Mark Anthony Dyson, Author at The Voice of Job Seekers

Here’s Why Your Linkedin Profile Should Be Like John Urschel’s

In watching ESPN,

I found out about John Urschel’s expertise is not only an offensive guard but a mathematician. What I didn’t know is that news outlets everywhere such as NPR talks with him about football and math. Well, later that day I went to see if he had Twitter and Linkedin profiles. His Twitter handle…perfect as @MathMeetsFBall. He even displays some humor that makes you smile:

So, @BillPrady , when is my @BigBang_CBS cameo going down? The team needs a mathlete! #ready pic.twitter.com/CjiHsmkIV1

— John Urschel (@MathMeetsFball) March 24, 2015

But his Linkedin profile was substantive and revealing at least to my delight.

It seems that John Urschel cut out the noise and fanfare from the rest of the world to unveil what is most relevant on his Linkedin Profile. After all, he could have his own website that promotes his football career (by the way, if he does, it’s listed on the first three pages of Google) followed by his profile captivating some possible commercial or entrepreneurial opportunities. No. Let’s do the math. He’s looking to change the world by the numbers. Somebody’s got to, right?

It is so not sexy, right?

I even made this observation in “The Voice of Job Seekers” Linkedin group:

“Here is a lesson in sound and effective branding. Go look at John Urschel’s Linkedin page and it will show you that it doesn’t have to be flashy or flowery. The keyword selection is appropriate, near perfect grammar and clearly niche. It doesn’t replicate any keyword phrases from anyone else’s page, or try so hard to be unique. So when we see an article below about you such as the one about Urschel, we’re not surprised.”

There are many takes on what a Linkedin profile should look like, but I encourage you to look at John Urschel’s Linkedin profile. This is the everyman’s (every woman’s) profile where less is more, and originality (not authenticity) compels more than it sells. It’s an example of the message sent and inferred and not marketing.

1. Football is what I do, but math is my love. Note that his passion for both is inferred and not overwhelming the reader with his intent. It is simple in language and tells the facts. He could overwhelm the reader with his football knowledge, or inundate us with formulaic rhetoric.

Instead, his keyword selection has functionality giving it meaning and substance right from the beginning:

“I have general expertise in all areas of numerical analysis and numerical linear algebra. My specialty lies in the numerical solution of PDE’s (specifically Finite Element and Multigrid Methods). “

Your headline and summary (note he doesn’t have a headline that matches the rest of his profile) should tell readers the problems you address or solve. If it doesn’t, then you will likely disengage readers who mean the most: Your prospective business partners or employers.

2. This is what I’ve done to ONLY whom it matters. This is simpler to say than it is to write, but Urschel’s profile speaks to a few people. We may say that they’re nerds, but it makes all the sense in the world. He doesn’t have to state what his goal is nor does he have to convince readers his intentions. Most of us cannot measure the impact or understand what he is publishing. What we can glean is his mission to find mathematical solutions that maybe 1% of people who will ever read will understand. The point: Your profile cannot be effective if it’s speaking to everyone. Narrow your focus to the audience that will understand if you. You will say more by speaking to fewer people. If you’re not solving a problem, or presenting an argument for us to engage, then at least intrigue us in a brief itinerary of your journey.

3. Nor am I trying to impress all of you. Urschel’s audience on his Linkedin profile is not football fans. It is not written for the general public. The problem with my Linkedin clients (and frankly 80% of Linkedin users) is you want your profile to mirror, sound like, or yes plagiarize someone who put in the real work. If you want to impress an employer to look at you, shrink your target and INTENT. If your experience is originally yours, then tell your story with your experiences and work.

I am not pointing to Urschel’s Linkedin profile as a perfect one. His content is clear storytelling without trying so hard to get the reader to do something right now (better yet, he sounds far from desperate). He is simply beginning the chapters to a career trajectory to become decades long. We can argue whether his headline says enough or if his Summary is too short or that he could use and afford a higher quality photo. We care less (and perhaps forget) that he smashes 300 pound guys for a living, but rather intrigued (at least those of us who are math unabled) that he’s a genius.

Marketing self by not marketing is the best marketing. I broke some grammar rules, but I’ll bet you will remember it.

What does your Linkedin profile say? Do you think it has your voice? Love to hear your thoughts.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Stress Less, Achieve More in the Workplace and Job Search

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Pressure is good. Stress should be avoided according to Aimee Bernstein, author of Stress Less Achieve More: Simple Ways to Turn Pressure into a Positive Force in Your Life. She states that, “…all us feel we’re always under pressure because of our constant accessibility.”

What makes you the most stressful about the job search process? I would love to hear what you think. There are three ways you can tell me:
1) Leave a voice mail or text message at 708-365-9822. Let me know if I can share it on future shows
2) Email me [email protected]
3) Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com and press the Send Voicemail button to leave a message online

If you are a career coach or professional and would like to contribute advice or voice your opinion, leave a message along with your name and website. I will include both on the show and show notes on the blog.

My guest, Aimee Bernstein is the President of Open Mind Adventures and coaches, consults, and trains senior leaders and teams within creative and high-pressure environments. Her past clients include Dolce & Gabbana and other large entities. Here are some highlights from our discussion:

The level of stress has gone up incrementally–everyone is under pressure these days. The internet has made us accessible 24/7 through mobile devices, and we feel that we always have to be doing something
It’s part of Work-Life these days where you are expected to have all of the right answers, have them in a way that is calm and collected, and to be able to do everything
It’s best to create boundaries for yourself, but it is not a popular philosophy in business.
To shift stress, businesses need to shift their culture, but until they do, people need to know how to shift their pressure
With many terms to throw around, press and stress are the new good stress and bad stress
Pressure is defined as strength and energy depending how you related to it. It is the energy of change
If you are open to the energy of change, you will experience liveliness and high performance.
Pressure is a helper and a bit of intelligence to expand your capacity
To do well at job interviews you have to be as big as the job–How cool can you stay under pressure?
Aimee differs from the notion that we need to handle stress. We need to handle the pressure and AVOID stress.
Most people live in their cognitive minds
Look at the clues –How are we when by ourselves?

Have you subscribed to this show on iTunes? If you haven’t, please do so. This is also a great place to write an honest review. Enjoy listening to the show. Let us know what you think.

Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction? Then start here and I can help.

Also, join our community on Linkedin! You’ll enjoy some of the insights shared by community members and other career pros!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

2014 Global Career Brainstorming Day Report with Marie Zimenoff

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For the last five years, the Career Thought Leaders Consortium (CTL) has published a “Global Career Brainstorming Day” through hosting a worldwide brain dump of career trends current and anticipated. MarieZimenoff (@workwithpurpose), the new President of CTL, and I discuss a small part of the whitepaper produced as a result of the meeting. The whitepaper is a useful tool for job seekers and career professionals. The report is free and downloadable for anyone to access as well as other material produced by CTL members.

Marie is a former president of the National Resume Writing Association as well as a career practitioner. She hosts the podcast and radio show through Voice of America, the “Career Confidante (Note that I erroneously announced during the show as ‘Career Confidential’).”

I would love to hear your thoughts about today’s topice in one of the following ways:

Call and leave a message at either 708.365.9822 or go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com and press “Send Voicemail.”
Email me at [email protected]
Leave a comment on the blog

Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

1. Marie said she pulled out three words that highlighted the resume section: branded, brief, and visual. Branded: If your resume is not telling your story, you’re at a disadvantage. Brief: Pieces of the resume needs to be in bits and bites so that they are little snapshots. Visual: Not only pertaining to presenting an infographic, but also must be visually appealing as a marketing piece

2. Content is still king. Success stories, skills, and keywords are a must

3. Marie says that the challenge for job seekers is that there are no rules other than the best practices that presented before them. When it comes down to it, the writer must know the industry, the audience and what type of marketing material that is going to appeal to them

4.Job seekers need to be careful with emailing directly to hiring managers. Some companies create a blacklist of people who send unsolicited emails. It is important for them seek out the right person through referrals, other employees, or through social channels (Linkedin, Twitter, etc.)

5. Linkedin is an opportunity to tell more of the story, written in the first person, and easy to read through as well as showing more of your personality

6. Recruiters are more proactive than ever and with the social profile so accessible, and they are actively contacting potential candidates

7. Social media where you should expand your story and leverage successes to add value versus advertising. It is an opportunity to make achievements more real and bigger

8. The pain point letter from a job seeker is a growing trend where the individual sends the hiring manager in a company a letter of why he or she has solutions to specific problems without the job being posted. Marie has seen a high rate of success when the person has conducted extensive research

9. To become more of a “branded product (I love this part)” you have to understand what your value is, your core value proposal, and adjust your message to your audience needs

10. Marie says that the confidence in your brand is important because it is likely that you will tell an employer what you want to make

If you are a career professional in any capacity you’re invited to leave advice, or expand on a point made during the show, or disagree. If you leave permission to read your reply or replay your message on the show, I will include a link to your blog or website.

Have you subscribed to this show on iTunes? If you haven’t, please do so. This is also a great place to write an honest review. Enjoy listening to the show. Let us know what you think.

Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction? Then start here and can help.