Writing your LinkedIn Experience Section
Tell the story that developed your expertise and unique point of view, the results you achieved and why that qualifies you to do what you do today.
When writing your LinkedIn Experience there are two different types of entry.
How you write for previous employment/positions will differ from how you will want to write the entry for your current position.
When completing the experience section for previous job roles it is important to highlight your achievements and how they have helped shape you as the Expert/Trusted Advisor you are today.
Build Credibility
Although most people won’t read each individual entry, it is important to complete each entry carefully, because the people who will read your Past Experience are the prospects on the brink of buying from you.
In order to reassure themselves of their purchase or justify it to other decision-makers, they will want to know about you. The more information you can provide the better, especially if you tell stories about your past. People will find it helpful to be able to relate stories to a specific time in your career history.
Invite People In
You are an expert at what you do and you are adamant your solution is the right one, why? How did you come to these conclusions? Who were you working for and on what projects? What did you see, experience and come to understand?
Take the time to look back over your work history and identify key moments. When writing the entries for your past experience, refer to these roles and tell your prospect what happened, what you learned and how that developed the approach you take today.
Getting this right will set the relationship up for success because when a client trusts us and understands why we do things the way we do, they relax into the process and don’t second-guess us.
If we have a unique philosophy and “take on the world” that has formed our methodology and how we now work with our clients, we want to tell our story so our prospects buy into it.
You will reap the rewards of this when you’re working together (and you probably won’t even realise it).
Writing about You
Although your experience is your history and about you, we actually want to write it in the context of what is important to your prospect; why do they need to know this about you? How is it relevant?
To do this well, we need to look carefully at the services we sell, and what our prospect will want to know about us in order to trust us as their advisor/supplier.
We want to avoid boasting about our sales results and ‘overcoming objections’ for example, as no prospect wants to know this. It breaks rapport.
Completing this section well has the potential to change the dynamics of the business relationship and its ultimate success.
Remember, there is a high chance your prospect won’t read it. However, a much more important audience will – the friends and family (the secret decision-makers) that influence your prospect. Once you’ve won the sale, the person still needs to convince their secret decision-makers that it was the right decision to feel comfortable with it. Never underestimate their power.
Filling in your experience will provide answers to their unasked questions. Wanting to protect their loved-one, they will do their research and do it far more thoroughly than the person who is excited to get the transformation.
Your LinkedIn Profile can go a long way to convincing them that their loved one is in the right hands.
—-
The method for writing the Experience Entry for your current position, the role for which you want attention and to win sales, however, differs to this advice. Click here to find out how to write the experience entry for your current position.
—-
PLEASE NOTE: This advice is not for job hunters, but those wishing to win new business using LinkedIn.
Questions to Consider
- When during your career did you to develop the expertise, insights and opinions that now shape how you serve your clients?
- What industry experience do you have that has given you the insights that enable you
advise and support specific clients? - Why are you passionate about what you do?
Craft your LinkedIn Profile so your dream clients come to you pre-sold and ready to buy with my free resources!
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE LINKEDIN PROFILE TEMPLATE
👋 Use my FREE LinkedIn Profile Template and resources to craft the perfect LinkedIn profile before you publish. The template links to these helpful pages so you can easily get the answers you need.
Our step-by-step guide
INSTRUCTIONS:
To add a new entry to your LinkedIn Experience Section click on the + sign to the right of the section title.
To edit an existing entry, click on the pencil to the right of the entry.
upload tips:
Map out your profile in a word document first [(download your our template here)]
Unless announcing your latest position switch off ‘Share with network’ to avoid gaining attention for the wrong activity
Ensure all dates are correct or as close as they can be
You do not need to include all work experience and should avoid adding entries that deflect from the story/brand message you are looking to achieve. CVs still play a role.
Add in the appropriate dates for your position. Click ‘I currently work here’ for the date to remain ‘Date – Present’
Avoid clicking ‘Update my headline’ as this will overwrite a manual entry i.e. a headline you’ve written yourself
To learn how to add a company logo for your entry [click here]
Avoid using Rich Content Media on previous positions that detract from your current message and the outcome you want to achieve
You can only re-organise open experience entries i.e. Date – Present. If you can’t see
writing tips:
Always establish context by introducing the company and the services it provided. You can visit the company’s website to find words to use.
Outline the results you achieved in context to what is important to your prospect and what they need to know in order to trust you as their advisor.
Speak about your results in tangible terms, using real language and situational problems that your audience will understand.
When presenting figures aim to use percentages.
If your results were achieved during difficult an economic climate, or extenuating circumstances, explain this to give more gravitas to your results.
If during this time period you develop distinctive knowledge or unique insights that have contributed to how you do things now and the expertise you promote, tell the story of what you learned and how.
Explain how you evolved from this role to the next, especially where a career change has taken place
Where you have multiple roles within one company, consider making them one entry adding dates and top titles as section headings.
Never write anything negative (or with a negative slant) that could reflect badly on your or your previous employer or colleagues.
key facts
Unlimited entries
More advice
The Expert Economy
become an industry leader
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tincidunt orci, id posuere justo. Fusce id ornare lorem. Nam laoreet at libero quis euismod. Proin suscipit iaculis elit vel dictum.
corporate solutions
in-company mentoring
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tincidunt orci, id posuere justo. Fusce id ornare lorem. Nam laoreet at libero quis euismod. Proin suscipit iaculis elit vel dictum.