3
Administrative Assistant's
UPDATE
How changes will
affect your brand
By Leslie Hughes
As you may have heard, LinkedIn was acquired
by Microsoft for over $26 billion. The deal was
finalized on December 8, 2016.
Some of the planned changes include:
• a LinkedIn identity and network in the Microsoft
Outlook and Office suite
• a feature enabling members who draft resumes in
WORD to update their profiles and discover and
apply to jobs on LinkedIn
• development of a business news desk across the
entire content ecosystem and MSN.com
LinkedIn is in the process of changing its
navigation and if you haven't seen the new rollout
yet, you will soon.
There are quite a few changes that will affect
your overall experience. It will be more similar to
the mobile app than the current desktop experience.
In my opinion, creating a strong first impression
revolves around three key areas: your professional
photo, your headline and your summary. Typically,
these areas are the most important to focus on
because this reader is researching who you are and
what you do.
Here are some of the top changes:
1. Your photo is smaller and circular. I highly
recommend investing in a professional headshot.
2. Your headline is now centred on the page.
3. Copy for your summary
has been truncated, so
you'll want to focus on
having a strong first
sentence to capture the
reader's attention.
4. The Contact and
Personal Info area will be
located down the right
hand side of the page
instead of being hidden
behind a tab.
5. Sadly, for those of you who have invested time
organizing your connection by "tags," this
functionality has disappeared.
6. For basic LinkedIn accounts, the "Advanced Search"
area has also disappeared, as has the "saved search"
functionality. Only Premium LinkedIn accounts allow
for a deeper dive in search.
Pro Tip: I recommend you back up your data on LinkedIn
every three months so that you'll always have access to
all your contacts and information you've gathered to date.
To do this visit: http://bit.ly/backupLinkedInData
LinkedIn is one of the most important social media sites
to help you build your personal brand – especially from
a professional perspective. Considering that LinkedIn
has more than 467 million members in more than 200
countries (and two new members joining every second),
your professional story can help you position yourself
properly as a thought leader and an expert.
Make sure your accomplishments, your summary and
your headline are up-to-date to make the biggest impact
for your first impression online!
Leslie Hughes was called a "Social Media Guru" by CBC Radio and has been working in digital
marketing since 1997. She is a LinkedIn optimization specialist, professor of social media, corporate
trainer and principal of PUNCH!media. PUNCH!media clients include The Children's Wish
Foundation of Canada, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and TVO.
www.punchmedia.ca (sign up for weekly newsletter) leslie@punchmedia.ca
Leslie Hughes
