LGBTCareerLink T2: Professional Profiles

Tutorial 2: Job Hunting Features: Creating your professional profile : 

Tutorial 2: Job Hunting Features: Creating your professional profile http://www.lgbtcareerlink.com LGBTCareerLink Hotline: 415.694.6535 Julie Beach, M.A. Associate Director, Career Development Services Out & Equal Workplace Advocates 155 Sansome Street, Suite 450 San Francisco, CA 415.694.6538 Welcome to Out & Equal’s LGBTCareerLink Linking diversity-friendly companies with the LGBT workforce since 2009 Updated Spring, 2010

Exercise: You are a corporate recruiterConsider the two profiles on the following pageBased on only their profile, which person would you contact? : 

Exercise: You are a corporate recruiterConsider the two profiles on the following pageBased on only their profile, which person would you contact?

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Brief tip about profile photos NO YES ! Plain background ! Headshots Only ! Business Dress ! Expression says, “I’m ready for work.”

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Only registered users can use job hunting features of the site. Registration takes two minutes. See Tutorial 1 if you need registration help. Once you have registered, log in. To the left of your screen are your controls. This tutorial will cover features of creating your profile.

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Never copy and paste from an MS Word document into the content editor. Doing this can result in poorly formatted and even illegible profiles in certain versions of browsers. Always copy from Word first into Notepad and then from Notepad into the content editor. Notepad is located in the Accessories folder of the Windows Start Menu Use the controls at the top of the content editor to format your content It’s a good idea to save your content in a Notepad file and re-use it. Entering Content

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As you edit your profile, I will cover only content boxes that can cause confusion. Otherwise, the boxes are self-explanatory. Content for what type of work do you seek ? should be very specific. It is best to use an actual job title or occupation title here. State what you want, not what you don’t want. Contents appear below your profile picture. Industry: A drop down menu. Select the industry you have worked in or the industry you would like to work in. Or, leave it blank. Desired Job: State an occupation or job title. Contents appear with your resume in the resume databases employers are using to find candidates. Contact Preferences: Selecting email means email on the site. If you use this as your preference, you must log in and check your LGBTCareerLink email. For your own security it’s a good idea to use this as your first means of contact before giving out your personal email.

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Summary of Qualifications: This is your chance to attract an employer and make them want to look further at your profile and resume. It’s a good idea to write this off line after you have perfected your summary. Let other’s see it and give you feedback. Ensure that it is written 100% perfectly including grammar and spelling. Save your work and re-use it so that all your online profiles are consistent Either type your text in or copy and paste it in from Notepad. Then use the formatting features at the top of the box to format.

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Interests Keep them work related and professional

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User Picture For does and don’t about profile pictures, please review http://www.lgbtcareerlink.com/resource/upload-your-professional-profile-photo Make sure the photo you post here shows an employer you are ready for work. Out of focus pictures don’t reflect well on candidates. You do not need a professional headshot. Any digital camera and a friend can create a photo for you. Make sure you read the guidelines at the above link

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Resume Resumes can be MS Word documents or PDF’s Use Browse to locate the file on your hard drive and select it. Click the upload box to upload it. HTML in your documents will trip the spam filter and are not allowed. Note: indicate only a phone number and email address on your resume. For privacy concerns leave out any other identifying information. This is considered common practice now.

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Indicate at the top of your resume a phone and email contact. It’s acceptable not to include a home phone and address for security. Never put names and contact information of your references on your resume. References should be provided only when you are a final candidate for a specific job-and prep your references always ! USE THEM ONLY WHEN YOU ARE A FINALIST Use professional-appearing email address such as your first initial and last name. Never use an email address that will be used by employers that contains a personal identity, a pet name, a nick name. Be sure the phone number you give is always answered in a business-like manner. Make sure you have a professional sounding voice message for callers. Profiles with resumes appear first in employer’s candidate database results. Profiles without resumes and incomplete profiles appear last in the line up. Only profiles with resumes can be considered for Featured Candidate on the home page or in our e-newsletter CareerTalk. A word about your resume

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In these fields it’s a good idea to show your most recent employer and your education. If you want people to contact you at an email or phone number you’ve listed in your profile, your privacy settings should be set to public. It’s a good idea to have a professional appearing email account that you use only for job hunting.

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This concludes Out & Equal LGBTCareerLink’s Tutorial 2: creating your professional profile http://www.lgbtcareerlink.com LGBTCareerLink Hotline: 415.694.6535 jbeach@outandequal.org Julie Beach, M.A. Associate Director, Career Development Services Out & Equal Workplace Advocates 155 Sansome Street, Suite 450 San Francisco, CA 415.694.6538