On November 3, 2008 a group of about 35 people descended on a conference room at iContact in Durham, NC to learn more about how to enhance their profile for a job search. These 35 people are members of Linking Raleigh, NC, a networking group on LinkedIn with a very high concentration of Triangle professionals with profiles on LinkedIn.com. I, Greg Hyer, brought them together to discuss and share with them a number of best practices that should be considered when gearing up a profile for a job search.

Enhancing Your Profile To Be Found

Why should you enhance your profile? There are two reasons why. One is to increase your chances of being found. Whether you are in a job search or you are an entrepreneur you need to have a well written profile that can be found when someone searches for someone like you for a need they have. The second reason is that you want to communicate information about you accurately.  This is a chance you for you to brand yourself an expert in your field or industry. That can and needs to be communicated in your profile. That these two things in to consideration when enhancing your profile and you can increase your chances of being found on LinkedIn.

Have you ever been in the situation where you were talking to a friend or an old boss and they mention that they were looking for someone to fill an open position or maybe there is someone you thought they should meet because they share a common interest and could mutually benefit from the introduction? Was that person in your LinkedIn network? If they are, here is a neat way to get that person's profile and a note to your friend or old boss. Have you use the "Forward Profile" feature? Once, never? After reading this consider using it a little more often.

Who is Greg Hyer? Well that's a really good question. I will give you in site to two aspect of me, personal and professional.

I was born in Rhode Island and lived there until I was 16. At that point I was sent to a Florida military school where I graduated high school and made my first attempt at college. At the end of 1999 I moved to the DC suburbs of northern Virginia where I met my wife in a jewelry store. Now, I am married with two kids and one on the way in December. I love being a dad but wish I could be home more often. I bet most dads feel the same way I do. We moved to North Carolina in 2007 and have loved being here ever since. North Carolina does offer some very interesting opportunities for the right people.