If you are an established executive or leader in your field, it is quite easy to become complacent regarding your professional profile.  After all, if you have achieved the level of success you originally set out for, there may seem to be little reason to focus your attention on your online resume or network contacts.

Over the last ten years, the information age has taken professional networking to the next level.  Meeting new professionals through the people you work with has become almost prehistoric, and online networking has taken its place.  While there are several alternatives like Beyond.com and BranchOut, LinkedIn is by far the most popular professional branding tool out there.

While most create their resumes and profiles while still in school or in the early stages of their career, many neglect to update their profiles upon completion of a secondary degree, achievement or training program, let alone once their career has reached a pinnacle consistent with their original goals.   With over 443 million members on LinkedIn, there are significant reasons to continuously update your profile.

1. Recruiters will find you easier.   

You may not be job hunting, but that is no reason to hide or allow your professional identity to grow stagnant.  One cannot predict what the future holds, or when a change may be imminent.  Although you may not be planning an alteration in your career, it is still wise to remain visible to recruiters.  In the event you need those contacts, you will be glad you maintained your online presence; and an up-to-date professional profile is the most attainable way to achieve that.  Accordingly, a recent study by Forbes showed that 93 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn, and spend considerable amounts of money to have premium memberships. Every time you complete a program, achieve a goal, or accomplish any considerable undertaking, you are becoming more valuable to the job market and the business world at large.  However, if you do not update your online resumes and profiles, no one will ever know how hard you have worked.

2. Top of the search engines.   

In most cases, when someone “Googles” your name, your LinkedIn profile is the first or second listing on the page.  This is important because 94 percent of users never proceed past the first page of searching.  So, unless you are spending an inordinate amount of time and money on SEO of your own website or online resume, keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date is your best bet to be seen for all your accomplishments.

3. Automatically enhance your own brand.   

LinkedIn and similar social network sites are your best choice for increasing your visibility and credibility with other professionals.  When you update your profile with a new achievement or educational endeavor, an automatic notice is sent out to all of your contacts; this increases your “value” to any organization.  Additionally, if you are a business owner, these types of updates can draw positive attention to your company and brand in general.

4. More content means better visitors. 

All professional networking sites use similar algorithms which allow people to search members based upon specific descriptive terms and skill sets within their profiles.  Therefore, the more keywords you add, and the more specific you are about achievements, training, education and other experiences which have enhanced your marketability, the easier it is for the right people find you, whether that be a prospective employer or any valuable network contact within your field.

5. More visually interactive alternative to a traditional resume. 

Professional networking sites offer features to which a traditional paper resume could not possibly compare.  When adding new experiences, whether educational or achievement-oriented, be sure to include designs, samples, references, photos, logos and/or any other illustrative representation which would display your new expertise in a more visually capturing fashion.

 

In Conclusion

Ultimately, it is unwise to expect your professional networking profile to work for you unless you work to keep it updated.  One option is to schedule a few minutes per month, or even bi-monthly, to review and edit your online profile; this way it is impossible for even the slightest accomplishment to go unnoticed.   Each and every update has the possibility to help initiate an opportunity you would not have otherwise had access to, while generally providing you with increased exposure.  Naturally, this will either enhance the outward projection of your current brand or company, or lead to valuable and welcome endeavors down the road.