If all the world's a stage, then your resume is the script and your LinkedIn profile could be considered the show.
And like a script, your resume should convey an idea of who you are - using nothing but the text itself. Although you'll want to give employers a complete picture of yourself, the information you can include on your resume can sometimes seem limited. That's where your LinkedIn profile comes in: it should feature a variety of information from several different mediums, and each part should work together like a stage performance. Let the show begin!
Unlike your resume, your LinkedIn profile can showcase pictures, videos, extensive personal and professional information, your social network, and more to reflect your image. Including all of these different facets makes your profile more engaging. Your LinkedIn profile offers employers a more lively experience than simply reading your resume.
Crafting the Perfect Script: Your Resume
This analogy doesn't mean that a resume is inferior to LinkedIn; instead, think of your resume as the blueprint for your longer, more involved LinkedIn profile. Potential employers should be able to gain a solid understanding of who you are as a professional and what you can bring to the company by reading the information provided in your resume. Your resume should feature attention-grabbing material and should invite the reader to visit your LinkedIn profile for more information.
Using this analogy to illustrate the relationship between your resume and your LinkedIn profile, consider the example of how your education will be portrayed in both mediums. Your resume will list your education, your GPA, work experience, applicable skills and any notable honors or awards you are able to slip in at the last second. Unless the institution and the honors you list are especially prestigious, you will likely need to enhance the education section in your LinkedIn profile to make up for the conciseness in your resume.
Setting the Stage: Your LinkedIn Profile
Although your resume might give the hiring manager a good idea of your experiences in college, it can be nearly impossible to explain everything you gained during this period of time with the limited space available. Therefore, the education section of your resume essentially sets the stage for the performance in your LinkedIn profile. This performance can include links to published works, lists of courses taken, recommendations from professors, study abroad experiences, and other information that animates your time spent in college.
If the education section in both your resume and your LinkedIn profile is lacking, this can diminish your candidacy as a potential employee. If you want to increase your appeal, it is probably in your best interest to further your education by enrolling in an online degree program.
By choosing online degree programs over traditional college programs, you can work on your professional development at a pace that may work better with your schedule. This allows you to keep up with the job hunt while improving your appeal to potential employers as well. Your education will often be the highlight of the performance, so it's crucial that you make it count.
Jesse Langley specializes in writing about education, professional and personal development, and career building. He writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University.
