The story of Kelly and John is a Mars vs Venus kind of story – but it’s not about an office romance.

Kelly and John are former colleagues of mine.  They are both talented professionals and truly good humans.  And both are at career inflection points, trying to decide what’s next.  During recent conversations with each of them, the discussion turned to personal branding on their LinkedIn profile pages.  We all understand how important it is that we represent ourselves well on LinkedIn, especially if we are in or heading towards significant career changes. I was curious about their profiles, so I took a quick look.

Here’s what Kelly’s profile said:

My company supports customers by delivering (insert technology solution). We help customers achieve their goals through (insert competitive positioning statement).  We help alleviate complexity by partnering with (insert partner names). I act as a communicator, advisor, facilitator, and project manager supporting the workstreams that must intersect to drive results and reduce complexity.

Wait… what?  Is this Kelly’s LinkedIn profile or the company’s LinkedIn page? Why doesn’t Kelly talk about herself until the fourth sentence?!?!

Kelly is a strong professional woman.  She doesn’t need to describe her company first; Kelly needs to talk about HER strengths and what she can offer a potential employer.  If someone wants to learn about the company, there’s plenty of information out there.  Kelly’s page needs to be about Kelly.

Here’s what John’s profile said:

I am a proven technology leader with extensive experience in (insert his area of expertise) across multiple companies. I have a passion for business development and competitive strategies and expertise in (insert list of 6-8 areas of complementary to his primary area of expertise, followed by statements that incorporate the results of his work).

Down in the experiences section, John lists the names of the companies and his roles. But this is JOHN’S profile, so John describes himself first in each and every experience.

Kelly and I ended up doing a review of her profile, with an in-depth discussion about how to make it stronger.  There were some key points of our conversation that apply to anyone updating their LinkedIn profile.  If it’s time to make some changes in how you brand yourself on LinkedIn (and potentially in your resume) – read on!

1. You are the star of your profile page. Use your page to market the thing you know more about than anyone else- yourself.  And YOU get to reach into your roles and experiences and decide how you want to tell YOUR story.
2. Brag a little.  I know, it’s hard.  Do it anyway.  Use clear, strong language to tell the story of you, and don’t shy away from power words and descriptions.  Make sure you’re using language that others can understand – don’t use a bunch of company acronyms that only mean something to your co-workers.
3. Talk about the big rocks.  Focus on your accomplishments and frame them with impact. How did moving this rock matter?  Metrics are ideal, but statements without metrics are totally fine when they show how you impacted customers, colleagues, stakeholders, the business, etc.  Keep it at a high level, and don’t go into great detail about every role you’ve had since you started working.  
4. Plagiarize.  Okay, not exactly. Don’t go stealing phrases directly off other people’s profiles.  Instead, go look at the profiles of some people you admire and respect with similar backgrounds and search for ideas you can leverage to tell your story with power.  Don’t ignore the pages that aren’t well written – those will show you what NOT to do.
5. Phone a friend.  Have a trusted colleague or friend review your page. Once you feel great about your profile, get feedback. Then, consider the best way to incorporate that feedback into your profile.  But do remember, it’s your page and your story, so take other people’s opinions as exactly what they are – feedback, not mandates.

Back to Kelly and John, to Mars and Venus… I don’t want to make this blog about women vs men. However, it’s important to acknowledge that gender dynamics do come into play.  There is a difference in how women describe themselves as compared to male peers.  John has no problem “bragging” about himself through strong clear compelling language.  I know from personal experience, from many conversations with Kelly (and so many other women) that doing this can be really, really hard.  But it’s so worth the effort and the discomfort. 

Bonus tip: try pretending that you’re writing about a colleague who you respect and admire instead of writing about yourself. Kelly and I ideated this approach during our conversation.  She’s going to try it out, see if it helps her re-shape the story of herself.

There are so many resources to help you write a great LinkedIn profile page.  Some of them focus on “how to” – like how to update and prioritize your Skills, how to ask for Recommendations, etc.  There are services that will write you a kick ass LinkedIn profile, and even LinkedIn Learning sessions about how to optimize your presence overall.

My suggestions above aren’t meant to replace any of the expert advice out there about how to make your LinkedIn profile great.   But as you’re following that expert advice, think about the story of Kelly and John. The ideas here should be complementary food for thought and perspective about how to approach your profile page and tell your story. 

Remember, nobody knows you better than you!