Tips for Selecting a Good LinkedIn Profile Picture

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

I hate talking about LinkedIn photos – as an HR professional it is upsetting to me that one's picture is increasingly being taken into account during the hiring process. My distaste (and the law) aside, it is a reality that your profile photo will play some role in the hiring process. With that in mind, I think it is time to resurface some tips for selecting an effective LinkedIn profile photo.

Here are some things to consider when selecting your LinkedIn (or other) profile picture:

Don’t crop a group photo – You may think that the photo of you with your arm around your buddies at a football game is the best picture of you. Your team won, you look genuinely happy, and the lighting is really good. That may all be true, but when that picture is cropped to be you and the shoulder of a friend, it’s going to look silly on your LinkedIn profile.

Go as high quality as possible – Pixelated, low-quality photos make terrible profile pictures. You may be striking just the perfect balance of professional and approachable, but if the quality is bad, it doesn’t matter. Always upload the highest quality picture possible.

Avoid the flash shadow – You’ve seen this picture. Someone standing in front of a cubical wall looking like a deer in the headlights with a horrible shadow behind their head. This kind of photo could make a nobel laureate look like an amateur. Good lighting matters – a lot.

Don't use a wedding photo – Ever.

In a perfect world, your LinkedIn profile picture would have zero relevance. But the fact is that readers will make immediate judgments based solely on your photo, so take it seriously. Plus, you've likely got a camera in your pocket that delivers the kind of quality photos once available only to professionals, so if you don't have a great picture to choose from, grab a friend, brush your hair, and go find some nice natural light.

Be Strategic With Your Resume

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

\When developing a new resume for a client, I always take time to learn about any ideas they might have for the general approach. Are they entering into the process with a desire for a creative resume (something I encourage clients to reconsider)? Have they seen a resume that really resonated with them? It is important that I am aware of each client’s expectations and desires (or lack thereof) so that I can not only deliver the most effective possible, but also educate them when their expectations don’t align with accepted best practices (I’ll point you to that above link regarding creative resumes).

Recently, during the consultation process, a client mentioned “the rule of threes” – a recommendation that each position on a resume have exactly three accomplishments. I shared that while I think this is good advice in general – any guideline that recommends speaking to accomplishments on a resume is on the right track – I thought the approach was not strategic enough. My concern with a rule like “the rule of threes” is that it tends to give the same “weight” to every position on the resume, which is just not smart. Instead, I recommended that we lean more into recent roles and minimize the focus on older positions and less relevant experience, which is best accomplished by providing more accomplishments for recent positions and reducing the amount of information associated with earlier positions.

Regardless of your situation, make sure that you are being as strategic as possible when it comes to creating your new resume.

How To Find the Right Career

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

I receive a number of e-mails from people expressing the increased need for work/life balance. This is a great point and allows me the opportunity to expand on this topic.

While I regularly make it very clear that you should find work that resonates and feels right, your job/career should never define you. I know that may sound strange coming from a Career Development and HR guy, but indulge me for a second.

The best jobs and careers are an extension of your strengths and values with (hopefully) a heavy dose of passion in the mix. Because that's the case – that fulfilling work is a natural extension of the best of you – your life will never be defined by your work. If you do the heavy lifting that's required to figure out who you are and what you should be doing with your life, work/life balance will rarely, if ever, be out of sync.

I want to ask you to address some questions that I've posed here before. Consider the following in 2017:

What changes do you want to make?

What will bring you more career satisfaction?

What necessary "next move" have you been delaying?

The number of people I meet in unfulfilling jobs/careers is alarming. There’s a huge price to pay when that’s the case. For one, unless you’re feeling fulfilled and in sync, that little voice in your head will always be nagging you – reminding you that you aren’t feeling so hot about your career. There’s a solution, though, that helps to quiet that nagging voice. Pursue fulfillment.

You see, if you are at the very least pursuing your purpose, you are “on purpose” and the voice is dulled. Many people view the job dilemma as an either/or sort of thing. You’re happy or you’re not. That’s what keeps people from taking steps forward. Tiny steps, even, that get them closer and closer to feeling in sync.

Fulfilling work that will resonate with you is within your reach. It starts by taking one step at a time. I’ve worked hard – and even faced a career refocusing – to become an expert and to differentiate myself within the field of Human Resources and Career Development. It wasn’t always easy, and I could have chosen to stay in upwardly mobile but ultimately unfulfilling jobs from my previous career track. My life is much richer all the way around because of the career shift I pursued.

Work/life balance starts with a happy, fulfilled you.

That's my wish for you in 2017.

You still have 11 months to make this your best year ever. Get started now!

Do I Need a Resume?

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

From my inbox:

Q: I was just downsized after 14 years with the same company. Job-searching has changed a lot since the last time I was in the game. Is a resume still important?

A: This website is full of information addressing why a resume matters, but I'll direct you to a previous post that does a deep dive into the topic of why an outstanding resume matters.

Relocating To a New Country

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

I work with a lot of international clients who are looking to make a move from one country to another. In many cases, these clients are not only facing the challenges associated with a typical job search but – in the case of individuals attempting to move to the States from abroad, for example – are also looking for an employer to host them (i.e. deal with securing necessary visas). If you think landing a new job is tough, try asking an employer to jump a bunch of government hurdles in order to bring you on.

The good news is that it is not impossible to relocate. People manage it all the time. However, if you are going to get an employer to take on the burden and risk associated with hosting you, you need to make it clear why you are unique – why the employer can't find someone locally who can fill the position (with much less hassle). And this is were new job search documents come in. A recent project is a perfect example…

I worked with an IT Director for a UK-based company's outposts in the Middle East. I subsequently learned that she secured an IT Management position with a corporate training services company here in the States. Of course, the job search documents we developed played just a small role in her success – her unique technical skill set and language competencies made her a very attractive candidate. However, her new job search documents helped to facilitate the process by outlining the unique value that she represented in a very compelling way. In other words, she looked like a candidate with no equal.

If you are attempting a major relocation, get in touch. We can work together to create some amazing job search documents that are sure to help with the transition.

Listing Awards On Your Resume

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

If you've got awards that you can include on your resume (e.g. corporate recognition, military honors, academic awards, etc.), excellent (and congratulations!). Awards and honors are great ways to differentiate yourself and leverage the recognition of others to highlight your success. However, there are some things you should be aware of when deciding when and how to include awards and honors on your resume.

Share details – Your Somebody's Name Award of Excellence or STAR Award for Outstanding Achievement are meaningless to readers without context. When listing these kinds of awards on your resume, make sure to provide readers with some critical context, such why you specifically earned the award. Did you exceed sales goals? Did you over-deliver on a project? Did you optimize a process? The reason why you earned an award is far more important to readers than the name of the award.

Keep them recent – Honors and awards can have diminishing returns, so consider the amount of time that has passed since you received the recognition and consider allowing older awards to age off of your resume. This is especially important if you are listing older awards and no recent awards, which can make it appear that your best days are behind you

Provide context – A lot of resumes include an Awards and Honors section (or something similar). That is fine, but I recommend listing your awards in line with the experience that they are related to. This provides readers with more context and can help to keep awards from feeling disconnected from the rest of your experience (in the minds of readers).

You + 2017 = Let's Do This!

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

Happy New Year!

Is this the year you're going to take your career to the next level? 

Click around the website to see how Tandem Powered might help. Be sure to take a look at the enhanced Tandem's Toolkit. It might be exactly what you need to kick off your career goals in the right way.

Best of 2016

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

Every December I like to go through a year of posts and highlight those topics that – based on the feedback I've received – readers found most helpful. This year all 5 of the posts have a common theme; they are focused on addressing and, in many cases, debunking, fears that a lot of people share about career development and the job search process. Here they are:

How do I keep my employer from knowing that I am job hunting?

Purposeful job hopping

Your longevity could work against you

Everyones resume is a mess

What interviewers are really thinking

As we close the year out, I hope that you can move into 2017 feeling empowered and enthusiastic about your professional life. If you need help taking control of your career or are ready to take action, I'm just an email away!

Happy Holidays! See you back here in 2017.

The Gift of Career Fulfillment

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

Everyone loves a gift card, but don't you think they would appreciate career fulfillment even more? while you can't gift someone career fulfillment, you can play a key role in helping someone you care about secure a new position or move further down their career path.

When pondering gifts for friends and family, don't forget about the power of new job search documents and/or career development services. To help make the decision easier, I am offering a promotion through the end of the month: When you purchase Tandem's Toolkit or Tandem's Essentials as a gift, I'll give you 10% off. Just be sure to mention this blog post.

I have had the pleasure of working with many clients who were gifted career development and resume writing services. Those clients are always over-the-top grateful and leave with a renewed sense of confidence and excitement.

This holiday season, consider giving a gift that could change the trajectory of someone's life.

Happy Holidays!

Tandem's Toolkit

You’re viewing an archived post. This post was originally published by The Change Laboratory, which is now part of No Vacation Required — our platform for Everyday Fulfillment. While this content is archived, it’s still full of solid advice and timeless insights.

---

A few years ago, I introduced a new and improved Tandem's Toolkit.  It's surpassed all of my expectations and has become one of my most popular offerings.

One of the hallmarks of my service – what I believe is a huge differentiator – is a commitment to creating a “best in class” experience. That means, in addition to staying on top of what’s going on in the world of Human Resources and Career Development, I want to ensure that I am always providing the highest quality, most relevant services and tools.

Over the years that has meant regularly refining my approach to HR consulting – striving to offer the tools and advice that can help to make organizations the best employers that they can be. On the Career Development / Resume Writing side, it has meant continually tweaking my process so that it provides the most value for individuals on a quest to find and maintain fulfilling careers. It’s about a lot more than a new resume, and clients love it.

Any top-notch HR professional will tell you that a resume is a critical piece of the job search puzzle, but only one piece. As surprising as it may be to many, I am regularly saying that an outstanding resume is only a prerequisite, a starting point, a foundation. It’s the beginning of what should a be a multi-pronged approach that moves you from “looking for a job” to “managing a career.”

Hello Tandem's Toolkit....

The foundation of the package is my most popular suite of job search documents – Tandem's Essentials.

In addition to a powerful resume and a compelling, individualized cover letter template, Tandem’s Essentials includes:

• A personalized resume follow-up letter template, allowing you to send a targeted letter after each resume submission.

• A sharp, LinkedIn-ready companion to your resume – ready for posting on LinkedIn or other boards of interest.

Tandem's Toolkit  also includes a favorite of Tandem Powered clients: YouFinder. It's raising the bar in terms of clients' preparedness to take their careers to the next level.

YouFinder – an easy to complete, 20-minute assessment – opens the door to an entirely new way of looking at yourself and your career by bringing to light details of your Type.

Now, beyond providing information about their Type, I'm providing YouFinder participants with an enhanced written analysis that includes information on strengths and individualized tips / areas for exploration (information the formerly was provided in extra coaching calls).

If there's anything I've learned in the last decade+ of doing this work, it's that 1) knowing your strengths and natural talents is key for a successful career (and life!) and that 2) most clients are not in touch with their strengths and natural talents.

The contradiction between #1 and #2 keeps many careers from flourishing.

And, if you do decide to add on coaching calls, I've implemented a best-in-class approach for providing clients with useful tools that will help them throughout their careers.

---

Make this the year to energize your career! Get in touch for further details about Tandem's Toolkit and other service offerings that might meet your needs.