Incognito. What a great word and one that is fun to say. The dictionary defines incognito as:
incognito [in-kog-nee-toh, in-kog-ni-toh]
Adjective: having one’s identity concealed, as under an assumed name, especially to avoid notice or formal attentions.
Adverb: with the real identity concealed: to travel incognito.
Noun, plural incognitos: a person who is incognito, the state of being incognito, the disguise or character assumed by an incognito.
There is a lot of incognito in my world. Many are looking for that next great step in their career while they are still employed. They are performing an incognito job search. They do not post their resume on job boards. They communicate with their networks in a selective and professional manner so not to raise suspicion. They even let companies that they contact know that they are performing a confidential search.
Very incognito. Very super-secret, James Bond-ish and slick cool. Bravo incognito people!
But why – oh why, oh why, oh why are you blaring your intent on LinkedIn?
Oh no, you are not posting that you are looking for a job but your profile screams it!
Here are the two most common ways people subconsciously or inadvertently announce to the LinkedIn world they are looking for a job:
- Your summary sounds like a resume
- You make statements that one would make when looking for a job.
LinkedIn is not your resume
If your summary starts with “Dedicated Operations professional with over 15 years’ experience driving blah, blah, blah” your LinkedIn is a resume. Don’t do this. LinkedIn is a one-on-one conversation with the person/persons you want to read your profile. If you talk in ‘resume’ language you kill the conversation – and you sound like you are looking for a job.
When you have a one-on-one conversation with another person, do you speak for yourself in the third person?
“Hi Peter, how are you today?”
“Peter is well today, how are you?”
No! You do not talk like that to other people so why – oh, why, oh why, oh why are you using the third person in your LinkedIn profile? Stop that. It sounds weird and freaky.
Job searching statements
Statements within your LinkedIn profile that tell all your experience and value and how you look forward to bringing that to an employer are job search statements. Great when you are openly looking for a job. Bad when you have a job and are looking for a new job.
Here’s what those statements convey to the reader, in the words of my step-son Jesse, “once a poop-eater, always a poop-eater.” He and I saw my little dog Lexi eat poop in the backyard. A couple of days later she jumped up in his lap to give him kisses. He held her at arm’s length saying she might have eaten poop. I told him that she had been inside with me and had not, he responded with, “I don’t care, once a poop eater, always a poop eater. I’m not getting kisses from her.”
The meaning: if you will blatantly look for a job while employed with your current employer, you will do so when you work for them. It is also disrespectful to your current employer.
The super-easy quick fix
Talk to your audience the same way you would in a business, casual professional environment. Tell them where you are, what you do, how you bring value and how your past contributes to that value.
This will show respect for your company and allow you to cast more light on your skills, abilities and strengths in a positive, business manner. It will also make you sound like a happy employee. No one cherry picks the grumpy or unhappy employees.
Take a few minutes and read your profile – not as yourself, but as a potential employer. Do you see any red flags? If you do, they already have – time to fix them!
Need more help? Here is an article that will be helpful in cleaning up your profile: The 2 Step Process to Write Your Best LinkedIn Profile. Or reach out and let’s talk about how to make you less ‘yelling from the rooftops’ and more James Bond-ish.
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A little about me: I do what I love: help professionals break out of a suffocating job existence and into a career, position and place that renews their brilliance.
As the Founder and Principle of Career Polish, Inc., a national career personal branding firm, I am an Executive Brand Strategist, Resume Writer and Career Coach. I work with individual clients, companies, leadership and teams to identify, strengthen and effectively communicate their brand, engagement, commitment and most importantly – their value – by learning and leveraging personal branding as applied to LinkedIn, resumes, networking, communication, relationship management, presence and influence.
Click here – CareerPolish.com – to find out more about how we can help you.
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