What It Really Means to Have an Optimized LinkedIn Profile

What It Really Means to Have an Optimized LinkedIn ProfileWhat It Really Means to Have an Optimized LinkedIn ProfileHeres why you need to know the right recruiters to find you. Over the years, Ive learned a lot from first-hand experiences about the importance of effective communication, both in my professional and personal relationships. For example, an area where Ive learned a lot about its importance has been while discussing my services and benefits with others regarding an optimized LinkedIn profile.Ive observed how we humans in general, including during these LinkedIn conversations, are mostly hesitant to express not knowing what something means. Especially, if it is in a conversation with someone we dont know that well. We are usually afraid of something. Perhaps, we fear ridicule or feeling incompetent.From a branding perspective, imagine the additional challenge that presents itself when dealing with a word or concept like an optimized LinkedIn profile. Since the majority of us are familiar with the traditional meaning of this word, we are less likely to think about why this word can mean something slightly different in a certain context.Fortunately, I have a thorough background as a mental health therapist and educator. I would consider myself mora skilled than most at digging a little bit into conversations and ensuring the person(s) that I am speaking to comprehend and explain an important concept.The question no one asksSince I know that most people arent going to ask me what having a perfect LinkedIn profile really means, I usually find it mora effective to explain the concept in further detail versus directly asking them, Do you know what it means to have an optimized LinkedIn profile?I find that when I can effectively communicate to people looking to attract new job opportunities using LinkedIn, most were very quick to take the necessary steps to optimize their LinkedIn profile. They did so because they discovered these two thingsWHY having an op timized LinkedIn profile was so important and effective in helping them be discovered by more recruiters.HOW this concept of optimization could be specifically applied to their LinkedIn profile to achieve their career goals.As it pertains to landing a new jobOptimizing your LinkedIn profile is essentially a way to gain more visibility and show up higher in advanced search results when recruiters are looking to find candidates on LinkedIn for job openings.Fun facts on why an optimized LinkedIn profile is extremely important to be concerned aboutRoughly 95% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find top talent and job candidates.As of 2017, LinkedIn has over 500 million users in over 200 countries.Think about itI want you to take a moment now and use your imagination for the next minute or so. Imagine yourself as one of the millions of fisherman in a vast ocean. Now, imagine that somehow you are all able to cast your line around the same types of areas simultaneously without bumping into one another.Consider how many of you are unsure of the right type of bait to use for this new fish to catch. And since its such a big ocean, you arent even aware of all the different types of fish existing in the ocean.Regardless of what you felt, you didnt know for certain, so wouldnt it behoove you to be honest with yourself and consider the benefit of looking more closely at your present conditions, opportunities, challenges, and threats?The truth is this Tons of people are trying to catch fish at the same time you. Many people are also just as hungry as you. And they are persistently trying to think of better ways to catch more fish.Now that youve had a more realistic view of things, when it came to your goals for fishing on LinkedIn, would it not make more sense to do everything and anything in your power to get the perfect LinkedIn profile?You need to abflug learning how to increase your profile strength, include pertinent information, improve your visibility, and learn the right industry keywords. This way you show up higher in recruiters search results. Would you want to stop right there, or would you consider seeking out the services and strategies of experts who have already gone before you and successfully caught the types of fish you want to catch in this large LinkedIn ocean?More to think aboutIf you just started learning how to fish for sharks in unchartered waters, would you keep going at it alone only to then complain when you kept coming up short without catching any sharks? I sincerely hope notMy hope would be that you first start by finding and hiring professionals who have a lot of experience taking people out in the ocean and successfully teaching them how to catch sharks. After going out with these professionals for a while and learning what bait to use, best times of day to fish, methods to be successful, you would start progressing and experiencing more success under their supervision and guidance.Then, you might be more confident to consid er going out on your own. Or you can continue to spend a ton more time, resources, and energy than you already have trying to blindly learn as you go and hope for the best.

How to Write a Recruiter-Grabbing LinkedIn Summary

How to Write a Recruiter-Grabbing LinkedIn SummaryHow to Write a Recruiter-Grabbing LinkedIn Summary4The summary area, noted in the article How to Write a LinkedIn Summary, is a neglected area of most peoples profile but is one of the most utilized areas by recruiters. To get the most out of your LinkedIn experience, make sure to create a LinkedIn summary that is not only accurate, but attention-grabbing as well.Here are five tips to write a recruiter-grabbing LinkedIn summary.Create a unique brand statementthen use itJust as you would create a great elevator pitch or five ja career description, your LinkedIn summary needs to have and lead with a unique brand statement. Serving as your thesis, your unique branding statement will summarize you and your career in a few words. This is meant to grab a recruiters attention and hook them into reading the rest of your summary.Be brief, but thorough.The summary section on your profile shouldnt contain your life story. You want to effectively summarize your career past, skills, and ambitions in a small space. Keep your summary short, but make sure to include major accomplishments, goals, and experiences that will intrigue recruiters.Avoid vague phrases.Recruiters are looking for specifics, not fluff. Avoid using mundane or overused, yet popular, phrases. These could include team player, great communicator, or established expert. Recruiters are looking to know how you are a team player, and what makes you an expert.Another thing to avoid is slang. Keep your language as professional as possible and avoid using common and industry slang.Provide facts.Since filling your summary with vague phrases and slang words is frowned upon, adding in specific facts and numbers is useful. Let recruiters know what you have done in the past, and show what you can do for them if they hire you.Add keywords.Keywords are a fantastic way to grab a recruiters attention. If you know or see any common keywords in job postings you are interested i n, add them into your summary section. The trick, however, is not to simply add keywords for the sake of adding keywords. Us them throughout the body of your summary in relevant ways that will not only grab attention, but will make sense and help the summary flow more easily.While the summary is an important part of your LinkedIn profile, dont forget to complete the other areas as well. Having a professional LinkedIn picture, endorsements, and recommendations are also important in making a good impression.Its also good to note the importance of joining and participating in LinkedIn groups. Not only are they a great way to connect with other professionals, participating in groups brings more attention to your profile. Just remember to keep it professionalReaders, do you have a recruiter-grabbing LinkedIn summary? Share your summary writing tips with us below

Here is the scientific argument for waking up early

Here is the scientific argument for waking up earlyHere is the scientific argument for waking up earlyIf you want to become elite at what you do, you need to consistently get better.High performance is all about putting in mora and reps.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreDoing the saatkorn workout every day wont make you stronger or faster. Just showing up to work every day and doing your job wont make you better at your job.Its been shown that fruchtwein doctors become worse at their job over their career. They are at their height when they come out of medical school and slowly get worse over time.Why?Because they stop learning.Experience enough isnt how you get better.Continually improving your experience and process is how you get better - this is what psychologists call deliberate practice.Aelendher word for Deliberate Practice is what Cal Newport calls, Deep Work, which is ra re in our distracted world. In order to engage in Deep Work, you need to plan your life for Deep Recovery - which means youre totally disconnected from work.Deep work is rare because Deep Recovery is even rarer. Hence, high performance is rare and most people remain mediocre despite putting in LOTS of hours every day.Most peoples days are elend deliberate or designed for high performanceEvery single day could be looked at like a rep. Like another workout. Like another opportunity to get better.But very few people look at their days like this.Most people are simply doing the same thing over and over.They are gaining more experience, but that experience isnt actually making them better. In most cases, their experience is actually making them worse over time.In this article, Im going to make several scientific arguments about how to optimize your day and your life. Im going to provide a simple framework for designing your life around DEEP WORK and DEEP RECOVERY.Here is a brief overvie w of the core arguments and principlesPeople who wake up earlier are more confidentWaking up early is the first decision that dominoes into other better decisionsWaking up early creates positive and optimistic emotionsFrom an evolutionary perspective, waking up early gives you a competitive-edge (Darwin would be proud)Waking up early and focusing on Important rather than Urgent activities - such as learning, planning, fitness, and creative projects - allows you to make progress daily, which compounds over timeWaking up early, working in a flow-state, and then completing your work early gives you a longer recovery period in your afternoon and eveningThe quality and duration of your recovery determines your creative and productive potential the next dayThe quality and duration of your recovery determines your level of presence in the other areas of your life - most notably your family and other close relationshipsTime spent away from work and away from screens is your greatest supe r-powerHaving a life and focusing your energy on your highest priorities allows you to be 10X or 100X more productive with your time when youre actually workingHeres a breakdown of how it worksYou wake up early, ideally between 46You have a morning routine that gets you into a peak-state (this generally involves visualization, meditation, journaling, fitness, and IMPORTANT work)You leave your cellphone in another room and on airplane mode for several hoursYou focus your work on results, rather than the amount of time spent doing itYou use your cellphone, social media, and internet sparingly and intentionally (ideally no more than 34 hours per day and during the early afternoon hours)You stop working earlier in your day than usual (ideally between noon-3PM)You put your phone back on airplane mode and you engage in your life and relationshipsWhy does this process make scientific sense?In order to become a high performer at anything, you need to optimize your life for RECOVERY.Working long hours is not rare. Most people work long hours. And people are actually working more and more - despite the fact that technologies have been developed so we could be working less and living more.Being present with loved ones is rare. Engaging in physical and relational activities without technology is rare. Being away from screen-time is rare. Getting a good night sleep at a reasonable hour is rare.Designing your life is rare. As T.S. Eliot once wrote, Where is the Life we have lost in living?Most people are too caught up living and have no clue how to actually design a life. A life is something you build and create, not something you do. I life is something you have.There are two key concepts required for high performance - both of which are rareThe two key concepts for high performance and radical productivity areDeep Work, as described by author and scientist, Cal NewportPsychological Detachment From Work, a new and emerging line of researchIn Deep Work, Cal Newport distin guishes deep work from shallow work. Heres the differenceDeep work israrehigh value andnon-replicable (i.e., not easy to copy/outsource)Shallow work iscommonlow value andreplicable (i.e., anyone can do it)Deep work requires deep focus. Very few people can focus deeply for long periods of time anymore. Most peoples lives have been optimized for distraction. Peoples bodies have become addicted to quick-hit neurochemicals - such as dopamine and even cortisol.Deep work doesnt just happen. It has to be designed for. According to Stanford Psychologist, Bj Fogg, willpower is not how you build good habits. Instead, you need to design your environment and life for them. You need to get small wins every single day, which stack on top of each other.Thus, one reason to wake up early is that it is an immediate small win that ripples into other wins. Another reason is that your brain is far more creative and rested first thing in the morning, especially if youve adequately worked and recovered t he day before.You cannot be satisfied as a person if youre not doing good, creative, and important work.If youre not doing deep work, you wont become successful in todays fast-paced, information, and technology driven world.As Cal Newport saidThe ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.In order to regularly do DEEP WORK, you need to set your life up so that it can happen. This is where RECOVERY is key. The important concept here is just as rare as deep work, and is one of the primary reasons deep work doesnt happen.This concept is known as Psychological Detachment From Work - which can only occur when you completely refrain from work-related activities and thoughts during non-work time.The non-stop and highly competitive world we live in makes very difficult to psychologicall y detach from work.Our technologies have been designed to be habit-forming, which means that if we are not intentional - we will regularly and subconsciously check-email, respond to texts, and check social media.Even if we are not working, we will regularly be thinking about work because we are not absorbed in the other areas of our life. Research shows that its very difficult for most people to psychologically detach from work.Yet, research also shows that proper detachment/recovery from work is essential for physical and psychological health, in addition to engaged and productive work.Research has further found that people who psychologically detach from work experienceLess work-related fatigue and procrastinationFar greater engagement at work, which is defined as vigor, dedication, and absorption (i.e., flow)Greater work-life balance, which directly relates to quality of lifeGreater marital satisfactionGreater mental healthPut simply - if you want to be AMAZING at what you do, you need to do less of it. Well, not exactly less, but you need to be far more focused and deep while youre doing your work. And when youre not working, you need to be absorbed and engaged in the other areas of your life.The length and quality of your recovery matters (which is another reason to wake up early)If you wake up early, lets say between 46 am and immediately get to work, you will get a lot of work done. Especially if you leave your cellphone away from your body, and especially if proactively avoid things like social media and email during the first few hours of your day.The earlier and better you work, the sooner you can and should finish for the day.One of the primary reasons to finish fast is so you can RECOVER longer. If you stop working sometime around 13 pm, and completely psychologically detach from work, you will experience the opposite of deep work - you will experience DEEP RECOVERY.Deep recovery is essential for deep work.In fitness, you can only push your body to the extent youve given it proper rest and nutrition. Its actually during recovery that your muscles grow and strengthen. And if you push yourself to the max, then you need more rest.Its an incredible feedback loop. The better and harder you push yourself, the deeper youll need to recover - which will not only make you stronger, but will enable better and harder performance in your future work.This is how you get better overtime.Its also how you build a life.Most people are living day-by-day. They arent actually making their days progressively better.The longer and deeper your recovery, the better rested you will be and the better youll sleep, because your mind will be at ease.If, for example, you stop working around 13PM, and just live completely presently with loved ones and engage in other hobbies, your relationships will be deeper. Your life will be more meaningful. Youll be able to make incredible progress on things like learning a language, or developing relationships, or reading books, or traveling, or doing community service.Youll be focused on the things which matter most, and you wont need more time for work, because the time you spend at work will be well-spent, and the time away from work will also be well-spent.You will be building a life.Youll be building memories.Youll have more to draw from and more meaning to forge into the work you do. Youll have experience and perspective, which will make your work more mature and contextual.As you get better at recovering, you will find that your creativity and clarity spike dramatically.Research shows that time away from work is where clarity and creativity actually happen. Only 16% of creative insights happen while at the work environment. Tim Ferriss explains in The 4-Hour Workweek Escape 95, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, how regular mini-retirements can improve your life and productivity.Every 3060 days, you absolutely should take 25 days off, as Ferriss recommends. That recovery is essentia l.However, you can and absolutely should be RECOVERING daily for 68 hours as well, and this isnt sleep. The more continuous and intentional that recovery is on a daily basis, the better your life will be. The better your sleep will be. And the better and deeper you work will be when you do it.FAQ But what if I work for someone else and cant control my schedule?Whether you work for yourself or someone else - the goal is the same. Get the best results you can in the most effective manner.Results are the name of the game - and if youre effective, you can get those results faster than most people because most people are living in a distracted state. Very few people do deep work. Very few people have organized their life to recover.Instead, most people are living in a subconscious-lull, rarely if ever truly present where they are. Very few people know what true productivity means. Very few people experience deep creativity and growth on a daily basis.Again, most peoples days are a repe at of the day before. They arent being deliberate like an Olympic Athlete is with their workouts.If youre not deliberate with your days, then youre not getting better, but instead, youre probably getting worse.In the book, Essentialism The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown explains that, as an employee, you can usually negotiate your work hours and even work activities. All you need to do is be candid about what matters to both you and your boss. If you can prove that you can get better results doing things a certain way, you can often get what you want.In this way, you can say no to non-essential tasks and non-essential work routines.Put simply, with many if not most jobs, you can work when you want, where you want, and how you want. But only if you can actually execute and produce results. The best way to produce results is by doing deep work on only the most essential things - and by removing all of the non-essential stuff from your life and day.Break-down of how to become elite, day-by-dayAccording to Stephen Covey, most people focus all of their energy on Urgent activities - such as email, deadlines, etc.We all have urgent things going on in our lives. But how much have we designed our lives to focus on the Important and Non-Urgent things, such as planning, fitness, learning, long-term projects, and creating memories with loved ones?The most successful people in the world learn how to focus their time and days on the most important things. They learn how to delete, delegate, outsource, or automate most of the urgent stuff.How much of your time do you spend on Important Stuff?How much of your time do you spend on Urgent Stuff?How much DEEP WORK have you done in the past 30 days?How many incredible and fun memories have you had with your loved ones?Are you merely living, or have you built a life?- - - When you wake up early and get right to work, youll have more time in your afternoon and evening to enjoy the other areas of your life.The deeper your recovery, the deep will be your work AND your relationships. The more creative, clear, and successful youll be.Happiness and success are not rocket science. They simply need to be designed for. They require that you live presently and intentionally, every single day.Ready toupgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people