Friends Don't Let Friends Run Around With Skinny LinkedIn Profiles

Posted on October 06, 2014 by Tajuana Ross CPLC, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

So, you have this “friend”. And your friend has a profile on LinkedIn.

They obviously created it back in 2012 and they haven’t touched it since then. You’re guessing this for many reasons, but what stands out to you is that they don’t have a profile picture, the last position they listed was 2 jobs ago and they only have 14 connections.

Since all of that evidence falls “above the fold” – the section of the screen which one can view without scrolling down – you didn’t even bother reading the rest of your friend’s profile. And quite frankly, your friend gave you permission to stop reading and close their profile because the part that you did read sucked.

Now, this is your friend, right? So, if you had this reaction to their profile, imagine what a potential client might think. Or a hiring manager, or an investor, or a supplier, etc…

Whether you like it or not, people are looking at you on LinkedIn. Invited or uninvited, it’s where everyone goes to glean any professional insight about you. It’s where everyone goes to learn more about your message. And it’s where people end up making judgments about your capabilities. Your LinkedIn profile speaks volumes and it can make or break your career goals. It holds a lot of weight in our online culture, so what you put out there shapes the perception of others.

So how do you help your friend with their skinny profile? Here are 3 improvements to suggest:

1) You can encourage them to add a professional photo. Not just because LinkedIn says it increases their viewership by 7 times, but because you know that LinkedIn is about networking. Networking requires human interaction. One of the most basic, yet most important aspects of human interaction is eye contact. In our culture, it’s the starting point for any relationship. So, hear me loud and clear on this one – YOU CAN’T MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH A FACELESS ICON! You’ve heard the old adage – the eyes are the window to the soul. Having no picture leaves people wondering, “Have you no soul”???

Here are just some of the other responses I’ve heard people say about the faceless on LinkedIn:

“They must have something to hide.”

“Maybe it’s a fake profile.”

“I can’t trust someone I can’t see.”

“I wonder why they don’t have a picture. They’re so good looking.”

And my personal favorite reaction – “Well, duh, she has fuchsia hair.” (In all fairness, this is no reason for not having a profile picture – your next client might really dig fuchsia).

But, to date, I’ve never heard anything positive said about the faceless lurking amongst us.

2) You can recommend that your friend actually crafts a headline. You see, if you don’t customize your headline, that verbiage automatically defaults to your most recent job title (or 2 jobs ago, in your friend’s case). Now, let me tell you – A JOB TITLE IS NOT A HEADLINE. In fact, it’s counterproductive because it throws you into the same category as everybody else who is a Business Account Executive, or an Administrative Assistant, or an HR Partner or whatever your title is. The fact that your friend never customized their headline is also a dead giveaway that they are a LinkedIn novice.

Look at it this way – something causes you to buy a magazine, or click on a Craigslist ad or even read a particular LinkedIn post. What causes you to do that? You are attracted to the headline. Something drew you in. And your profile headline has the same purpose – if effective, it causes someone to want to read the rest of your profile. In a sea of 310+ million professionals, that headline is one of the main factors in helping you stand out (ahem, I mean your friend).

3) To help your friend get on the right track, you can remind them that, again, LinkedIn is for networking. If your friend created their profile 2 years ago and they still only have 14 connections, they have missed the boat (and they’re probably going through life working too hard).

The number of connections your friend has can persuade or dissuade the general public by implying just how helpful they might be. With only a hand full of connections someone could assume that your friend is either new to the professional world, not well respected, not a people-person, or any number of other detrimental (and possibly false) judgements. On the other hand, someone who is well connected has the tendency to be seen as a subject matter expert, a leader in their field and held in somewhat high regard by many. In any case, that number evokes some sort of reaction.

If your friend is in sales, a potential client will view their 14 connections as a reason to buy from a competitor. If your friend is a lawyer, a potential client will be concerned that their 14 connections doesn’t cast a wide enough net to handle the case. If your friend is a job seeker, their 14 connections will tell hiring managers to be skeptical about their ability to lead or influence others.

So, are you the kind of friend that would alert me when I have spinach in my teeth? Would you tell me when my fly is down? What if I left home and forgot to remove that last sponge roller from the back of my hair? If you’re the kind of friend who would tell me that the garlic I had over lunch was still lingering at 4:00, then surely, you could nudge me in the direction of a better LinkedIn profile.

Now, if you feel some trepidation around approaching your friend with this sensitive matter, feel free to introduce them to me and I’ll handle that for you. But, if this is truly your “friend”, don’t let them run around with a skinny LinkedIn profile. You now have 3 very simple adjustments that you could recommend. And all 3 are above-the-fold, so if those were the only adjustments your friend made, they would be impactful. After all, since you know first-hand how beneficial LinkedIn has been for your own progress, you want to be a good friend and share the wealth.

Because friends don’t let friends run around with skinny LinkedIn profiles!

Happy Linking…