Mel Kettle recently tweeted “Trying to re-write my biz profiles. It’s hard to write about yourself!”
Agreed it is for many people, very hard to do this, and there are strategies and tips that you can employ. If need be you can get experts to help you. But the worst thing you can do is just ignore your profile.
A profile or a resume, even one that is sitting on Linkedin, should be reviewed quarterly. Why, because it is really so easy to spend a lot of time working on something, and then overlook including it on your resume. I was speaking with a gentleman recently, who needs to update his resume after 5 years of neglect. The task is overwhelming, can you recall all the achievements you have had over the past 5 years, and then filter thru them to see what is worthy of inclusion?
Diarise reviewing your resume every 3 months, and the task will be all of 30 minutes. The key areas that should consider including on your resume are;
Details of how you achieved a project within budget constraints; this demonstrates that you are able to manage and minimise expenses while delivering work outputs.
Details of defined business metrics, and how you were able to achieve against them; this demonstrates that you can work towards goals.
Details of how you work with a team, what is your perceived role in the team, and how you work with them; this demonstrates that you can work with other people, that you can communicate, and fit within a corporate culture.
I am a huge fan of Linkedin and I would encourage you to take the profile review, one step further, and ask recent clients for ‘recommendations’ on your Linkedin profile.
Luck is where Preparation meets Opportunity and you never know what is around the corner.
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