Put a face to a name...add your Picture

Photos are instant identification and encourage interaction. 28% of my LinkedIn connections are missing a photo. Aren't laying claim to personal brand and building a professional network why you're LinkedIn?

Build a Network

Prevailing advice suggests a LinkedIn network ranging from 50-150 connections. My advice is to develop and build your network selectively and with care...quality vs quantity. Potential connections via alumni, colleagues, and business contacts will quickly reveal numbers as a secondary concern. Cultivate and grow your network via active participation with Groups, Endorsements, and Recommendations.

Update/Complete Profile

Start with an overall review of your profile. Take a look at other LinkedIn profiles for ideas and trends. Ask others to review your profile and give feedback. Many tips and articles are available for improving and maximizing your profile impact. I will share favorites in future posts.

Excerpts and links for two blogs are included below to expand my checklist and make the case for actively managing your personal brand. With today's personal privacy headlines, I appreciate reluctance to share and engage with online community. Clear-cut reassurance and definitive answers are not offered. I also appreciate the deluge of online content and the challenge to keep abreast of developments. My goal is to provide condensed, focused, and informed content to assist readers in personal choices and actions.

Social Proof: Where Online Presence Meets Personal Branding

Meg Guiseppi is an 8-times certified Executive Branding, Resume and Job Search Strategist. In her practice at ExecutiveCareerBrand.com, she partners with c-level and senior executives to define, differentiate, position and communicate their unique ROI value to their target employers. Connect with Meg on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Are you an executive job seeker who resists having an online presence? Maybe you’re concerned about privacy and safety issues. Maybe you just don’t want to put information about yourself “out there“ for the world to see. Unfortunately, the days when you could hide your head in the sand are over. In executive job search, having an online presence with social media and social networking is critical.

Social proof – your social media activity and the information that resides online about you – is a personal marketing strategy that lends credibility to the claims you’ve made about yourself verbally, and in your executive resume and other career materials.

Having a vibrant, far-reaching online presence is no longer optional.

Social proof helps position you as a good-fit hiring choice and as an up-to-date social media-savvy executive who knows how to operate in the digital age.

Jenny Foss addresses 6 Things Recruiters Want to See on Your LinkedIn Profile