Aim and Shoot For Your Dream

Last weekend, I got the privilege to attend Illuminate’s Think Tank with Mash Chowdhury, a cybersecurity consultant at Deloitte, as part of Illuminate’s Associate National Lead program. I was extremely inspired and would like to take the opportunity to share what I learned with my Linkedin platform.

The main focus of this Think Tank was figuring out how we can secure the job that we want. I gained a lot of insight about tailoring a resume to a job, as well as things that make a Linkedin profile stand out. As someone who has only recently started working on my Linkedin profile, I found a lot of helpful tips in this presentation.

First off, a profile should be at first glance, visually pleasing. Don’t look down on putting effort into appearances, because in this situation it is necessary to draw people in. A nice profile photo, a well-organized bio message and a cleanly designed banner image are key for a good first impression to any visitors of your profile.

Then, we must get to the meat of the profile. Once we capture people’s attention with a beautiful first look, we need to make sure the information is well organized as well. Something to keep in mind is that people are not going to read long, extensive paragraphs. Make sure to mention all the important information about yourself, and then elaborate on it using concise and easy-to-understand point-form notes.

References are also key for your profile because it looks great to have people vouch for your achievements! People you have worked with in the past are great for references, always ask whenever you can. Previous employers, teachers, mentors: anyone who you have worked with would be good. Just a few sentences will really spruce up your profile and back up what you say that you’ve done.

Finally, to actually use all of this when applying for a job, make sure to focus on exactly what you want. Don’t just make a generic resume that you send to a bunch of different jobs, make sure that what you include on your resume is relevant to the specific job you want. Employers can tell when you are just using a “shotgun” method rather than “sniping” directly for what you need.

Keeping all of this in mind, you will be much better prepared to get the job that you want. Thanks so much to Mash, for sharing all of this helpful information with us and providing examples from his own life. The personal tidbits really helped with making sense of it all, and what I’ve learned from this Think Tank will definitely be applied to my future job searches.