Spell your name wrong in LinkedIn -

Spell your name wrong in LinkedIn - Today, my colleague Dan Schawbel tweeted a link to an article by Scott Kirsner with information about LinkedIn that makes some interesting new suggestions and tips for LinkedIn users. Ive been writing about LinkedIn for some time, but found a few great tips from Kirsners sources, Lee Hower (part of the founding team of LinkedIn, reporting to the chief executive) and David Gowel (called a Jedi knight of LinkedIn.) Whether or not you use these tips, be sure that you optimize your profile to include all of your previous jobs and keywords that will help people find you! Some points they suggest in the piece that I have not written about (points theirs; commentary in my words): Spell your name wrong. How many people are searching for you, but spelling your name wrong? OMally suggests including typical misspellings of your name in the Summary section. My suggestion if you have changed your name after marriage or have a nic name many people know (or used to know) you as, include those as well. Take advantage of the toolbars. While I dont think that job seekers should spend an excessive amount of time searching for jobs on job boards, I thought this was a great reminder from the article: Add the free LinkedIn Browser Toolbar (available at the bottom of any LinkedIn page, to the right of the Tools heading). If you go to job-hunting sites like Craigslist, CareerBuilder, or Monster and youre looking at a job at a specific company, the toolbar tells you the number of people in your network who work at that company, OMalley says. You can also see lists of those people who might be willing to help call attention to your resume once youve sent it in. I love this idea! Its the perfect combination of networking and job board searching! Although, I like to advise clients to research and identify organizations rather than specific jobs, this is an enhancing option for job board fans. LinkedIn can replace business cards. Theres a tiny link called View/Edit contact info that is in the right column of the screen for people who are connected to you. Did you know that you can actually save information about your contacts and use LinkedIn as a rolodex of sorts? Automated searches. Did you know that you can track people being hired or leaving a company? (Stealthy!) Gowel says, After youve done a search (regular or advanced), just click the link that says Save this search. LinkedIn will email you information weekly or monthly! Stealthy vs. public prowling. You may or may not realize that LinkedIn tracks who views your profile. Well there is a way for you to avoid being tracked. The post notes, Click Account and Settings in the upper right corner of most pages, then under Privacy Settings choose Profile Views. You can select: Show my name and headline Only show my anonymous profile characteristics, such as industry and title Dont show users that Ive viewed their profile This can be useful if you are stalking profiles, but think carefully about this optionThere may be reasons that it would actually HELP you if someone knows you have reviewed their profile. For example, if you are going to be interviewed and you review the profile of your interviewer. I think it is a good thing for that person to know you are doing your homework! There are other tips, but these were a few that I havent shared in the past! Read the entire post HERE. Need an optimized LinkedIn profile? Some tips to get your search moving forward? Learn how I can help with your job hunt. //