How to Create a Fast & Easy Resume using LinkedIn
Posted by James Roughton on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 @ 09:25 AM
In today’s economy it is important to have a good professional resume that will attract companies who are hiring. Most of us use some type of word processer or professional resume writer with hopes that the resume is formatted and presentable when we need it. This is where LinkedIn comes into play. If you have an account with LinkedIn and your profile is up to date, you can use a new application from LinkedIn Labs that will allow you create a great looking resume in a matter of minutes.
According to Linkedin FAQ, this application was designed so that you can manage your "professional identity" in one place so that you will not have to use any Word documents or other online profiles. The key here is managing your LinkedIn profile and you will be able to produce and update your resume instantly using of the eleven formats that are available as of today.
In order for you to create your on-line resume, all you have to do is to login to Linkedin labs
and scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the Resume Builder.
Once you are there all you have to do is sign into LinkedIn to get started. Here you will see your current profile outlined in a clean resume format.
Modifying Your Resume
At the top of the page you will find a horizontal menu that will allow you to change or modify your resume. The following is a brief outline of the menu structure:
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Outline: This is a section where you can switch from the regular mode to an outline mode which will allow you to arrange the content listed in your resume by simply dragging and dropping the widgets listed.
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Refresh: With this button you can refresh your resume with the latest data from your profile if you have made any changes.
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Edit profile: If you look at your resume and you are not happy with the information provided, you can edit your profile right from the resume page.
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Privacy and Share Menus: These two menus have basically the same options. Here is where you can click on the "privacy" and “Share” buttons to configure your visibility settings. The following options are available: Only you can view your resume. You can choose to make your resume private, available to anyone with the link, or publicly viewable and searchable.
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Each resume that you create has a unique URL that you can share with others. To see it, click the "sharing" button on any resume and send the link out via email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
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Preview: This will allow you to see what you Resume looks like to others.
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PDF/Print: This is where you can export and print your Resume in a PDF format. You simply click the "PDF/print" link on any resume and print.
Multiple Resumes
The nice thing about this Resume Builder is that you can create multiple resumes. At the top right side of the screen you will find a second menu that allows you to create and manage your resumes.
Formatting Text
The FAQ section provides the following information that allows you to format your text. Here is the quote from the FAQ section. “Use Markdown syntax in your LinkedIn profile and it will be rendered as proper HTML in the resume. This means you can have bullet points, numbered lists, headers, bold, underline, italics, etc. See the Format your resume using Markdown blog post for more info.”
Adding Other Features to Resume
If there is something that is not displayed on your resume, you can click the "outline" button in the menu and make sure that the section you want is enabled. If the section is available you will see it listed. If you do not see the feature that you are looking for then the resume template, you selected probably does not support that section. Currently some of the resume styles do not show pictures, summaries, skills, and/or specialties. According to LinkedIn, “This may be fixed in the near future.”
James Roughton is a Safety Professional experienced in Social Media Strategies and WordPress. He is very passionate about developing social networking strategies for Small Businesses. He is on a journey of discovery and wants to spread the word about how to develop and maintain effective social networking strategies to maximize exposure on the internet. You can visit his blogs at: James Roughton, Job Hazard Analysis, Deepcreekshores, SafetyCulturePlus
How to Use LinkedIn for Business