LinkedIn for Military: Your Interactive Transition Networking Guide

By Matt Scherer

The third version of LinkedIn for Military will help military personnel transitioning to new civilian careers comprehend new ways to convey their skills and talents to outside influencers.   The book also looks at the key storytelling aspects of the average profile, showing the readers how to share their "Five W'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scherer Communications
• Release date: Apr 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781087877310

Matt Scherer

For nearly a decade, Matt has helped military professionals of all ranks make the next step in their transition through LinkedIn. He served in the Air Force for twenty years as a public affairs supervisor. Now he uses these experiences to help other veterans.

Book preview

INTRO TO LINKEDIN’S ELEMENTS

Mastering the storytelling aspects of your LinkedIn profile takes some effort and the understanding of the key elements – the Who, the What, the Where, the Why, the When and the How.

Retired Air Force Colonel John Dipper DiPiero, a colleague of mine, was given an advance copy of the Who and the What chapters in this section.

After reading and reviewing them, he asked me if the Who or the What were more important to military professionals in transition.

I told Dipper, who retired from USAA, the What element was more important as most people can understand someone’s Who. The second element is easy for most people to understand on any profile. Most newcomers to LinkedIn don’t comprehend how to convey their What aspect of their profile.

As you’ll find in this section, every one of these elements has a key role in telling your story. And, your LinkedIn profile will change with key job changes and other significant events.

If you had a previous copy of my book, this is a new section I added. After working with many veterans, I have found that asking the What do you want to do after you leave the military question opens them up to fill out the other elements needed to complete their LinkedIn profile.

CHAPTER 1

THE WHAT

How the What element in your LinkedIn profile effectively conveys your brand

Photo courtesy of Department of Defense

BY MATT SCHERER

To create an effective LinkedIn Profile, you must understand the Five W’s of a good story.

I often remember the words of my college journalism instructor, Professor Michael Shelly, who emphasized the What Element as a critical component for the stories written in his class. Today, I still draw upon Professor Shelley’s teachings when I help transitioning military members improve their LinkedIn profiles.

I recently worked with Benjamin Harrison, an Army noncommissioned officer who will soon face his last duty day next year. During our online coaching session, I first introduced him to the What Element.

So, Ben, what do you want to do next? I asked.

Ben’s answer? He wanted to continue as a human resource professional, similar to what he was doing for the US Army.

Ben’s LinkedIn about section clearly defines the What Element of his goals. He wrote:

I have a desire to identify an organization that wants to capitalize on my team-building and leadership talents after I retire in early 2020.

Another student of mine, Mario D. Thompson, demonstrated parts of the What Element in his profile. After our session, he discovered how to capitalize on both the about section and the profile headline. If someone were to look up his profile, they would discover Mario’s What Element sufficiently defined in the following headline:

Seeking career advice for acquisition opportunities.

Figure 2. With his LinkedIn headlines, Mario D. Thompson, a military professional in transition, conveys the what of his LinkedIn profile.

It is critical that transitioning military personnel identify the What Element when starting their LinkedIn profile. By mastering this concept, the rest of the profile’s details will readily fall into place.

Here are some key ways military members can address the What Element in their future goals:

#1: What do I want to do after military service?

#2: What education and professional certifications do I need to succeed in my current career. What are the skills I want to have in my next career?

#3. What beliefs or doubts do I hold about my journey to those goals? What changes in my attitude will help me with those goals?

Harnessing the full capability of LinkedIn will help improve the storytelling

While there are other important elements to a LinkedIn profile, I believe the What element represents the first W that a novice profile holder should address. By mastering these questions, starting a LinkedIn profile will become easier than for those who don’t start with this review process.

CHAPTER 2

THE WHO

How defining the Who element will help those in transition with LinkedIn updates

Figure 1. For military professionals, finding the Who element is critical to their LinkedIn strategy.

Photo courtesy of Department of Defense

When it comes to devising a building strategy for a LinkedIn profile, the Who element takes a starring role.

Imagine the lyrics to the Pete Townsend and John Entwistle’s Who are You playing in your