"Make Sure LinkedIn Profile is an Asset not an Albatross Around Your Neck" - 08/21/19 Edition
Stephen Says Column

 Dear Stephen:

 
 I am an HR director for a furniture manufacturer. I lead a relatively small team consisting of one person dealing with employee benefits and another who is an internal recruiter. I have been an HR specialist for many years but only recently have moved into the furniture industry. We all have subscriptions to BoF, and I have come to love reading your column because most of the workplace questions are issues I deal with every day. I’ve found them certainly applicable from an HR perspective, but they are just as useful because many of the questions apply to me personally.
 
 I have been learning that “furniture” is a unique industry when it comes to HR and recruiting. Very few candidates we hire (at least since I have been here) are from outside the industry. Sales managers seem to simply want people already working for their direct competitors. Nobody wants to hire someone outside of furniture. It makes sense — everyone seems to know one another, and my colleagues pride themselves on their industry knowledge.
 
 Nothing personal to you or any of your readers, but “furniture” is not brain surgery. I understand there is certainly inside knowledge that can be helpful, but it is not something totally inaccessible to a layperson.
 
 Something I take issue with in furniture that did not seem to pop up as much in my previous industry, pharmaceutical sales, is that we recruited a lot from LinkedIn. We used LinkedIn as a tool in finding new candidates and as a means of comparing two candidates, comparing a candidate to people in similar positions and comparing candidates to their resume. In doing this, I have found most profiles are simply not up to date. Even more often, the profile will not match the resume. Sometimes it is big things that are frankly untrue. For example, I have dealt with several candidates who are recently unemployed and looking for new work, whose LinkedIn profiles still claim they’re at their old position. Even the picture sometimes bothers me. A LinkedIn picture should be professional and simple, not a cropped old picture a candidate found on Facebook. Having no picture on LinkedIn is a deal breaker for me. Finally, they should make their current job the meatiest part of the profile. I don’t really care what you did two jobs ago, I only care to know the company and title. Not much else.
 
 How do you feel about my pet peeves? Am I off on anything?
 Signed, 
 HR LinkedIn Protocol
 

 Dear HR,

 
 With the exception of judging someone on the way they look on their LinkedIn picture, it’s hard for me to argue with anything you have stated. Especially since you are in HR. You have even shared something important which I guessed to be true — a lot of hiring managers do in fact judge candidates on the way they look in that photo.
 
 Here is the thing: You are an HR professional, so your criteria are your prerogative and really the only thing that counts. I have discussed in this column how important it is for a candidate’s LinkedIn Profile to match their resume, and you are right that candidates who are unemployed do often avoid adding the end date to their most recent position because they believe it looks better to retain the perception of employment. These candidates do not realize that if you lie on your resume or LinkedIn profile, chances are you will be perceived as someone who lies on their expense accounts or sales projections and therefore will be rejected for character reasons. It is also true that having a photograph on your LinkedIn which is unprofessional, overtly sexual, featuring others or even just wearing sunglasses may be a big factor in turning away potential employers. In other words, make the photograph look like the professional you will be on the job. It is not the same photo you use on Tinder or Instagram.
 
 Here are some other Viscusi tips for LinkedIn which I would like to add to your already sound advice:
 
 1) Include your personal email in case someone does not use LinkedIn mail and your phone number in case they want to reach you fast about a job.
 
 2) Treat your LinkedIn profile like you would your resume, meaning always have someone else other than yourself proof it for you. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. We could all use another set of eyes to read our profiles. Not to critique the profile, simply to be sure the diction, grammar and spelling are all correct. A simple typo is the fastest way to get passed over.
 
 3) Keep it honest and accurate. Expect to be asked questions on what is on the profile, so be able to answer those questions without finding yourself twisted in a lie.
 
 The bottom line is a hiring manager may lose your resume and then go to your LinkedIn profile. Or more important as you pointed out, most HR people use LinkedIn to recruit as it is a less expensive way to find quality people. So have your profile up to date. I have a personal gripe as well where I like to see the logo of your previous and or current employers uploaded on your profile. It just makes the profile look cleaner and more cohesive.
 
 HR, it seems you are really no longer a newbie to furniture HR, and you have figured it all out pretty quickly. You are correct in saying this isn’t brain surgery, but it is an industry with a rich heritage of strong brands, strong design and a nice group of people who love it. So welcome, you are already an industry insider.
 
 Stephen
 
 You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at: StephenSays@bellow.press
 
 Questions selected to be answered, will appear in this column. Please use the Subject: Stephen Says for all emails. Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of The Viscusi Group, global executive recruiters located in New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter @stephenviscusi. Like Stephen on Facebook and follow him on LinkedIn.