There
is no mystery about headhunting. You get an assignment and you start searching.
I usually start by calling around in my network to see if I can identify some
people that would be a great fit for the job. However, a few calls have never
generated sufficient possible candidates to be able to ‘seal the deal’. A large
part of my job is actively identifying potential candidates. As you may have
imagined, Linked In is a vital source of information.
But
why do I decide that one person may be the right one, based on nothing more
than a social media profile…
As
in real life, it is the first impression that counts. And my first impression
is your summary.
It
is the ideal opportunity to show the world who you are, what you value and
where you want to go to. It is your stage to shine, to describe what makes you
stand out from the crowd. Thousands of blogs have been written on how to write
a killer summary so I won’t repeat the obvious.
But
what is more important, your writing style will tell me the way you see the
world around you. Research clearly indicates that the way you talk or write and
the way you construct your sentences is very personal and it reveals your
personality.
It
starts with your choice of words. These choices are spontaneous and unconscious
but they reflect who we are. Key words provide me with insights on
your personality traits. Do you talk about ‘we’ or do you talk about ‘I’? Do
you talk about leadership and empowerment or do you emphasize the measurable
results. Text mining studies have found associations between key words and
major aspects of personality. The more frequently people use those words, the
more likely it is that they display certain personality traits.
Secondly,
it is not only what you are saying that is important, it is also how you are
saying it. There is a huge variety in people’s communication style, even if the
words don’t differ that much. Some summaries exhume energy and enthusiasm while
others are very structured and objective. And then I am not even mentioning the
typo’s, the use of emoticons…
Those
few lines, in the summary of your LinkedIn profile, will make me decide to
approach you or not. So here is a little hint of advice: don’t let anybody else
write that summary (or leave it blank…) you miss out on an excellent
opportunity to impress not only me but anybody who would like to get in touch
with you.
I look
forward to hearing from you,
Isabel
Through a
personalized and tailor-made approach, Ingenium Executive Search aspires to
assist you in attracting the right talent that matches the DNA of your company
Check out
our website http://www.ingenium-search.be
Follow me
on Twitter @IngeniumSearch
