Getting your social media profile ready

You have made the decision to leave, and know what you are looking for. Now it’s time to start getting your social profiles in order.

Why do this before your resume?

1. Social profiles provide a point of verification
2. Being easier to find means that opportunities will start to find you
3. Having a strong personal brand will impact the type of opportunities you are offered
4. People within your network may start to think of you for opportunities

When we talk about getting your social profiles in order, in Australia, LinkedIn is the major platform that
you need to give serious consideration. Virtually every major law firm and recruiter are actively using LinkedIn
to identify and approach lawyers with potential job opportunities. Potential employers (and clients) will
also use your LinkedIn profile as a point of verification and proof of your background and experience.

Here’s what you need to do to be found:

1. Before you do anything, check your LinkedIn privacy settings, as you might choose to not
   broadcast to everyone initially that you are updating your profile – https://www.linkedin.
   com/psettings/privacy. Also here in this section you have the option of notifying recruiters that
   you are open to opportunities.
2. Join the Australian Legal Community LinkedIn group here https://www.linkedin.com/
   groups/129190/– It’s a great way to expand your network within the legal profession.
3. Get your personal LinkedIn profile 100% complete– this makes you 40x more likely to
   appear in searches. Appearing in more searches means more employers and recruitment agencies
   getting in touch with relevant opportunities.
4. Get a professional head shot. Something modern and professional with yourself the only person in
   the photo. Avoid photos where it appears you’re in a social situation (especially your wedding photos
   with an arm draped around you).
5. Ensure your contact details for your LinkedIn profile are up to date so that you are easy to find.
6. Update your headline to something “action based” – a format along the lines of “Qualified legal
   professional helping INDUSTRY achieve RESULTS”.
7. Get your custom LinkedIn profile URL (eg https:// www.linkedin.com/in/eliasrecruit/) – it looks better
   on your resume AND helps your profile appear as the first search result in Google .
8. Consider keywords that you want to appear and then ensure they appear multiple times throughout
   your profile eg. If you would like to appear for the term “family law” then you could repeat this in your
   headline, position title, and in the description for each of your various position descriptions.
9. If you are genuinely committed to changing roles, consider a LinkedIn Job Seeker account which gives
   you InMail to approach potential employers, and gives you a higher visibility when you apply for new roles.
10. Get recommendations and endorsements on your profile – this helps you be found and also provides
    and unofficial reference/testimonial. Recommendations are more valuable than endorsements which can be
    quite random and inaccurate.
11. Connect with peers, industry leaders, relevant LinkedIn groups, and prospective employers’ LinkedIn Company Pages.
12. Draft and post 2-3 blog articles that display your strengths and interests positively.
13. Google search yourself to double check what is appearing when people are looking for you.
14. Check your privacy settings on Facebook and ensure that you aren’t sharing (or being tagged in) posts
    that don’t display you in a professional manner. Also check the photos that you have posted on
    Instagram and consider making your profile private while you are applying for new jobs. You may even
    want to delete the account if there is anything controversial. There are now business especially in
    the US that are paid to review a candidate’s social media presence before an offer is made. Don’t let a
    silly post or dodgy photo cost you a great job.
15. Consider investing in a service such as Brand Yourself which is an online reputation management
    service that can help you clean up your social media presence and fix unwanted posts. Google (https://
    brandyourself.com/).
16. Excuse the plug but you may want to follow the Elias Recruitment LinkedIn page – where we share regular
    legal industry news and job opportunities – (https:// www.linkedin.com/company/elias-recruitment/).

For more career advice contact jason [at] eliasrecruitment.com