Get Found on LinkedIn--Without Getting Found Out at Work

If you are looking for a new position or a new job, then this is the episode for you. I cannot believe how many people reach out to me, I would say on a weekly basis almost looking for work, they're out of a job, they're about to lose their job, they don't like their job and they want a new job and they think that I have a lot of connections to help them get a job. And what I usually tell them is the best place to go is LinkedIn, because that's the social media network to help professionals connect with other professionals and to find work. Today on the podcast I am speaking with Crystal Hicks. She runs a company called Job Talk LLC and she is an expert on how to find a job, but specifically we are tapping into her expertise using LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an amazing social media resource to help people connect with each other, but they, but to help them find jobs. And if you're looking for one, especially if you're a Gen Xer, a baby boomer that all of a sudden has found themselves out of a job, then this is the episode for you for the Confident Communications podcast. I'm your host, Molly McPherson and I want to help you find a job. Foreign. Hello, Crystal, thank you for joining me on the Confident Communications podcast. Hello.

Thanks for having me.

I am thrilled and. Well, for one reason is that you were able to join me at the last minute because I happened to come across your profile when I was planning the episode about LinkedIn and I thought, you know what, she's perfect. I know that you would be able to bring some things, top of mind, up to date insight into how to use LinkedIn. So Crystal, could you just give my listeners just a little brief background about what you do with your business?

Sure. So I've been in the employment sector for coming up on 12 years now, and after being in the corporate recruiting side and career services for a long time and staffing, I opened Job Talk, which is a one on one career counseling practice here in Portsmouth. But most of my clients are remote, so I kind of tell people it's a little bit like job therapy, but there's a lot of functional tools and trainings that are part of that as well. LinkedIn 101 is probably my most requested workshop by far, so it's very relevant for today.

Oh, now that's interesting. Now, you and I are of different generations and it may be just because of my social circle, but I'm noticing now in the last two or three years, an absolute uptick of people who reach out Looking for work. And it's that middle age. Either they want to transition out or their job has transitioned out of them. Could you tell me about your customer base? Who reaches out to you for work?

Sure. So, yeah, I think what's really interesting is, you know, after the 2009, 2010 recession, I think a lot of people had a lot less faith in having one employer. You know, it's like. It's like diversifying your investments. Right? You don't want to put all your money into one fund. And so people started really embracing what's being called the gig economy. And so everybody, if they have a marketable skill, they're kind of. They're out there trying to, you know, do basically work for themselves. And so what's funny is I have a mix of clientele who are currently employed who are confidentially searching. I also have a mix of clientele who are running their own businesses, but they're still kind of trying to figure out how to market themselves as an employee, but almost more on that contract basis, which is really, really interesting. And then I have our, you know, your new grads, people who are just wrapping up with college, and I love working with that population. I worked in the university system for about seven years, and, you know, you just. They're going through the major identity crisis, I call it. You know, they spend four years studying something, and then they do an internship. And there's this feeling of, oh, my God, this is not what I thought it was. And so it's a lot of conversations.

Do you find these young grads. Well, are these young gr. Are they optimistic or are they nervous about jumping into the job market?

A little bit of both. I think it depends on where the nerves. It's what's sparking the anxiety. So for some people, they just don't know. They don't know what they don't know. Right. They've never had this experience. They've never been in a company. If they had an internship, it was for a couple months. So it's really just the fear of the unknown. And that's where I think a lot of the dialogue in our sessions helps to quell a lot of those fears and, you know, kind of just provide for them the options. I always like to say I'm helping you build a roadmap and helping you identify what are those possible destinations that you can get to. Like, you're driving the car, but I'll help you build the map. And based on your transferable skills, here are some places you can go so that's the idea.

Now talk to me about the skills. I want to transition from the young job seeker to that middle age. So I'm thinking about Generation X, baby boomer, that space right now. And LinkedIn was introduced to them during their career. It certainly wasn't there at the beginning of the career. How do you feel that people that, who are out of work right now or who want to transition, how do they look at LinkedIn as a tool? Is it something that they have to tolerate or are they grateful that the social media network is there for them as a resource?

You know, I think whenever you look at, when you ever look at populations, there's your early adopters, right? So some people were like, okay, this is a thing. I have to get to know it. I'm gon dive right in. They're all ears. Other people, it's a lot more. You got to dip the toes in the water. You got to walk before you run. I have certain clients who, you know, I basically said to them, look, have you ever gone to a conference before? Have you ever been to like a professional development seminar? Think of all of these people that you meet when you walk into this big room and you spend the day and you make new friends and you, you know, you trade business cards. LinkedIn is the online version of that, you know, and it's this whole idea of LinkedIn is not Facebook. People say all the time, oh, it's like Facebook for your professional life. It so much more than that. And Facebook is stranger danger. Don't connect with people you don't know. I mean, there's a lot of personal stuff out there. LinkedIn is really different. And that's where I think, especially my clients who are maybe more on the boomer side, their experience and their exposure to social media has really been more on that Facebook side. So they're very nervous and cautious about who they're connecting with on LinkedIn. And I really try to knock that down and say, look, it's just like going to a conference, right? You're going to grab those business cards, except now you're doing it online and you're gonna connect with lots of people you don't know. And that's okay because there's safety measures. You're not putting your address and your phone number out there necessarily. You don't. I mean, I tell people all the time, don't paste your resume on LinkedIn because it's giving a little bit too much information. And so it's just about getting them to understand it is a different type of platform, but really explaining to them that it's, it's for professional networking. And that's the idea. So you gotta be open to meeting people that you don't think you have anything in common with and kind of see where it goes.

And I think part of that discomfort too, when I talk about social media networks and which ones to use, I always tell them if I'm speaking in a professional space is go to LinkedIn first, because one, it is a social media network. However, you can get away without being social on LinkedIn. You can do a one and done. You can't fully optimize your skills by doing that, but at least your toes are in the water. Your faces on the social media network. And I also add a caveat, is I tell people I have never heard of anyone whose reputation has spiraled out of control because of a post on LinkedIn. Would you share that? I mean, is there anyone that you've ever heard of that has made like a complete, you know, has completely destroyed their career reputation based on some stupid thing they've posted on LinkedIn?

Well, I think it's sometimes in the eye of the beholder. Like, think of our political climate. And I tell people all the time, when you're building out your profile, right, when you're posting things on LinkedIn, remember that everyone that you've connected with, your stuff is gonna float across their feed. And so you wanna take that into consideration and avoid. Unless you literally work in the political space, perhaps, maybe avoid politics, right? It's like the old adage of, like, you don't talk about money or politics at the dinner table kind of thing. When you're meeting new people, it's the same. That's usually my rule of thumb. But I haven't heard of anyone who's like, burned any severe bridges. I think it can just get dicey when it veers away from work. And that's where, I mean, you'll even see people post stuff like, hey, Remember, this is LinkedIn, not Facebook. And I think the community also embraces that too. And people want it to be a professional space, right?

There are guardrails that are within LinkedIn just because of the community itself. I mean, there's almost written protocols of how, of how to use it and how to use the platform. And I don't find that many People opine on LinkedIn. Very rarely do I see someone that really takes a stand on an issue. And I see it a lot in my newsfeed. Perhaps it's just me, but it's just a lot of professional networking and promotion of professional work. Would you?

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. And it's. And that's what's great about it, you know, so regardless of whether you're looking for advice on something or. I tell people all the time, the funniest thing is when especially clients who are maybe more on the X and boomer side, they'll say, oh, well, I'm not on LinkedIn because I'm not job hunting.

It's like, no.

There's so much more you can do with it, though. Have you ever thought about, you know, you're. Okay, you're in a space. I worked for Lindt Chocolate for a long time. Right. And in CPG World, Consumer Packaged Goods, you're always trying to figure out what your, what your competitors are doing.

Would say that acronym again. Cpg.

Cpg. Consumer Packaged Goods.

Yeah.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Consumer Packaged goods. So think of everything from. It could be personal care, it could be food items. But this space, which isn't huge in New England, it's really big in the Midwest, in Texas. But this space is so highly competitive because there's constant innovation and things are disrupting the market and you've got consumerism. And so I would always tell clients who are interested in getting into the consumer goods space to get on LinkedIn and start following every possible CPG company that you're interested in because you want to know what they're doing, what they're thinking, what they're testing. And this is something that LinkedIn is really, really good at. So it's, it's something that keeps you ahead of the curve kind of effortlessly, you know, because the newsfeed, if you're following all these companies, your newsfeed is like this newspaper that you're building. And I tell people, look at your newspaper every single day, right? And it's filled with only the news you actually care about, because it's only the people, the companies and the groups that you're connecting and following and joining.

That's great advice. That's great advice. Now, how can optimize LinkedIn? Let's start with the category of someone that's a little gun shy, a little nervous to use it, but they know they need to be on it. So what are the baby steps that someone can take using LinkedIn? They're already in a position right now. They're not necessarily job searching, but they want to find out information and they want to put themselves out there to show that they are on LinkedIn. What are some of the first steps they can do to optimize that social network?

Perfect. It's a great question. So I typically tell people you're in your ramp up phase. So the biggest thing with LinkedIn that people don't realize is it's not just about building the profile connections, equal access. If you're on Facebook, you could run a search and see anything. Based on your search criteria of who's out there, anybody on Facebook is going to pop up. The biggest difference with LinkedIn that people don't understand is that if you're not connecting to people, you actually don't have any access to see anything because it's your first, second and third connections.

Explain what access, when you use that word, access. Let me define that for me.

So think about if you're running a search, right, and you say, okay, I want to find out, I'm going to search for Timberland, right? Great local company. I put in Timberland. It's going to show you people that work there, news that Timberland's posting, where's their company page, right? But the thing is, the people that you're seeing, you'll notice when people pop up in your search results, it'll say first right or second connection next to them. What that means is that if you and I connect on LinkedIn, you and I become first connections. And what's great about that is you can see my profile, I can see yours, right? But essentially your resume. But the big thing that happens is now all of my first connections become your second connections and you can see them too, and they can see you. My second connections become your third connections and that's where it stops. And so there's 600 million people on LinkedIn across more than 60 countries. This is translated to 20 different languages. It's a massive platform. You're never going to have access to most people. But the idea is you don't have to be that person that has 10,000 connections to see everything. You, you just want to be connected to well connected people because you're feeding off their background. So when you run a search for something, like I always tell, I used to be the example all the time of like, let's say that you were applying to a job and you want to find the recruiter at that company. What if you don't have a first, second or third connection to that recruiter? They're not going to pop up in your search results. And it doesn't mean that they're not on there. They're totally on there. They have a profile and everything, but you don't have access to them. So a lot of people think that being strong with LinkedIn and being, having a presence is all about your profile. But here's the thing, thing, you could have an amazing profile, but if you're not connecting to people, it's kind of like filling the car with gas and then just letting it sit there.

Oh, wow, that's a great analogy. I like the idea of the connection. I use it for relevance and reputation. When I, when I look at someone or someone that wants to link in with me, the first thing I do is look at our shared connections and to see what level, like where are they? And they usually come at me with emergency management. They may be like a FEMA connection or a communication connection or, you know, with my work right now as a consultant. So I always look to see where the, where the point of origin is, like how did we connect and who they know, but then based on who they know at that organization, you know, I, I also segment that. So I think you're correct. It's that it's, it's bringing those two levels of connections together and the higher you go, the better.

Yes. And I kind of tell people all the time, you know, my job is jobs. So I have a very unique relationship with LinkedIn. You know, LinkedIn, 1 in 20 members on LinkedIn are either a recruiter or a hiring manager. So there's very much this feeling of at any given time, if I'm looking to source talent for something or if I'm looking, you know, I want to have that connection base. I want the right people to pop up in my search because it's all keyword based. Right. So you have to write keywords in your profile. But the thing is, I used to always tell my students when I worked in the university system, I am an equal opportunity connector. I will connect with everyone unless you give me a reason not to. Because I understand the value of who you may be connected to. Now I may run a search a year from now and I'm looking for that one special person at a company that I have to ask a question to or I need to find a new vendor for something or whatever, and you happen to be the person that connects me with them and you might be my only connection to them and you are the only reason why they pop up to me in my search.

Okay, yeah, that's a great example. You touched on the idea of people reaching out and connecting with you. I want to get into the area of discomfort when I'm speaking to clients or people in my workshops. The resistance that I feel from LinkedIn. First it's that email. Like I always get emails from LinkedIn asking me to link in with people. So that's that first barrier that they get. And I just explain. It's. It's as simple as, you know, unchecking a box so you don't get those emails.

Right.

But also it's that next layer of resistance comes from reaching out to people or having people reach out to. To you. Is there a standard protocol when it comes to connecting with someone on LinkedIn?

That's a great question. I think it really depends on your motive. I think if you're a job seeker, it's really different than maybe your approach would be very different if you were just trying to ping someone to, you know, pick their brain on some. A good example is you never know why someone's connecting with you until you let them send you a message, right? I had someone reach out to me and I'm like, who is this guy? We don't have anything in common. I don't know why he's reaching out to me. And then I accepted it. He sent me a message and said, hey, you know, my daughter is actually thinking of studying abroad at the same university in Ireland that you went to. How did you like it? Were you, you know, were you impressed by the program? And I thought, oh my God, I would have never in a million years expected this. But it was really wonderful to be able to provide that insight for him, you know, so you never know. And it's not always job related. That's the other thing is it's not always necessarily employment related. So I tell people to be open minded. As far as the approach goes, if you're the one reaching out to someone and being on the other side of these messages too. As a former recruiter, when people would reach out to me and say, hey, I just applied for this position, do you have any feedback or blah, blah, blah, I loved it. And I think my biggest piece of advice is if you are a job seeker, remember that it's a recruiter's job to be filling that role. You are never going to bug a recruiter. I think your approach is important and I think you want to be tactful and you want to remember that they might be a team of one. I was a team of one. I filled 80 positions a year on top of everything else I was doing. I didn't have a lot of time, so I always Tell people, don't take it personally if someone doesn't respond to you. But maybe in your message say, hey, you know, hey, Crystal, I know this is kind of random, but I just applied to the brand manager position and just wanted to follow up. I'm a huge fan of your organization. Thanks for your consideration. Right. Notice that they're not asking me to call them, they're not asking me to spend any extra time, but less than 5% of people ever follow up. And so this is huge. If you're applying for a position and there's 300 candidates, you by. By hitting me up on LinkedIn in one click, I can jump onto your profile. I don't have to dig up your resume, I have to dig up your application. In one click, I can see your profile and see if you're a good fit for this role.

Crystal, what was, what was that statistic that you gave? Less than 5% of people do what.

Easily follow up after applying for a job, believe it or not.

Really?

Oh, yeah. And I tell my clients all the time, you, if you do not follow up after you apply for a job that you really want, you forfeit your right to be upset when they don't call you. Because it is not about being the best candidate to get the job. It's about being a great candidate that just knows how to stand out from all the other great candidates because there always will be.

Yeah.

So that whole follow up piece on LinkedIn is so critical because in one click, I don't even have to respond to you yet. I can immediately jump into your profile, check you out, and then respond to you either with feedback that you know, hey, unfortunately, you're not really exactly checking the boxes the hiring manager is looking for, but thanks again. Let's keep in touch. Or I can get a conversation going with you for that job.

Yeah, in recruiting, even though I don't have the recruitment button or toggled to I'm open for jobs. I get messages from recruiters all the time for big jobs. And it's head of social, head of pr, you know, VP of this. And it makes me wonder, like, okay, how are they reaching out to me? And I always do ask because I can't help but follow up sometimes. Like, I want to know because I want to know my level if I were to go back into the private sector and work. But usually they tell me it's a keyword search and that's how they find me.

So there's a thing called a recruiter seat, and this is a $9,500 a year.

Seat.

And by seat, I mean one. So one recruiter can sit in this and they track your IP address. So this tool, if anyone. One of the things that I show my clients a lot is how to run the back end search. And there's about eight or nine different search filters, right? You can search for people's past companies, current companies, location, all that kind of stuff. A recruiter seat is 35 search filters. So I could literally run keyword searches against any place of your profile. I could say, which profiles have these keywords? Which people went to one of these 10 universities? Which people worked at one of these? 25.

Hold on, Crystal, hold on.

Oh, yeah.

If someone is looking for a job right now and they want to be open and exposed to as many recruiters as they can, it is important to know they are not just looking at your name and the keywords that are in that top bio about you. There is a separate account on LinkedIn for recruiters where they can delve deep into to the resume to pull people. That's interesting. So what would be the best way, knowing that recruiters are doing this, how do you optimize your profile to get to that level, those deeper levels in the recruitment, in the, in the recruiting.

Process, the best thing you can do and it, it's different for everybody, right? If you're trying to change fields or transition, this is typically something I tell my clients. Go after the job descriptions for the roles that you want, not necessarily the things that you've had, but go for the ones that you want. Look at the verbiage and the language that they're using and make sure that you're weaving those things into your profile. And one of the best places you can do that is in your about section. Because a lot of people will say, well, I've never done these things. How do I get those keywords in my profile? They're not going to be in my experience section because I haven't done them. But talk about passion for xyz, right? Looking for new opportunities where I can tackle X, Y and Z and make sure these things are in that about section. Because that recruitment recruiter seat has not only 35 search filters, but the other thing I could literally, in a whole separate column, it would show me, okay, Here are the 3,000 people that pop up nationwide that match your search criteria for what you're looking for. And then there's a second column and it says people who have engaged with your talent brand, meaning people who have gone to your company's page and followed it.

Oh, I have wondered that myself.

Yes.

So they check to see. Just from that recruiter's seat, they can see if you already follow the company.

Absolutely. And sometimes it's one person. And who do you think the first person is that I reach out to? Because they're invested. Right. They've already shown an investment. And the other thing is, to your point, turning on what I call the recruiter beacon, it's that little career interest button on your profile. That's another thing too, because that's an additional filter. And so out of my 3,000 people that it shows me, it'll say. But these people are more apt to respond based on their messaging history and on their career interest.

The recruiting beacon, as you call it, which I love that, that little beacon light, where is it located? Specifically on LinkedIn for my listeners.

So when you are in your profile and you click when you're logged in and you're on your profile and you're in edit mode, you have the little pencils in every section. You know that you can change stuff. It's in your dashboard, which sits right below your picture, your little couple of lines, bio, and then the about section. And your dashboard sits right there. It typically tells you how many people are viewing your profile and stuff. And there's three sections. There's a career advice button. So if you're open to providing other people with career advice, you can turn that on. There's the career interest section, and that's what we're talking about. And then there's a salary insights section below. So you'll see those. You just jump right into the career interest section. It's going to have you fill out different job titles you're interested in, whether you're open to remote positions, which is a huge thing that LinkedIn is now offering. And so it really gives people a chance to be found. This is something that I blogged about on my website. Job fishing versus job hunting. It's all about the bait and really understanding that you don't have to go hunt for your next position if your profile is locked and loaded because you want to be easily found.

When you said job fishing, I thought at first you meant P H. I like fishing.

Actually fishing, like casting a line with the app.

Okay. Oh, that's interesting. Okay, so definitely, if you are looking for a job or even casually looking for a job, privately looking for a job, turn on that recruitment beacon. And. And it's true that even if you're. If you're privately confidentially looking For a job, no one can go to your LinkedIn and see that it's open. Correct?

Exactly. And LinkedIn actually takes extra measures. And it'll tell you in that career interest section, they will not allow you to appear in recruiters or people from your own company that might be running searches for talent won't appear in their searches.

Okay. Because they're totally aware of the confidentiality and the need for it with people who are looking for jobs. So that extra layer of protection is there. That's interesting. Now let's.

You can also block people, you can block your boss, you can block certain people in your company from being able to see your profile and they won't be the wiser. They just won't see you.

Okay, hold on one second. Now, why would someone do that? Like, if someone works for a company and they are, they're looking for a new position, blocking, let's say, their boss, would that alert them if the boss went to look at their profile and they couldn't see it? Nope.

Because sometimes, I mean, LinkedIn is just one of those, those resources where if someone's specifically looking for you, they'd have to type in your name to find you. And then LinkedIn's just going to show that you're not active. And if your boss ever came to you, you could just say, oh, yeah, I was getting hit up with a bunch of spam, so I just deactivated my account for a minute.

Oh, okay.

There are a million ways around this.

Yeah, that's interesting. Now, are there other tells on your LinkedIn profile that would show that you're looking for work?

Not necessarily from a feature standpoint, but simply what what someone puts in. I mean, I call like the, the first couple lines under your picture, that's like prime real estate. Right. So if someone's seeking a new opportunity, they could actually say, you know, so and so seeking new opportunities in the xyz. Yeah, I've seen that.

Is that effective? That seems to me it would, it would seem effective that that would really send a signal. Or does it look desperate?

Well, so it's eager. I always tell people, eager, not desperate. Right, okay. Specific, not indifferent. So I would say make it very known what you're looking for. And this is more so advice for people who are on the market. Right. Not necessarily confidentially searching and really kind of putting out there what it is that you're looking for. This is an awesome approach for new grads, being able to say mechanical engineering grad, seeking new opportunities in the structural design field. Right. Or whatever. So it's something where you have to remember that when someone's running a search and when you pop up in their search, they're seeing your photo, your name, and these two lines of text. So it is helpful for someone if they're like, ooh, this person's looking, you know?

Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

Now, talent is hard right now. Finding the right talent is very hard right now.

Wait, finding talent is hard?

Yeah, it's. It's a very tight market.

Tight market for whom? Job seekers or.

Well, for companies. It's competitive. Yeah. So the thing is, there's a lot of. I mean, that could be a whole other podcast, Right? But, yeah, so make it known that you're looking and that you're open to conversation. If anything, you might just be the first person that they reach out to versus the 20th person they reach out to.

Okay, well, so for anyone listening who is looking for a job or doesn't have a job right now, could we focus on the unemployed seeker right now? So if I had to set up up the description of who I'm talking about, this is someone that's worked in a specific field, one or two fields, for 20, 30 years. They're in their late 40s, 50s, maybe approaching 60 right now. They are unemployed. They do not have a job. Maybe they've had a career based on soft skills. Maybe they've been salespeople or managers or executives who run things, but they don't have necessarily a hard, transferable skill. What are some of the tips that you could give to that experienced employee? But someone who's out of work right now, is there something that they can do on LinkedIn to stand out to help find a job?

That's a great question. And I think I've had a lot of clients in this boat. And regardless of whether they left a role, retired, and then decided they wanted to go back into work, got laid off or whatever. But I think the bigger thing is, what are you trying to offer? And remember that there are a lot of young companies out there, startups. Right. Everywhere you look, there are startups now. And a lot of these organizations need the maturity and the experience and the perspective of people who have been there, done that. And I think what's really challenging is you have some of these folks who. They're out here and they're trying to apply to the same companies they've always applied to the same companies they've always worked for. Right. Maybe big companies. Right. Big companies don't necessarily want to. Not that they don't I mean, and the goal is, right, that many companies are looking for multi generational workforces. But the question is, like, who's going to value what you have more, right? Is it going to be the big company where you're one of 500 people, one of 5,000 people, or is it going to be that small up and coming company that really just doesn't know what they. They don't know what they don't know. You know, they haven't gone through an IPO yet. They haven't gone through maybe some of these things that you've been there and managed through. And that's where I think this specific population can really be valuable. And LinkedIn is such a perfect tool for that because. And not only LinkedIn, but AngelList, your encore.com is a great site for boomers who are sort of at that point where they're like, you know what? I'm just not done yet. I'm not ready to retire. I still have this drive and this energy to make an impact. I want to be a part of something that's affecting the bottom line. There are companies out there that are looking for people to come in as consultants. And I think this is a really scary thing. Diane Mulcahy has the book the Gig Economy, and I highly recommend it. It about manufacturing your own security. And I talk to clients about this all the time. And I had to do this, you know, coming into my own, my own field. You have to say, what are the things that make me fearful of consulting? Oh, my God. I have to buy my own health insurance. Okay. You know, oh, I've got a. I've got a. I've got to invest my 401k.

Okay.

The thing is, once you kind of chip off those big fear factors and then you kind of realize all the benefits, like, wow, I can go and help this company for six months. I can help this other company for a few months. I can go work with staffing agencies and temp here and there, and I get my foot in the door at all these different companies. It's like, try before you buy.

Yes.

And maybe something comes along where they offer you something permanent, but if not, you're still making money, you're still doing what you enjoy, and you're driving your own ship. You get to decide what you want to do.

So, Krystal, I feel now in my, in my alt life that maybe I was a recruiter, someone like you, because I just, just gave someone that same advice. Someone that had had depth of experience, had amazing experience, leadership Experience, Military experience. And I had asked them, why don't you become a consultant? And his response to me was, but I don't have anything to consult on. I'm just a manager. I've only managed things. So people think that consulting is helping someone with some hard skill. But I like that you're using the term experience. It's almost like you're monetizing experience as a way get into the door. It's like Robert De Niro in the work in the movie the Intern, even though he was brought in as.

Yes, I love that movie.

She would. That's your job. But now Anne Hathaway, you know, she looked at the Robert De Niro character who a long time. What was he? A yellow pages salesman?

Publishing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something.

And then brought and then went into this e commerce site is the movie. The journey of these characters is she needed to tap in and see his experience and how valuable it was. So it sounds like what you're telling me is that if you are one of those people who, you know, outsourced, your job isn't there anymore. You've been let go, whatever it is, that what you want to do first is maybe get your confidence by tapping into that experience and bringing your years of experience into a newer company that could value it.

Oh my God. Yeah. And I think, I think soft skills are the unsung hero of so many turnarounds in businesses. Because if you think about it, we've all worked jobs where you're working next to someone, right? And you know, they were really, really good at the performance piece. They sold the most, they did the most, whatever, right? They created the most and then they get promoted into a people management role and they should never be managing people. And we have all had that boss, right? We've all seen that happen and how quickly the what overshadows the how. And this is so, so important like, like how you work and how you help others work and how you motivate. Especially a multi generational workforce where millennials are motivated by very different things than boomers or Xers. So it's something that if you know people, that's huge. And you have especially tech companies where everything is so technical and so functional and tactical, they sometimes really, really need someone who can come in and just, just manage people and provide feedback and help people grow and develop. And that's something that it literally is. Ask any people manager out there. That is the full time job. You almost have to find extra time in the day to do the technical pieces of your role. And so more and more companies are looking at this people manager role as, you know, critical because your talent is your biggest asset. And especially in this market, once you find the great talent, retail retaining them is so important. And so having someone who can be that champion for them, who can be a great people manager and help develop each person, that stuff is huge. But to our point, you have to have the confidence to sell that. Like, at the end of the day, when you're, when you're in the market, you are the product. Why should I buy you?

Right.

Like, you have to market yourself.

Market yourself, Exactly. My goodness, I could talk to you for hours. I think you are offering such valuable advice. I know that there's people listening right now who are out of work or who need to find a new job, and there's. They are absorbing all of your information. So. So I have two more spots that I have to touch on because these are the questions that come up a lot. One, are privacy settings. I would like you to explain how you set the privacy settings, the level of it, what is what you can do with paid and whatnot. And I have to ask, like, I went to my LinkedIn page and I saw that there was a founder in the professional training and coach from the greater Boston area who viewed my profile. Whenever I look at my notifications, which I do all the time, messages and notifications, I'm looking at that thinking, is it crystal? Was it?

You must.

No, it wasn't.

No, my. I have settings on so that people can see exactly who I am when I look at the.

Okay, so there's someone else in that space who obviously just looked at me when I was doing this. Now, could you explain. Okay, two questions. One, how do you set the privacy setting and tell me the values of having an open setting as opposed to an anonymous setting? Or is there some risk in being anonymous or some risk to being completely open?

It's a great question. I think it really depends on what someone's motivators are for using LinkedIn in general. Right. So whether you're confidentially searching for a job, whether you're looking to network with other people in your search space, whether you're looking to, you know, do some competitor analysis. I really don't see the harm in letting people see that you're viewing their profile. I actually have started a lot of conversations with people in my day when I'm like, hey, saw you looking at my profile. You have a great background. Do you want to talk? Like, I have positions here that might be a Good fit for you.

Well, as a recruiter, it's probably easier for you, correct?

Much easier, yeah. In my space now. I mean, the thing is, too, is that my clients come from all over. So for me personally, it's a little bit different. But I think for the average Jo out there, or Jane, I really think that it's a personal preference. I think privacy settings are something that it's like dipping the toes in the water when you're first starting out. If it makes you feel more comfortable to kind of hide your profile from people, go for it. Like it's not a problem. I think that there's no right or wrong way to use the site. It really just depends on what you're trying to leverage it for. But personally, I think that I want people to see me looking at them. I want people to know that maybe I'm looking at them for, you know, professional development or for networking or whatever. Or if I see someone looking at my profile, like, I don't get weirded out by it. I think it's this own. I think everyone has a personal relationship with that emotion of like, oh, God, like, I don't want people looking at me.

Right, Right.

Yeah. And that's why I say it's a personal thing. To your point, about the paid and unpaid settings or accounts, I have a premium account, but only because the free account, which I tell my clients, you do not have to pay for an account with LinkedIn, I was on a free account for years. Years. And you can do so much. But they've started to limit the number of searches you can run in one month. So you want to be strategic about the searches you're running.

And you can't be anonymous. Correct. Without the paid one. Is that true?

I think you can still make it so that there are elements of your profile that can be anonymous. Yeah, I've always had full open door on my, on my profile, so I've.

Never, see, I'm not, I'm the opposite. I, I, you know, I just. And it shows the difference of our business. I mean, you're in that recruiting business and helping people. You have to, you know, walk the walk and talk the talk.

Right.

Me, I'm in the business of sussing people out online a lot. And I don't necessarily want to leave, you know, digital breadcrumbs, but when people look at me, I'm always intrigued. I mean, I'll look and say, okay, why is this person reaching out to me? And more often than not, I will get that email like a day later, two days later, we were wondering if you could work with us on. So I love it as the tell to tell me that I got a call coming soon.

Yeah, yeah. And it's really different for everybody and I think it's just the one thing that I will say. You mentioned the emails earlier. I was immediately that person that was like, oh, I got to get rid of these emails because it's flooding my inbox. I got LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn all up in my inbox. If you go into your privacy settings and go to communications, that's where those boxes are where you can shut that stuff off. And I think that's eased a lot of the pain point for people when they first come into LinkedIn. The funny thing is that people always get so frustrated like LinkedIn sending me all these things like, you know, so and so and they join and you should join LinkedIn. And it's like if you think about the site in general, when you first start an account, you don't have any connections, so you don't have any access to do anything. So what LinkedIn does is it says, hey, thanks for joining. Do you want us to use your email, which is your username, and search through your contacts to see who else you already know that's already a member on LinkedIn?

Right.

And so that's the kind of thing where they start sending emails just to help you get started. It's really not the system trying to spam you or spam people, you know, it's just giving people that ramp up. And to your question a few minutes ago too, one of the best things people can do when they're ramping up is run a search for your alma mater, run a search for your current company, and just start connecting with. Start the bubble small, right? It's like your nucleus. Like, who do you know that you don't even have to personalize the message. You can just fire off a connect real quick and they'll accept it. Start small and then start working your way out. Think of, of places you used to work, think of organizations you volunteer with. Think about, you know, different, different schools or programs or professional development organizations that you've partnered with. Just start with the people that you know, and that way you have some access when you're running these searches.

Okay, so don't look at those emails as spam. Look at it as LinkedIn is just. Is ramping you up into the, into the process to grow your network. That's a good point, Crystal. Then let's conclude here about so how we can fully optimize LinkedIn. And I want to look at it specifically again, this kind of X baby boomer market. Someone that is looking to transition into a new job or they're out of work right now and they need a new job right now. What are the three critical pieces that they should have in their profile or some specific tactics that they must do to use LinkedIn to try and find a new position?

I would say one of the things. And this is me putting my recruiter hat back on. So if I was looking at candidates, one of the things that I absolutely loved, and this ties into the resume process, too, I loved it when people would put a line at the top of their resume that said, for immediate recommendations, please see. And then we put their LinkedIn URL.

Okay.

And the reason why this is so important is because I tell my clients, you have to drive all of that traffic back to your LinkedIn profile because that profile should be so much more engaging than some piece of paper. Right. I'm hopefully going to get so much more about you from your profile. And so the first big thing would be have recommendations. These are things that you can. With one click of a button. There's a little more button. If you go to someone, that's a first connection of yours. So if I was going to leave you a recommendation, I would go to your profile. There's a little. I could message you or there's a more button. You click the more button. Recommend is right there. I could say where we work together, I could say what the relationship was, and then I could write up a little recommendation. And those are gold. Because here's the thing. You're always going to tell me that you're awesome. I need someone else to tell me that you're awesome. Especially for all of those, like, people, managers out there. Think of all the people that you've managed that could speak to your leadership style and your ability to help people develop their careers. That's.

Okay. So building up the recommendation section.

Yes. Okay. Absolutely.

What else?

First and foremost, second would be like, do I think you should have a picture? I think so. Just because, like, I kind of just. I look for someone's personality through their picture. So smile like, oh, my God. It sounds so simple. But I just want you to seem, like, personable and friendly. Right? So just a nice. It can be taken with your phone against a white wall. It does not have to be an expensive headshot. Right.

But no photos from weddings, though, right? Where they cut off, you know, someone's arm.

You Know, oh, my God. Or solo cups. I have to tell my college students, no solo cups. Need pictures, no Facebook photos. But yeah, have a professional headshot where you're just smiling, you know, you just look pleasant. And then the other big piece is the about section. So many people do not fill out this about section. And I tell them all the time, this is, this is like your cover letter of your profile. And the thing is, is that your resume and your experience section in your profile? That's all the factual stuff. It's the who, what, when, where, and.

It should, should it be in the person? Do you give advice on that?

I. Yeah. You know, I think LinkedIn is totally first person friendly where your resume. You wouldn't do that. But in your cover letter you would. Okay, you know, so, so that's how I kind of get people to, like, mentally compartmentalize it. The about section is like the COVID letter. Talk to me about why you're even passionate about this space. Talk to me about why you decided to get into this field and why, you know, what are the things that you feel like you really bring to the table as a professional? Right. Your experience is going to tell me what you've done. Don't just regurgitate all of your experience into the about section. And that's where I think people really miss the mark. Like, give me something else that I'm not going to get from your resume because there's no length requirement on this. You don't have to keep it to one page. Right. People are just going to keep scrolling.

And I think the inter. In terms of real estate, the park, place of real estate on the about page is that first line. And what I tell people is that first line of your about statement is exactly what you said. It should be your passion sentence. What drives you. It's not experienced, you know, manufacturers rep, blah, blah, blah. It's this my passion. And then get into the details of what you do.

Be a human. I tell people all the time I would so. And again, jobs are my job. And I understand that, you know, you want to be professional and all this kind of stuff. Stuff. I kind of throw the word professional out the window and I say, just be appropriate. Right? Like if you're, if you're in an industry where you're a creative professional, you're. You're a creative person. I want to see your personality. Like, be a human. Right? Send me a message and be like, hey, Crystal, I know this is kind of random, but, like, I love what you do and I love your Company. And I'd love to hear more about, like, just don't copy and paste this.

Like dry static message on LinkedIn, especially from salespeople that, that is like an automatic delete. Like.

Yeah, exactly.

You said jobs are your jobs. Is that your slogan or is that an often used one that jobs are my job?

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what I tell people. I mean, job talk is, you know, it's, it's, it's unique in that sense. Right. Some people are doctors. I was a bartender through college.

Crystal. Well, jobs are your jobs, but you also know LinkedIn like a true wizard. My goodness. Thank you so much for sharing your insight. And I know, yeah, and I know people are really going to take a lot of value and a lot of insight from what you had, what you had to offer. And, and if they're listening while they're walking or in the car, I hope they go back and download the episode sitting at their computer with LinkedIn open and take some of those tools and tactics that you just suggested right now, because they were gold. Thank you so much. So, Crystal, it's Crystal with a K. Crystal Hicks. And tell my listeners about, about your company and how they can find you.

Sure. So job talk, everything that you need to know is@jobtalk LLC.com and it's full list of services. I'm very transparent about my pricing. I do a lot of free stuff though too. I hold a lot of free workshops here in the seacoast community. I try to give back in that sense locally, but then most of my clients are remote. So I try to do a lot of Instagram Live and Facebook Live sessions where people can just type in their questions and then I'll just answer them in real time. Because, you know, a lot of times when people are out of work, they don't have all this extra money hanging around to go spend on. You know what I consider it's kind of like job therapy, you know, only I don't get to use insurance yet.

So.

So I understand that that's different. But I think, you know, if people want to find me on social, I put a lot of content up on my website, the blog page, everything I would say to you in person about how to make your resume stand out, why and why and how to follow up after applying. The whole job fishing versus job hunting thing on LinkedIn, all that stuff is on my blog, which is again@jobtalkllc.com well.

Crystal, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and I know that you have helped a listener today just by the advice and the strategies that you've given. So thank you so much. Crystal.

Of course you helped them for inviting me on, so I appreciate it.

Thanks for joining me. I think I could hear a collective sigh of relief from a number of people listening to this episode that just said to themselves, you know what? I'm going to be able to find a job. Now the odds are in your favor, especially if you can use LinkedIn. Remember to check out Crystal Hicks on her website, jobtalkllc.com and you can follow her on social media as well, including, no surprise, LinkedIn. If you want more information on how to use LinkedIn, I encourage you to sign up now to get information about my new subscription that I will be releasing shortly. It's the Confident Leader Network and I'm going to be sharing tips like the ones you heard today on how you can optimize your online profile, your online expertise and how to communicate in the modern age. To sign up now to get information just go to my website, Molly mcpherson.comnetwork and you can sign up now for information. When we are ready to release you will get information and a special founders rate that you will have for a lifetime. So hop onto my website right now where you can sign up. Thanks for listening today to the Confident Communication Podcast. I hope to see you again next week.