Hiring or looking for a job? Upgrade your LinkedIn profile to stand out

When most people find themselves unemployed or are looking for a career change, they head to a job board. But have you heard of LinkedIn? It’s a social media platform with a twist.

LinkedIn also offers excellent options for those looking to hire employees who don’t want to wait for a sea of faceless applications to pour in. It provides prospective employees unique ways to stand out and gives companies a fresh way to look for new talent. Tap or click for smart things you should be doing with your LinkedIn profile.

Job seekers are looking for a way to outshine their competition, while those looking to hire want to make sure they are finding a good fit. Let’s look at ways to make your LinkedIn profile stand out.

Add a video to your profile for a personal touch

LinkedIn has a feature to highlight your skills: Personal video. Commercial videos and advertisements have become increasingly popular in today’s social media climate, and now you can add one to your LinkedIn profile.

Everyone has a story that led them to their career path, and now you can highlight yours. With this feature, you can add a Cover Story to showcase your specific skills and background while highlighting your personality. If you are looking for a job, this video feature is a great way to shine.

If you are looking to hire someone, this feature allows you to get a personal look into prospective employees’ lives, something you don’t get with just a resume.

Hiring? Stand out as a company

LinkedIn isn’t just great for job seekers. It’s the premier platform for companies to find qualified candidates fast. In fact, it’s the platform we use to find new talent.

But how do you stand out as a company in such a fierce market? There are a few things you can do to outshine other employers.

  • Have a detailed “about us” section. Be sure to answer basic questions like where you are based, what you offer and your company values.
  • Post meaningful content highlighting your brand. Keep it light-hearted and entertaining to draw prospective employees’ eyes.
  • Create a showcase page. This allows you to maintain a LinkedIn-style blog where you highlight your brand daily.

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Haven't logged into LinkedIn lately? 5 reasons you really should be using it

How much do you know about LinkedIn? Sure, you probably understand it’s a social network for professionals, but it’s so much more.

Unlike most social networks that are used to share the latest vacation pictures, LinkedIn was designed for more important reasons. It can help you make connections, share work experience and find or post jobs.

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💊 Who’s in your doc’s pocket? Worried your doctor might not be giving you impartial advice because they’re getting paid by Big Pharma? Look ‘em up in this government database (U.S. only) and see which companies are giving them money. That includes celebrity doctors, too, if you’re feeling nosy!

Google’s deleting inactive Gmail accounts

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Don’t let your digital life vanish! Many tech companies are deleting profiles, and you could lose everything. Here’s why. 

Attn., business owners: Do this! Verify your business with Apple, and your logo will now pop up in the iPhone’s Phone, Mail, Maps and Wallet apps. Start by signing into Apple’s Business Connect page with your Apple account. Add your company info, register for the service, and you’re good to go.

0 screen time

Before age 2, according to a new recommendation by Swedish health authorities. They say kids ages 2 to 5 should have no more than an hour a day of screen time, and it rises to two hours for those ages 6 to 12 and three hours for teens ages 13 to 18. This quote from researchers stopped me in my tracks: “Children’s health is paying the price for tech companies’ profits.”

Reader question: 'What can I use instead of QuickBooks?'

If you’re a business owner, you don’t need us to tell you that running a business is tough. Don’t let QuickBooks and spreadsheets slow you down, making things more complicated than necessary. It’s time to upgrade to our sponsor NetSuite.

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I wasted 36 hours trying to do it myself

So many of the calls, emails, messages and DMs I get are about privacy and security. I can’t remember the last time I had a full day where no one asked me some version of “How do I get all this info about me off the internet?”

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Stop buying movies on Apple, Amazon and others: A new California law will force digital stores to admit you’re licensing content and you don’t actually own it. This is in response to companies like PlayStation and Ubisoft deleting games from players’ accounts after shutting down the servers. 

Six in 10 companies are firing Gen Z workers — often, just months after hiring them fresh out of college. They claim Gen Zers are struggling with communication, professionalism and motivation. Their ex-bosses also say they constantly need direction and have trouble showing up to work.

So much data left exposed for anyone to see

Another day, another monumental data breach. Just because they’re getting more common doesn’t mean you can tune it out. In fact, it’s time to get even more serious about your private information and what’s posted online.

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✔️ It’s a yes from me: A new California bill could stop companies from collecting and sharing personal data with just one click. It’s a royal pain in the butt to opt out of every single site. If the bill passes, it could impact all Americans, since many companies apply the same privacy protections nationwide.

🔐 Change your password: Over 2 million VPN passwords were stolen using malware last year. ExpressVPN, Proton VPN and NordVPN were the biggest targets. The companies weren’t breached; hackers went after users through phishing attacks, keyloggers and credential stuffing. Change your password ASAP if you have a VPN. And remember, “beefstew” as a password isn’t stroganoff.

Car companies are tracking your driving

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Are you a speed racer? You’re being watched. Major car companies are watching how you drive and selling your data to third-party brokers. Plus, discover secret codes to protect your family from scams and why the FCC is cracking down on illegal jammers.

North Korean spies are infiltrating U.S. companies: They’re applying for IT jobs with stolen IDs, peppy cover letters and AI-generated photos (paywall link). The goal is to get access to U.S. company networks and then steal intellectual property or create backdoors for cyberattacks. Always insist on an in-person or video interview and thoroughly vet applicants’ work histories and references.

How to rock a remote interview: Tips for shining over the phone or on video

Remote interviews are the present and the future. Why? The pandemic forced many companies nationwide to move to a remote system nearly overnight.

Now that we’ve been operating remotely for a while, many employers have seen the positive benefits of having remote employees. Increased productivity is one of them.

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It’ll only get worse: More companies than just Uber are now on the surge-pricing bandwagon. Wendy’s announced AI-powered digital menus (then walked it back), and Kroger’s got digital price tags that can change grocery prices in real time. They say it’s to lower prices during peak hours. Start by discounting items close to expiration dates, and I might believe it.

🔍 The “private” mode that wasn’t: Google is deleting $5 billion worth of browsing data illegally collected in Incognito mode. Not because they felt like it — as part of a class-action lawsuit. They kept it under the radar that in Incognito mode, internet providers, website hosts and companies can still see what you’re doing online.

Online tool to stop ads

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Ever feel like online ads know too much about you? I’ll share a simple tool that lets you stop companies from tracking you across the web — and it’s totally free.

Privacy at risk: With companies like Neuralink capturing brain data, biological privacy laws are coming. Colorado is leading the charge, expanding “sensitive data” to include “biological data” under its Consumer Protection Act. But how can lawmakers protect us from tech that’s still a mystery? We know by now we can’t count on tech companies to be transparent about what they collect.