Pump Up Your LinkedIn Profile with Jasmine Escalera

(NEW YORK CITY) — LinkedIn has more in store for us than we think, according to life coach Jasmine Escalera. “This is not the typical networking space where you go to an event, and you’re limited with the number of people that you can communicate with,” she said during a recent virtual seminar. “[It] is an untapped resource for you to learn, to grow, and to thrive within your career..”

 For an hour on Oct .26, about a dozen people listened to Escalera convey her foolproof tips on how to take that next step in your career by “leveling up” your LinkedIn profile. Escalera has more than 10 years of experience helping women stand out from the rest of the job seekers. In 2021, she was voted one of the top job search experts to connect with on LinkedIn, according to Jobscan.

So if there’s anyone on LinkedIn to connect with, it’s  Escalera. 

To kick off the seminar, Escalera asked her viewers to describe LinkedIn in one word or phrase. Monica said: “too much data out there.” Escalera couldn’t agree more. “I get you. I totally feel you,” she said. 

She went on to share her own experience with the platform. “I definitely put my profile up there when I was … Gosh, I think I might have been in college. I was on there [but] I never used the thing… And there came a point in my professional career where I realized that I needed more information about my career path and my journey.”

It wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that she was able to really dive into the platform to create a business brand for herself and find a community that she felt comfortable sharing her “authentic” self with.  Throughout the discussion, Escalera stressed it was important to “start someplace small, but dive into it,” even if you are a bit reluctant to put yourself out there just because it’s the “professional space.” 

Although her guidebook goes into more elements of the LinkedIn profile, for this seminar, Escalera focused on six elements: picture, headline, the about me/summary, experiences, skills/endorsements, and recommendations. For the sake of time, Escalera asked the audience where they needed the most help. 

Out of the six elements, most considered the “about me” as the most challenging portion of their profile.

“When you think about your ‘about me’ summary section, you want to think about who you are and who you serve. When I say who you serve, think about your job, your job description, who you work for. You also want to think about your career background so you can talk a little bit about your career journey in a short and succinct way,” Escalera said. 

Because LinkedIn is seen as the professional social networking space, sharing personal accomplishments on the platform isn’t something everyone is used to doing. However, Escalera encouraged users to do this. She referred to them as “personal touches” and shared that when a hiring opportunity does come, it will make recruiters or companies “get to know you on a completely different level.”