Audio Advice for LinkedIn and the Unemployed

Great bit of news – I dropped a message into the box over at jobradio.fm and they’ve put it out on their blog today!-)

Their question – how does an unemployed person deal with that on LinkedIn? They’re up to the sixth response and I’m not sure how far they’ll go – and I thought you might like to have a listen…

As simple as leaving a voice message

The request for advice was rather simple – answer this question in a short message on our voice mail and if we like what you’ve got, we’ll put it up on the site.

I expect that they’ve got one of those fancy voice mail systems that forwards messages as mp3’s and that makes posting them very easy;-)

Oh – here’s the post – “How To Use LinkedIn if Unemployed #6 – Steve Tylock“.

Perspectives

They’ve got 5 other answers and each is taking a different perspective on things.

I’ll point out that one says leave your “current situation” blank while another says call yourself a “consultant” – there probably isn’t a single right answer there…

Advice I’ve given

Back in August I dealt with this topic in the article “LinkedIn Issues for the Job Seeker” – and you probably want to check that out as well.

Be careful with the unemployment office

This came up in a conversation since then and bears some consideration.

If you’re collecting unemployment, be very cautious about suggesting that you are now a consultant.

If you are a consultant, the unemployment office will likely take the position that you are no longer unemployed – you are working for yourself, and therefore no longer eligible for unemployment benefits.

I’m not sure that suggesting you are a consultant on a LinkedIn profile is “enough” evidence to disqualify you from benefits, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that it caused an issue…

So consider things carefully!

Personal brand a key

I did enjoy hearing the first advisors suggesting that having a strong personal brand is a very important aspect. (hmmm – that’s my position too;-)

Anything else you’ve picked up on this topic?

To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock