What to put on your LinkedIn Profile when you are in transition

What to put on your LinkedIn Profile when you are in transition This question comes up all the time when I do presentations on LinkedIn.  There are a few different options, depending on the message you want to give (I need your help! OR I have expertise in this, and oh yeah, I might be open to looking at other opportunities and everything in-between). Recently I was talking to Nick Jenkins, a senior operations manager based out of Austin, Texas.  Nick has deep experience with the telecom industry but, as we were talking, he was explaining his passion to move to a few other industries (still within technology), including mobile stuff, cloud computing, etc.  Nick likes being in the leading edge tech space, which is what he navigated over the last 15 years in telecom. As we were talking I had a thought: Your LinkedIn profile tells me you are actively looking, but nothing in your profile tells me you are not married to the telecom industry.  In fact, everything there indicates you kind of want to stay there.  What if you let me know you are open to non-telecom stuff? I shared this idea with Nick and heres what he changed to clarify his position (being available for new opportunities, and what he is open to).  I think this is the best way to communicate this stuff. First, the Professional Headline.  Nicks main message here is Im a professional!  Here are my passions and what I bring to the table! Instead of focusing on Im looking for new work, which is NOT his brand, he focuses on what he wants you to think of when you think about him. Next, the Current Title.  He makes it very clear that he is actively looking. Now, when I got on the phone with him, this was all that he had done.  I listened to what he was looking for, and open to, and then I compared that with his profile and therein was the problem: Without having a conversation with him to know he was looking for a career even outside of telecom (or inside of telecom, but not limited to telecom), you probably wouldnt know that he was open to it.  I suggested that he use the job experience are and tell people more about what he is looking for.  His summary is the typical here are my strengths, but nowhere did he say Im open to non-telecom opportunities. (Next,) So instead of leaving the job description part of Experienced Leader and Communicator blank, he filled it in.  You can click over to his account to read it. The takeaway for me was that I assumed, based on his profile, something that was wrong.  After talking with him I understood more, and I encouraged him to share that on his Profile (to remove bad assumptions). I challenge you to state what you do or want to do, and then read through your profile and see if they are aligned. What to put on your LinkedIn Profile when you are in transition This question comes up all the time when I do presentations on LinkedIn.  There are a few different options, depending on the message you want to give (I need your help! OR I have expertise in this, and oh yeah, I might be open to looking at other opportunities and everything in-between). Recently I was talking to Nick Jenkins, a senior operations manager based out of Austin, Texas.  Nick has deep experience with the telecom industry but, as we were talking, he was explaining his passion to move to a few other industries (still within technology), including mobile stuff, cloud computing, etc.  Nick likes being in the leading edge tech space, which is what he navigated over the last 15 years in telecom. As we were talking I had a thought: Your LinkedIn profile tells me you are actively looking, but nothing in your profile tells me you are not married to the telecom industry.  In fact, everything there indicates you kind of want to stay there.  What if you let me know you are open to non-telecom stuff? I shared this idea with Nick and heres what he changed to clarify his position (being available for new opportunities, and what he is open to).  I think this is the best way to communicate this stuff. First, the Professional Headline.  Nicks main message here is Im a professional!  Here are my passions and what I bring to the table! Instead of focusing on Im looking for new work, which is NOT his brand, he focuses on what he wants you to think of when you think about him. Next, the Current Title.  He makes it very clear that he is actively looking. Now, when I got on the phone with him, this was all that he had done.  I listened to what he was looking for, and open to, and then I compared that with his profile and therein was the problem: Without having a conversation with him to know he was looking for a career even outside of telecom (or inside of telecom, but not limited to telecom), you probably wouldnt know that he was open to it.  I suggested that he use the job experience are and tell people more about what he is looking for.  His summary is the typical here are my strengths, but nowhere did he say Im open to non-telecom opportunities. (Next,) So instead of leaving the job description part of Experienced Leader and Communicator blank, he filled it in.  You can click over to his account to read it. The takeaway for me was that I assumed, based on his profile, something that was wrong.  After talking with him I understood more, and I encouraged him to share that on his Profile (to remove bad assumptions). I challenge you to state what you do or want to do, and then read through your profile and see if they are aligned.