5 LinkedIn frequent mistakes that damage your personal brand

Couple of days ago I looked at my LinkedIn connections profile and activity and  I’ve noticed some mistakes that keep on repeating. Here are my findings:

1. Not completing your profile. From my connections 41.1% have no recommendations and 26.3% have no photo on their LikedIn profile. The truth is that when you search somebody on Google you will get his LinkedIn profile on the first page of the search results. If I have an incomplete profile this is what people will see when they will search for my name and it will surely damage my brand (how can I finalize a project when I cannot finalize my profile). Your LinkedIn profile can enhance your resume with recommendations. Not having them will tell me that your are average at best. Having them will give me insights about who you are and what you love to do.

2. Wrong photo. Not having a photo on your profile make it very hard to identify you. If you are asking to connect I may not remember your name but I may remember the way you look. But if you have an avatar or a picture of yourself but taken from distance I will not be able to recognize you. The consequence may be that at your request I will press on “I don’t know …” you. After several such incidents LinkedIn will not let you to connect with people only if you have their contact information (e-mail). Your profile photo should be a head shot take in a way that I can see very well your face.

3. Headline is the same as the last position. Most of my followers are doing this (96.25%). They copy the last position on the headline field. If I am a recruiter I will already find out this information from the actual job position. What I would like to know is what differentiates you from other people having a similar position. For example if you are a product manager at XYZ I cannot know what makes you special and how are you different from the product manager from ABC. Instead if you say that you are a passionate marketing professional with 10+ year experience, this will stand out in front of the product manager at ABC guy.

4. Not telling the whole story. Most of my connections tell no story. Their profile is just a collection of past job titles and nothing more. As a recruiter I would like to find out what are your past successes, what makes you proud and what you love about what you do. These are your differentiators and by not saying anything about them you miss the opportunity to get noticed. I have seen also people that tell just about their current position and they say nothing about their volunteer work. This is also important. If I meet with you during your volunteer work and I’d like to recommend your work I can’t. I have to select the position for which I am writing the recommendation. If this is missing from your profile I cannot recommend you.

5. Not updating your information. I have moved from company A to B but on my profile you see the same position I had 3 years ago. You also see no activity for the past couple of months. What will somebody think about my brand? That I am lazy, that I don’t care how I look or I don’t care about my brand? I am not saying that you should update your information next day you moved to the new company but you should find time to do this in your first month in the new position. In this way you will make all your connections aware that you moved and your new connections will find you.

What other profile mistakes have you seen on LinkedIn? Drop me a comment below.