LinkedIn has basically revolutionized the online presence for business networking for professionals.  LinkedIn (History of LinkedIn – LinkedIn – Our Story) began in 2003 in a slightly cumbersome fashion in its onset but has emerged a well- constructed online aid for professionals in all lines of work who are networking, career hunting, or even looking to increase their knowledge of prospecting targets.  As of 2013, there were over 300 million LinkedIn users worldwide. If you are searching for the next position it could turn out to be almost indispensible.

Your LinkedIn Profile – Your Chance to Tell Your Story!

Today we will focus on your LinkedIn profile as an important portrait of you with all of your relevant information.  The most important aspect of this is that you have an opportunity to properly construct your profile.  This is fitting as this is your story and “you are the expert on yourself.”  No one can tell your story like you can!  If you are a sales professional, you need to exploit this online tool.

This profile underpins your online persona, so you need to really think over how you are going to construct it.

Do You Have an Existing Profile?

If you have an existing profile, you may want to refine it.  I have some quick tips that can help you.

Before you start revising your profile, you will note a button on the right hand side of the on the profile screen which will allow you to “broadcast” changes to your profile to those you are connected with.  I suggest that you toggle this switch to “NO” – “Do not publish an update to my network about my profile changes”. The reasoning here is that you are probably going to do these refinements and changes to your profile over the course of a couple or even a few sessions.  This will allow you to avoid sending numerous notifications to your network about things that many of them already know, and gives you a chance to complete and even modify your work without notifying friends of every change you make.  When you finish, if it is your preference, you can elect to have your profile changes made known to your contacts in real time.

Take time to review and modify your profile and keep it up to date.  Here is why:

• You are searchable- Potential employers can access your LinkedIn profile at any time.
• Electronic application – Many organizations allow you to apply for positions utilizing your LinkedIn profile.
• Added benefits – You can get the equivalent of a “short-link” code allowing you to send a link to your LinkedIn profile that you can embed on your electronic resume.

Don’t Have A LinkedIn Profile?

Whether you are an optimistic college senior or an accomplished professional you should consider taking this first step.

In my discussion above regarding refining an existing profile I suggested, “turning off” the update button.  I would suggest the same action when it comes to constructing your profile, as you may be building it over several sessions.  I don’t think that you necessarily want potential contacts and employer to see your profile in every phase of construction.

The ability to use this profile for job inquiries and increased visibility are big benefits.  I think of it as the job hunt tool of a lifetime! Before you begin your LinkedIn profile, you will want to do make sure that you have a copy of your resume handy as the profile simulates, and essentially turns into an electronic resume foyou.

Remember that your resume is something that you can share when you have an interest.  Your LinkedIn profile is viewable by LinkedIn users without permission.

With that in mind, you will want the profile to be cogently thought-out and without the “chaff” of insignificant short-term jobs.

Suggestion! – When you complete an actual application it is important that you detail all of your positions and the correct dates. If you do not have an actual application it is your responsibility to advise your hiring manager or HR person of the total sum of your positions by having a separate, all position inclusive, resume copy that details all positions you have worked.  This one is not used to garner prospective employer interest, but use this one to detail what you have been in your career.  This item is a necessity only when you actually need it.

The electronic view of you that your LinkedIn profile represents should generate interest by showing the scope of your experiences and the depth of your positions.  It should be concise and mistake free.

LinkedIn – Short link (Public Profile URL)

When using electronic mail (email) you have the ability to include a LinkedIn link to your profile.  If you are corresponding with potential employers regarding job opportunities, or networking with other professionals for whatever reason, you can include your electronic resume in the form of your profile by attaching this link.

At the profile page under the profile section is “Your Public Profile URL” which will allow you to edit, copy, and use this URL or “short link”.  In this section you also have the ability to create an HTML public profile badge that you can use in any HTML based web site, email, or other publication.
The use of a public profile URL is up to you, but it can be useful.

Remember These Points

You might want to give these profile suggestions some consideration:

If you currently have a profile refine it and keep it up to date.

• If you are newly constructing a profile, congratulations.  Do it well and realize it makes you searchable on the Internet by those who are LinkedIn as well.
• Avoid numerous updates being sent out as you refine or construct by turning off the automatic updates at least temporarily.
• Consider using the Public Profile URL as a way to send your information to others who are LinkedIn.

I will have more coming to you about maximizing your LinkedIn usage.  If you have any comments, please feel free to direct them to me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

The interview as your chance to tell why you are the best person for the job, but also embrace that opportunity to show how you are different!

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There are few moments that are more critical in your work history than the all-important job interview.  That sixty or so minutes presents you with the opportunity to:

• Make a lasting impression on a one-on-one basis.
• Describe, defend, and promote your employment history
• Showcase your verbal skills and your adeptness at responding to complex questions.
• Prove you critical sales skills while in the process of “selling yourself.”

“Critical” is a fair word here because you only get one opportunity, maybe no more than an hour to do this and separate yourself from the crowd of applicants that are being interviewed for the position.  You must use this opportunity to “sell yourself” while you scale the mountains of questions that the interviewer or interviewers might have for you.

How to Stand Out?

So in the midst of this, your objective is to not only answer all of the interviewer’s questions, showcase your knowledge of the sales process and your product/industry acumen, but also to stand out from other applicants.  Frankly, if you are a Black sales professional, you already stand out! You have selected a career that is challenging, measurable, and rewarding.  It is not the career that is the preference of the lighthearted.  This role is normally relationship-based, requiring an investment of time and effort in the cultivation of deep enduring relationships with buyers of all backgrounds and origins.  Not everyone can do it, and most would not make it to the interview stage, but you are there. Even the buyer that considers himself/herself color-blind recognizes that you’re an anomaly in the position.  Now the good part is that you are a “good” anomaly in that role.  I am serious in saying this.  Absent prejudice, the good buyer is looking for some change or variation from the norm as well.  Here is your golden opportunity. Even some of the most mundane issues about you are new ground for a customer from a different social and racial background.  Questions will flow in search of information about the following:

• How did you get in this business?
• What is your background?
• Where did you go to school?
• Did you play sports?
• Numerous other general interest questions

These questions only lead to more inquiry.  These questions, as banal as they may seem, happen because there is an informational divide in America.  That informational divide then serves as a “curiosity chasm” as well.  No one is going to go into your community to satisfy their curiosity as to how someone so different from them lives and thinks; yet if you come into their office, and hold conversation, everything is game.  Whether you hale from the heart of the ghetto or your state’s most affluent suburb, the curiosity is the same. You can stand out in this positive way, and there are some things that you can do to make this even better:

• Be personable and inviting without getting too personal.
• Know your story and its fine points.  You have license to discuss only what you want made public (because it will be public).
• Always tell the truth (Black Sales Journal 6/30 – Always Tell the Truth). The truth, in the light of its novelty to others is quite enough.
• Know what has made you strong and durable, and …better.

Now, when you know these well, you can begin to weave them into your story as opposed to “tell” them.  You might want to give that comment some thought.  You are the expert on you, and that cannot be denied.  Do you know how to tell your story in a factual, yet illustrative way that captivates and informs?  If you practice these points, you will gain proficiency in doing it, and will benefit from it.

The Value of the Icebreaker

In Black Sales Journal we always speak of the strength of conversation in building a successful relationship.  You are less trying to build a successful relationship during the interview than trying to construct a gateway; there is invariably a brief moment that is the “icebreaker”.  This is not a long interlude, yet a skilled interviewer will use this time to get to know something about the person that he/she is interviewing.  Here is where you get an opportunity to showcase “YOU.” During this time, most interviewers would not approach a subject that is to intrusive, yet will ask you a question like: “What made you decide to get into sales?” or “What convinced a bright looking guy/lady like you to go in to equipment sales?”  I am sure you have been asked a question like that before.  That is the icebreaker, and it is without doubt that is not the question he/she wanted to ask, yet it is the evidence that someone is curious about you, your motivations, and your background.

Remember…Be Personable…

Black sales professionals with tenure in sales have experience in relating their story. There is no doubt that regardless of whether you are male or female, they want to understand more about you.  You can move them from wanting to understand more about you to the point of fascination by disclosing some tidbits of information although never compromising personal information you want to protect. Remember bullet one above.  “Be personable and inviting without getting too personal,” serves as a good motto.  Although interview sessions can be tedious, remember that being interviewed by someone who is interviewing five others is tedious work on their part as well.  It is made more interesting by someone who has a personality, and has points of interest that would probably attract a buyer as well.

You can be that someone.

Master the relationship. Your comments are welcome.