking like a marketer, maybe now is the time to incorporate pro-active strategies into your job search. A strong marketing campaign requires you keep these things in mind:
- Tell a great story with great visuals.
- Focus on your target audience’s needs, wants, and desires.
- Use the right keywords in the title, description and tags.
- Share, share, share!
RELATED: How Recruiters Can Use SlideShare for Branding [10 Tips]
