Tom Cruise said it in his 1996 movie, Jerry Maguire. “Help me help you.” Recruiters want to connect the right people with the right opportunities. When searching LinkedIn, recruiters and sourcers use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, etc.) and KEY WORDS to narrow the potential candidate pools that they identify. KEY WORDS they look for are typically nouns, not verbs. These KEY WORDS tend to be titles, industry jargon, functional vernacular as well as those that describe operational scope or size.

Most every field within a LinkedIn profile is searchable by keyword by LinkedIn users. The graphic shows  fields within a profile where key word optimized sentences can be placed. The Summary and Position Description fields allow for the most characters. An underused field that few realize exists is Interests which can hold a thousand characters.  Also searchable is a recently added field called Skills. Users can add up to 25 skills (61 characters are allowed per skill). The Skills field can be found as a drop down selection on the main LinkedIn navigation panel More.

Is your LinkedIn profile optimized for increased “searchability”?

Working through a “Listening To The Market” exercise may help. This is a multiple step research and matching process that involves:

• Listening to the market
• Analyzing data
• Identifying  recurring themes for employer wants and needs
• Matching and aligning experience and expertise to identified themes
• Transferring the research to create a market ready profile

One method of listening to the market is to utilize a few vertical job search engines such as Simply Hired or Indeed to find posted positions on the internet. By gathering a sampling of positions and analyzing them, recurring themes can be identified. These often include  industry terms, standardized job titles and detailed terms within functional experience requirements.

Some Good News…

LinkedIn recently reported that they have enhanced their search interface capabilities and LinkedIn users can now search for companies not only by attributes such as location, industry, and size (or product for that matter) but also by how the user is connected. Users can now filter a set of results to include only those companies where they have a direct connection or broaden a search to include companies in the users extended network.

But…

This increased functionality is excellent news for those searching and those hoping to be found, however, since the enhancement is relatively new,  few may be utilizing it. Those wishing to be more “searchable” should still edit and make enhancements to the experience section of their profiles.

Here is an example of a non optimized profile entry for a human resources generalist at William Wrigley Company:

An optimized profile might instead contain a more traditional job title and be more descriptive. Here is an example:

By utilizing a paragraph that describes the company, as well as a second paragraph that describes scope and responsibility, industry and functional vernacular can be used and this might just contain the keywords that could prove to be  differentiators to a recruiter who is comparing hundreds of profiles.

Make it Easy for the Recruiter to Connect With You..

Edit your account settings in LinkedIn to include your name and email address under the box “What advice would you give to users considering contacting you”. You may wish to create an email address that is specific for LinkedIn for this purpose. If you do so, make sure to visit LinkedIn’s settings section to associate the email address with your LinkedIn account.

“Help me help you” by creating a robust, searchable profile that contains key descriptors reflective of your background and industry experience.

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Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

The company enjoys a reputation for manufacturing products that are extremely reliable, safe, eco-friendly and of the highest quality. The North America subsidiary operates a 140,000 square foot facility that employs over 200 people. Manufacturing operations are heavy in bulk/batch processing and include formulation, blending, mixing and packaging utilizing a variety of machinery, precision equipment and computer automation. This is a highly leveraged role reporting directly to the President of the company.

Interested? Find out more about the positions on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

Interested? Find out more about the positions on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company
]]> http://grantalexanderus.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/new-assignment-field-application-engineer-%e2%80%93-oregon-or-california/feed/ 0 grantalexanderus high tech semi http://grantalexanderus.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/new-assignments-rancho-bernardo-california/ http://grantalexanderus.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/new-assignments-rancho-bernardo-california/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:28:32 +0000 Matt Kerr http://grantalexanderus.wordpress.com/?p=173 Continue reading →]]> Grant Alexander has been selected to help Soitec (SOI.PA) bring aboard key talent as the company builds a new factory near San Diego to produce its concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) panels for use in a 150-megawatts power plant in Southern California. The factory will be located in Rancho Bernardo and will have an annual production capacity of 200 MW, and will supply other utility-scale projects in addition to the Imperial Valley power plant. The company’s CPV solar power systems are more efficient and perform better than conventional solar systems, particularly at locations with extremely hot ambient temperatures and dry weather conditions.

Grant Alexander has successfully recruited key members of the pioneer team. We are looking for additional key talent in the areas of procurement, accounting, human resources and information technology – manufacturing execution systems (factory automation).

Interested? Find out more about the positions on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

Interested? Find out more about the position on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

ICCNexergy™ designs and manufactures custom battery packs, chargers, and power systems for portable devices, stationary backup power, and motive power. With more than 40 years of experience, the company is an established worldwide leader with deep roots in designing and manufacturing custom rechargeable power systems including lithium ion battery packs, battery chargers, docking stations, and highly efficient power supplies. Their partners include major OEMs in the medical data server/storage, prosumer electronics, safety/security, data acquisition, and military/aerospace industries.

The Regional Sales Manager will report to the Vice President, Sales and will be responsible for developing and building customer relationships in a large geographic territory with twenty or more accounts. The Regional Sales Manager has responsibility for a territory of $5 million and a few major customers ($1MM each).

Interested? Find out more about the position on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

ICCNexergy™ designs and manufactures custom battery packs, chargers, and power systems for portable devices, stationary backup power, and motive power. With more than 40 years of experience, the company is an established worldwide leader with deep roots in designing and manufacturing custom rechargeable power systems including lithium ion battery packs, battery chargers, docking stations, and highly efficient power supplies. Their partners include major OEMs in the medical data server/storage, prosumer electronics, safety/security, data acquisition, and military/aerospace industries.

The Strategic Account Manager will report to the Vice President, Sales and will be responsible for developing and building customer relationships with a large OEM key customer in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Interested? Find out more about the position on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

Ameri-Co Logistics began operations in 1985 as a truckload brokerage company, complementing its sister company Ameri-Co Carriers. As demand for company services grew, Ameri-Co Logistics created more high-value programs to better assist its customers. Ameri-Co Logistics has operations in Scottsbluff, NE; Bremen, IN; Cartersville, GA, and specializes in designing customer-specific strategies to solve complex logistical issues, such as meeting spike shipment demand and ensuring complete and dedicated management of shipments. The Director of Logistics will manage a staff and will drive growth by leading the company into new market segments (Intermodal, Refrigerated, LTL, Bulk and Dedicated).

This opportunity is located at Ameri-Co Logistics headquarters in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Relocation assistance is available.

Interested? Find out more about the position on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

The Plant Manager will report to the Vice President, Operations and manage a direct staff of six management professionals in the areas of manufacturing, production engineering and technical operations and indirectly 500 employees within a high-paced three shift manufacturing facility. The selected individual will have P&L responsibility for this production operation with over $250 million in annual sales.

The successful candidate will have a minimum 10 years of manufacturing and operations experience with at least 5 years spent in a significant management position.  Experience with a supplier to automotive OEMs is highly desirable, as is a strong technical background in electronic assembly and/or high volume electromechanical assembly manufacturing. Previous knowledge/experience in quality control techniques and industrial/production engineering preferred.

Interested? Find out more about the position on the Grant Alexander Careers website  here

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company

Rexam is one of the world’s leading beverage can suppliers. They produce more than 50 billion cans each year for the U.S., European, Asian and South American markets and operate more than 50 plants worldwide, 15 of which are located in the United States.  Successful candidates will have experience obtained in a manufacturing environment.

Interested? Find out more about the Chatsworth, California position here or the Chicago, Illinois position here.

Grant Alexander is a BPI group company