Public Health Consultants: What’s Missing From Your LinkedIn Profile

Last year on the blog I shared tips for successful online networking. It was a pretty popular post, so I’m back today with “Part 2”- specifically focused on LinkedIn.

With the rapidly changing economy and landscape of consulting, I think many of us are using LinkedIn more than ever. I really enjoy connecting with colleagues here and always use it as one way to vet consultants that request to join my networking group.

Since I look at A LOT of consultant profiles for these join requests, I wanted to share some of the things that I see missing from LinkedIn profiles:

(1) Business information is nowhere to be found.

I check the headline, about me, and experience sections and see no sign of any consulting work. I don’t know what services they offer or who they serve (so a potential client won’t know either).

*One caveat to this point: I occasionally connect with consultants who have the wheels turning to start a business, but aren’t able to share publicly yet because they’re waiting to give notice to an employer or have a related complication. That’s fine. But if you don’t fall under these exceptions, definitely share information about your business!

(2) They have nothing listed under contact info.

You would be amazed how many people just have the URL for their LinkedIn profile listed under contact info (but I’m already on your profile!) Even with googling, I can’t find any contact information for them.

When I’m vetting someone for the group or considering connecting, I usually look at their website, online portfolio, social media, etc. When there’s nothing (not even an email address) how would I get in touch to follow up? How would an interested client follow up? It is not always easy to message on LinkedIn if you’re not connected.

(3) There is missing or outdated location and experience information.

Many times when we eventually connect, the consultant shares that they are actually in a different city than listed, they have a different job, they’ve pivoted their consulting business to offer different services, etc. It is very hard for the right clients to find you if information is missing, wrong, or vague.

(4) There is no profile picture.

Profiles with no picture can look abandoned or neglected, especially if they also have a small number of connections and/or outdated experience information. Definitely upload a high quality professional photo to accompany your profile.

*This is also a good reminder to check your profile privacy settings. You can determine if/when people see your photo before you’ve connected. You may have stricter privacy settings than intended, so may not realize that your profile pops up with no photo.

(5) They have failed to proofread- there are typos.

I can’t even tell you how many public health “project mangers” I see! Please proofread your profile carefully (and perhaps swap with a friend for a second set of eyes). Typos reflect very poorly on your attention to detail and you don’t want to give clients any reason not to hire you.

I also want to mention one other thing that isn’t necessarily missing from profiles, but in my opinion is missing from many LinkedIn connection requests. It is my biggest online networking pet peeve.

Please add a personalized note when requesting to connect on LinkedIn.

Many of us are inundated with requests and if we’ve never met and there’s no note, I usually have no idea why you want to connect. I hesitate to accept no note connections because in the past when I’ve accepted them, I’ve never heard from the person again. So the connect just feels (to me) like they wanted to pad their connection numbers, but they didn’t actually want to get to know me. Case in point, I currently have 38 connection requests without notes sitting in my queue. I have no idea who they are and they didn’t tell me, so it’s a low priority to go through them and try to figure it out.

Writing a note does not have to be time consuming, just a quick message about why you would like to connect. Here are a few examples:

“Hi Leah, I recently found your blog and share your interest in consulting. I look forward to staying connected. Best, Bob”

“Hi Leah, I see we both went to BU for our MPH degrees! Great to connect with you here. Bob”

*Please note that LinkedIn won’t always automatically prompt you to add a note. It depends what screen you’re in and whether you’re on desktop vs. mobile. I personally like to use my desktop and click on the person’s full profile so that I’m prompted to add the note. This LinkedIn answer gives additional details.

Tell Me What You Think:

• What else should we add to this list?

• What do you see missing from LinkedIn profiles and how can consultants strengthen them to be more attractive to potential collaborators and clients?