We are certainly living in extraordinary times. Most of us find ourselves staying safe at home, learning new ways to help our colleagues, clients, and families. I certainly hope each of you are staying physically and mentally healthy during this trying time.

Some jobseekers are utilizing this time to perhaps update their resume and LinkedIn profile as either an active or passive candidate. I want to run down some tips that may help in deciding just how to get your LinkedIn profile’s messaging to work for you better.

Know this right now, it’s important you do not over-react and start adding content to fill the void for the time being. Every move must be calculated, so your immediate response should be to just turn on the “Seeking opportunities” preference and enable your profile’s visibility so recruiters can contact you. Add the end date to your current role, and from there, get out of there.

Next, you need to first update your resume and have it done so it’s competitive enough to contend against the competition. That means a solid visual template, accomplishments and metrics-based content, and relevant key words so you’re found by the recruiters. Once this is done, take that new resume content and implement it into the LinkedIn profile as your official update.

In terms of matching your resume’s content onto the LinkedIn, this is something that can go back and forth with experts, but having spent over 15 years in this business and interfacing with hundreds of hiring managers, it is my opinion to make sure your LinkedIn emulates your resume. You must keep your messaging consistent on those, as well as all other platforms. You do not want miscommunication between recruiters and their respective hiring managers, should one find you on LinkedIn and one find you via resume submission. It makes more work for them to capture a snapshot of your credentials and proficiencies. Plus it works well for my clients from what I’ve seen.

Finally, do not get “personable” or overly cute…this is your online resume. It must remain professional. The coverletter is the only document you can use personal pronouns to better personalize your introduction…but keep your LinkedIn professional. Decision makers will never pass on you for maintaining professionalism, but some may pass on you for lacking some.

Remember, always is a good time to go on a job search if you are not feeling satisfaction. Never settle. If you want more, go for it. A global pandemic, or any major shift, is always a good time to do some self-reflection. Think about what you want to do and where you want to go and then game plan and visualize how to get there. Sometimes it can take 6 months to get hired at a new job, so get going immediately, even if you chip at your job transition day by day.