MorreenKlementRHET 360310/30/2012
Intro
LinkedIn is a social media site for those in the workforce to market themselves and what they have to offer. Members of LinkedIn vary from employers to those who want to be hired to everyone in between. But what makes a profile effective and fulfill the purpose of the member joining LinkedIn? In this analysis, three profiles were taken into consideration, Michael, George, and Dawn. All are in the accounting field and are Certified Public Accountants and hold another certification in the accounting field. For this analysis, their profile pictures, the content of their summaries and work experience, and the current information were examined to establish a framework for an effective LinkedIn account.
Pictures
Out of the three profiles analyzed, all three had a picture. More importantly, each one had a picture of some professional look. Whether it was blue, gray, or white, all had a clean background. When someone would look at these profiles, they would look at the pictures and notice how business-like each candidate is. This would have a great impact on an employer for it shows how they are ready to for the workplace, in experience and looks. It doesn’t matter how far a person is into their career, the profile picture should keep a professional look for a potential employer or client.
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Summary
The summary section is used for the member to write a brief paragraph about themselves. These paragraphs may contain information that is already included below in separate sections. To use this section would provide beneficial for it would give an overview about the person, highlighting the main points, giving an employer a quick glance at whether they would consider the person or not.
Out of the three profiles examined, one member, George, wrote their summary in first person:
“I have had a variety of professional positions; this includes medical/technical writing, loan origination, and banking. After years of professional experience, I determined I wanted to steer my career path into accounting and finance. I completed my studies for a Masters in Accounting and have earned my professional credential as a CPA.”
(Bancroft)
By talking in first person, George has adapted to his audience with a personal approach. Since George has a few steps of the career ladder to climb, the personal approach is the best option since it gives a more person-to-person feeling. He includes his long-term goal, how he uses his experiences, and uses what he knows to try to persuade to his future employer, somewhere in the audience, that he is the better candidate. However, this approach differs from the other two profiles of Michael and Dawn. For example, from Michael’s profile:
“CPA with over 14 years’ experience in personal income tax preparation, including 11 years’ experience with fiduciary income tax and gift tax preparation.”
(Rudegeair)
This summary is made up of lists of accomplishments and specialized skills. It is appropriate for Michael and Dawn to have summaries formatted like this since both are at the top of the fields and do not need to really form a relationship with their audience in order to get a job. Their persuasive skills are less focused on trying to use their future goals to get an employer and more on showing a client what skills they have developed over the years.
Work experience
The content found in this section is the typical information one would find on a résumé. Under this section of the paper, included should be past employers, title of position, length of time worked, and any duties performed. If one is advanced in their career, they might leave out the first few jobs that have nothing to do with their field expertise.
Between the three, George has the least work experience. This makes sense since he is still trying to get to the top of the ladder, like Michael and Dawn already are. For his work experience area, he has fewer entries of jobs and writes the job descriptions in sentence form, such as seen with his current employer at Michael J Davis, PC Certified Public Accountants:
“Our firm is dedicated to providing timely, relevant information to assist small businesses beyond the obvious areas of accounting, tax compliance, and tax planning.” (Bancroft)
In giving a description of the business, George has tried to reason why he has the job and why it is important. Whereas, on the other hand, Dawn’s current work experience listing at L. Paul Kassouf & Co., PC, she lists:
“*Responsible for setting time budgets,scheduling engagements, and supervising departmental staff
*Responsible for preparation and review of income tax returns for estates and trusts” (Jones)
Unlike George, both Dawn and Michael have their work experiences descriptions set up as bulleted lists with the skills they have gathered from the employment. Again, this is to supply future clients with information on why Dawn or Michael would be the best option. George’s profile is more ideal for the employer he hopes to attract.
Authors
For all three authors, Michael, George, and Dawn, each has a career that deals with their CPAs. However, Michael and Dawn again are one step further than George by being supervisors or advisors. As for their education, George is the only one that had to go out of state to get his Masters at Keller Graduate School, although his work implies he has only held jobs in Philadelphia. He might have done this to be able to appeal to those in the Philadelphia area by giving the impression he is loyal to where he grew up.
The target audience for George differs from Michael and Dawn since he is still trying to get further into his career. George would aim his profile towards the potential employer, by showing what school he has gone to and what work experience he has had. Michael and Dawn on the other hand have the purpose to appeal to the potential clients they can gain through displaying their achievements, skills, and certifications from their experiences.
The exigency of the profiles is to attract their respective audiences. George’s would be to get the future employer. Michael and Dawn’s exigency would consist of marketing themselves towards the potential clientele.
Using the connections feature of LinkedIn, Michael has the most connections with 261, and Dawn close behind with 167. A reason they would have more than George, at 145, might be that Michael and Dawn are again farther than George is in their careers and have connected with more coworkers and clients. George might be close to having as many as Dawn since he is younger and social media plays a bigger role in his generation as compared to Dawn.
Constraints
The major constraint that could be found would be the generation gap between the members. Michael seems to have a good handle on their profile, shown by his connections and endorsements. Dawn is having the constraint of not being born into the technological generation, like George was. George has the technical advantage of knowing how to use social media sites to his advantage by making a profile full of information marketed in an effective manner.
Framework
To set a framework for a LinkedIn profile, there are two different perspectives taken from this analysis: the employee looking to climb the work ladder and the employee who is already at the top of the ladder. For both types, the profile picture should consist of a clean background and a professional outfit. Those who are looking to be hired should have a summary that consists of the first person voice to appeal to the audience, the future employer. On the other hand, those who are already at the top of the ladder may want to just put a list of skills they offer and experiences that make them qualified for anything a potential client my need. Work experience descriptions could have a list of qualifications and skills gained for the established employee, while the job-seeking employee should list more persuasive information for the job. This information could range from skills to descriptions of the company to why they chose the job. The current information will reflect what the member is doing in their field and may hold information that could sway an employer or client. If the client sees the employee is from out of town, depending where the employee came from, the client may look for someone from instate to off the job to. Each member should have their clients and/or employers should endorse their skills, in order for others to see and be persuaded towards the member.
Conclusion
LinkedIn has shown to be a powerful step towards how the job application process has changed, as well as how clients choose who they do business with. How a candidate displays information on their profile can show a lot about themselves, whether it’s at the top or the bottom of the ladder, as has been discussed in this analysis.
Works Cited
Bancroft, George. "George Bancroft." LinkedIn.N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <
Jones, Dawn. "Dawn deGraffenried Jones."LinkedIn.N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <
Rudegeair, Michael. "Michael Rudegeair." LinkedIn.N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <