LinkedIn Profile Best Practices for 2021

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning for WorkInSports.com and this is the WorkInSports podcast... 

Super pumped for this week's expert interview with Emily Caron, a sports business reporter from Sportico.com.  

Emily has worked at espnW and Sports Illustrated before joining Sportico and she is awesome. What is fun about this conversation is that most of the time reporters are reporting on other people's opinions or the facts they can discover. But, in this episode, I probe Emily for so many of her opinions on what some of the big #sportsbiz topics mean for the future of our industry. 

Extremely exciting. Tune in for that episode on Wednesday April 21^st. 

#Sportsbiz Stat Line for April 19th

Three quick stats that give you an update on the health of the sports industry from a hiring perspective, and then three cool sports jobs posted in the last week on WorkInSports.com the leading job board for the sports industry and a proud member of the iHire talent community.  

Stat #1: 23, 581 jobs – increase of 2.3% and our highest total in over a year. Sportsbiz is back. 

Stat #2: 3,201 jobs added this past week an increase of 7.5% from the previous week 

Stat #3: which means there were 457 fresh sports jobs posted every day last week on average. Great reason to keep coming back every day to see what’s new.  

Three sports jobs that are incredibly interesting from the past week: 

Manager of Influencer Marketing for Brooks Running 

https://www.workinsports.com/search-jobs/view/brooks-running?id=548538

The Manager, Influencer Marketing is responsible for driving strategy and executing on influencer programming for the brand. You are responsible for creating and driving measurable strategies with clear KPIs to meet defined objectives, inclusive of building brand awareness and product discovery. All programming will be built in partnership with a cross-functional group of peers across marketing, including your colleagues in retail marketing, PR, sports marketing, social, sales and more. The ideal candidate will have proven experience identifying and engaging influencers, managing influencer outreach programs, and creating engaging, brand worthy content. 

Delaware State is hiring an Athletic Director 

https://www.workinsports.com/search-jobs/view/delaware-state-university?id=548442

General Description of the Position Under the Chief Operating Officer's supervision with oversight from the President, the Athletic Director (AD) is responsible for planning, developing, managing, coordinating, and supervising a competitive intercollegiate athletics program with 18 programs, 14 head coaches, and more than 400 student-athletes.

The Athletic Director (1) provides visionary leadership, strategic planning, and policy development for the athletics program; (2) maintains an athletics program that is committed to the University's mission and strategic priorities; (3) works with the University's development office to raise funds for the Department of Athletics; (4) administers the overall athletic budget; (5) recruits and manages the coaching staff; and (5) ensures compliance with all University, national association and conference policies, rules, and regulations. This position also serves as a member of the President's Administrative Cabinet. 

Pittsburgh Knights Social Media Coordinator - LATAM 

https://www.workinsports.com/search-jobs/view/pittsburgh-knights?id=546819

Under the direction of the Social Media Manager, this position is responsible for the overall experience and value of the Knights' LATAM Social platforms. The Social media coordinator will focus on the daily maintenance, management, operation, and optimization of the Knights' LATAM socials and will play a crucial role in content creation. 

• Assist in the creation of original, compelling content - such as static and motion graphics, as well as video - for the Knights' LATAM digital and social platforms. 
• Assist in posting and scheduling content to social media platforms, including but not limited to real-time updates of live games, team events, and functions. 
• Assist in monitoring social platforms for relevant and timely opportunities to appropriately interact with fans, players, and brands. 

And that is the stat line... 

Sports Career-Focused Fan Question

Alright, let’s get to today’s sports industry focused question from Manny in California... 

“Hey Brian, love the WorkInSports podcast, congratulations on the iHire acquisition I’m sure you are excited, if you could read my question I’d be pretty excited too." 

Manny I’ll do you one better, I’ll ready your question, and answer it. And yes, we are extremely excited to be acquired by iHire, we are just two weeks into this merger and it’s amazing, the team at iHire is inspiring, they work hard, they care about their user, both job seekers and employers, and they have tools and resources to really help us grow the WorkInSports brand and serve you all better – so yeah, we’re pumped. 

Back to you Manny 

“I’ve really been focused on my networking skills over the past few months, and I realized that so often when I reach out the first thing my networking targets do is check my LinkedIn profile to see if I’m worth connecting with. With that in mind, do you have advice on how to create the perfect LinkedIn profile for 2021?” 

A Proper LinkedIn Profile Includes:

Tune in to the Work In Sports podcast episode for more details and explanations on Best Practices for a Great LinkedIn profile in 2021

• Focus on applicable keywords throughout your profile 
• Complete all the fields –remember who is in charge here, LinkedIn wants you to fill out the whole profile, when you do so, it elevates your status in searches by recruiters. 
• Like any good story get your best stuff at the top 
• Custom URL  
• Include a quality photo of you and a relevant background photo – not acceptable on a resume, very acceptable here. 
• A Headline that goes a little extra. Title and employer PLUS something else about you that applies to who you want to be. Examples: scrum master, experiential marketer, trained hypnotist, master of falconry 
• Summary section – unlike a resume, where I hate that section, on your LinkedIn profile you have to fill this out, so do it well. Make it focused on what you bring to the table and the value you would add to a potential employer, less about what you want or demand. Key skills, highlighted work accomplishments, awards, achievements. Offer ways people can connect with you – give them direction. Share something interesting about you from outside of work 
• Don’t forget the featured section – link to your portfolio, videos you've done, podcasts you’ve been on, articles you've written – anything that enhances our personal brand and what you want to be known for is fair game here! 
• Build out your experiences – don’t skimp and you don’t have to copy and paste your resume. 
• Repeat and hammer those keywords 
• Give and get recommendations 
• Certificates 
• Be active on the platform