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TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

Thanks for posting this. I've had a LinkedIn account for a while but haven't done much with it since I didn't really see it as much more than a business focused Facebook.

Looks like it has the potential to be a really good resource that deserves more attention than I've been giving it.

Put in a request for membership to the Stairmasters and will be plugging along on updating and completing my profile.

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TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

I had no idea that was actually a thing.

I wonder if they saw the Stairmasters group and got all excited about networking with other stair making professionals?

edit: I wouldn't worry about submitting a resume in Word format. Even if they do edit it, what could they possibly do with it?

TouchyMcFeely fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Feb 22, 2013

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

Can someone explain "InMail" to me?

It looks like it's for people who have a closed network and requires that you have a connection with someone who is connected to them already but I want to make sure I understand what it is before I go asking colleagues to send an introduction on my behalf.

TouchyMcFeely fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Mar 6, 2013

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

Since LinkedIn is currently making GBS threads itself, I'd like to bring back the discussion on "particular things of note I did that were above and beyond in my position."

I worked to reduce the cost of servicing one of our largest customers by 50% over the course of two years. Cutting their service calls down from over 40 in one calendar year to less than 5.

Where would be the best place to put a blurb about that in my profile? I could stick it under the experience category but it seems like it would get lost among the job description, etc.

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

For folks not having much success, take a look at the "who's viewed your profile" page and see what terms folks are searching for that display you as a result.

One thing I've noticed is that despite having all the buzz/technical words I can think of for my field, the number one cause for my profile to show up is people searching my first name. Clearly I'm missing information in my profile that would help make me more visible and that might be your problem too.

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

smokmnky posted:

yeah it is, you can get a free month of premium but all I've heard is it's not really worth it after that free time is up

Huh, didn't realize that was the case. I didn't sign up for premium so I wonder if they gave me a free trial without my noticing.

Good to know when it eventually goes away. At least now I won't be sitting there wondering where that useful information went when the trial ends.

Trabant posted:

Same here. My SEO must suck, because the top keywords that led people to my profile are either my (extremely unique) name or (again, very unique) research topics I worked on about 10 years ago and haven't revisited since.

I'll be revamping my profile soon, hopefully it improves my visibility somewhat. I have half a mind to just delete any mention of my research/papers on old topics, but I like keeping it on there to complement the MBA/PMP/fuzzy stuff I've done since. I hope to move into a product management role, and figure it's useful to highlight technical skills as well.

I think part of my problem (and maybe yours) is that my terms are too industry specific. I'm a Field Service Engineer with an analytical equipment manufacturer supplying products for chemistry labs. A lot of the terminology I use is specific for this niche field. I'm trying to get into customer service management but anyone looking to fill a role outside of my industry likely wouldn't hit on my profile due to the differences in terminology.

I also think part of the problem I have is that my profile (and resume) reflect my technical abilities better than my leadership/management abilities so even if someone were to see my profile would probably not get a good feel for why I would be good beyond front line field work.

Unfortunately I'm not entirely sure how to fix that last part. I know I can do what I do now well. It's finding opportunities to expand and grow in a new role that I'm having trouble finding.

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

Doing a little job hunting I've come to a realization that my current job title doesn't really jive with industry standard. My job title is Customer Support Engineer but most companies use the term Field Service Engineer or Field Service Technician for the same role.

What would be the best way to include these more common terms in my profile to ensure a better chance of showing up in search?

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TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

Thanks for everyone's input on the job title question.

I certainly wouldn't want to change my title to something misleading. The titles, "Customer Support Engineer," "Field Service Engineer," and "Field Service Technician" all pretty much describe the same job/function. Become an expert on how a physical product works and then travel to customer sites installing, repairing and performing preventative maintenance. The only real difference is that the "Engineer" moniker seems to apply to jobs where a degree is required where the "Technician" seems to be more trade/high school diploma focused.

Follow-up question: When adding a project where you worked with co-workers. Do they get notified or asked for approval if you add them as a person you worked with or does it even show up on their page?

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