If you took this week or past weekend off to visit family, return to your hometown, or just reconnect with friends, you may be thick into what I described in my last post as a season of uneasy reflection. For those of you who have meditated on a possible career “exploration,” I’ve got 3 more things you can do to help prepare yourself and your LinkedIn profile for 2023. These are the “medium-hard" to-dos.
3 “I Should Dos”
✅ Come up with 3 names of people you want to connect with in the new year. OK fine, this is obvious, but how many of us actually do it? Think about thoughtful people with whom you'd like to (re)connect - they could be old mentors, former colleagues, or even new connections doing cool or relevant work. Think of 3 clear topics you want to discuss - come with an agenda.
✅ Schedule a new headshot. I almost put this on my “hard but worth it” to-do list (coming later this week!), but all I’m asking you to do is get the photo session on your calendar. You'll hate the day when it comes, but in my experience even if you don’t love (or even like) the end result, you *will* like how polished your profile looks with a professional headshot and how prepared you feel when others check out your LinkedIn page.
✅ Find 3 LinkedIn profiles you like, ideally of people in the same industry or role as yours. Ask yourself *why* you like these profiles. I’ve found this can help you figure out the language, tone, and level of detail you want in your own profile. (Be on notice that there are a ton of bad profiles out there, and don’t forget that you can search profiles in private mode by updating your settings.)
There are lots more tips and tricks in my LinkedIn course - to learn when it goes live, visit my course page.