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To stand out among millions of applicants, you need a resume that shines like a diamond. Right?
The iconic punk-rock band Smash Mouth once sang—Hey now, you’re an all-star, get your game on, go play! We love that, but becoming a professional all-star takes a tad more than out-of-tune singing. The first step to stardom is your shiny diamond. Create a Google Doc, rename it “Resume_” and type your fir…forget that!
Sending out tons of resumes might have worked a year ago, but times they are a changin’ and so should we! Plus, how many hours do you waste formatting your resume? Or stressing over a typo you notice before an interview? Or looking for yet another copy of an updated resume, maybe titled RÉsu_m_e3.pdf?
Just as we thought. Too many!!!
“So…what should I do instead?” The good news is a new era brings new perks. When it comes to career services and resumes, the brightest perk to reach stardom is LinkedIn.
A “professional social networking site,” LinkedIn is the holy grail of the modern job market. It has over 700 million users and hosts 50+ million companies that have over 20 million job listings. Plus, someone is hired on LinkedIn every 7 seconds.
See what we mean? LinkedIn has revolutionized the way we recruit and look for jobs. It has become the new norm, and we better treat it as such.
If you’re serious about your job search, treat LinkedIn as your new resume. With millions of companies looking to hire, the platform offers countless opportunities. So bye-bye tedious formatting, last-minute panic, and cluttered file folders.
Enter: LinkedIn resume.
And the best way to make your LinkedIn resume-profile shine and get an edge in the job market is—drum rrrroll—to make it all-star!
Getting an all-star LinkedIn resume is pretty easy-peasy. Here is a 7-step guide:
A nice headshot makes your profile 14 times more likely to attract recruiters. Just find some good lighting, capture your full face, and maybe sprinkle your pic with a sober effect. (Please, not a drunk one!)
What do you do? What’s your specialty? A strong headline will take you right to a recruiter’s top search results. You only have 120 characters, so use your words wisely. And remember keywords!
Cha-ching! Your summary is what’ll get you the big bright bucks. It’s an extension of your headline: who you are, what you do, your biggest wins, and what you can bring to the table. Sure, you can make it sweet. But as long as you catch the reader’s attention, we guarantee jobs will come to you! This is also a good place to use more keywords.
List any jobs you’ve held in the past ten years (at least 3).
Skills work like keywords, so make sure most of them are specific to your desired field. You should have at least 5; but the more you list (up to 50), the more recruiters will notice you.
List ’em all!
You’ve got to show the star in you! If you didn’t finish your degree, be sure to include your attendance. If you never attended college, add your high school diploma.
Ta-da! Once you complete these steps, you should see an “All-Star” badge in your profile dashboard. Making an All-Star LinkedIn profile should be your priority because it will create SO MANY MORE opportunities to get a job. Plus, you can turn your LinkedIn resume into a traditional resume with one click (true story).
We hope this helps you reach stardom. And if you want to kick more butt, here are some bonus tips to shine in the LinkedIn world. Oh, and before we forget. Shall we sing together?
Hey now, you’re a rockstar, get the show on, get paid!
Have a Super Day!