Resumes & LinkedIn Profiles Oh My

The Purpose and The Pivot is a podcast for women navigating transitions in career, leadership, faith, and personal growth. It’s for those moments when you’re re-evaluating what’s next and choosing to realign with purpose—intentionally and confidently.

Through honest conversations, meaningful stories, and practical insight, we’ll explore how to embrace change, lead through transition, and move forward with clarity after the pivot.

McLain Career & Life Coaching dba McLain Enterprises, LLC

https://www.mclainenterprisesllc.com

https://calendly.com/mclainenterprises/30min 

Produced & Edited by: Tyrone K. Sullivan (Media Director)
linkedin.com/in/tyroneksullivan 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Purpose and the Pivot, the podcast for women who know it's time for more. With your host, C. Renee McLean, career and life coach and champion for women navigating change with confidence and clarity. Each week we'll have real conversations about career moves, life transitions, mindset shifts, and the power of redefining your purpose at every stage of life. Whether you're pivoting professionally, personally, or both, this is your space for guidance, growth, and grounded support. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Welcome to The Purpose and the Pivot. Today's episode is resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Oh my.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

So Oracle is one of the most recent employers to lay off employees. From what I understand, it included thirty thousand employees via a 6 a.m. email. So today we are going to talk about resumes and LinkedIn profiles. And let's go ahead and get into this. So we're going to be talking about something that almost everyone dreads at some point in their career.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Uh-huh. Yeah. And if you've ever felt overwhelmed or confused or even frustrated trying to update yours, you are not alone. Okay? Because for many people, it's not just about formatting or wording, it's about figuring out how to clearly communicate your value. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you take years of experience, multiple roles, different responsibilities, and turn that into something that makes sense, stands out, and actually opens doors. Yeah. Well, that's what we're going to be talking about today. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Oh my. Oh my. And we'll be talking about those things, and it's not about perfection, it's not about overcomplication, but clarity and strategy. So let's get into this mindset shift. Yes, because that's so very important, right? Because before we even get into tactics, we need to address something important. Your resume and your LinkedIn profile are not just documents, they're marketing tools. They are marketing tools. They are designed to communicate. Yes, they're designed to communicate who you are professionally, what you do well, and the value you bring. Yeah. And here's where many people get stuck. They treat their resume like a job description. Yeah. Your resume is not a job description. It is not a list of duties, a summary of tasks. It is not a timeline of what you were responsible for. But employers and decision makers, they're not just looking for what you did. Yeah. So the shift is this. From responsibilities to results. Yeah. From tasks to outcomes. Yeah. From listing to positioning. Uh-huh. Yeah. Your resume should tell a clear and compelling story. Yeah. Not your entire life story. But a clear, focused narrative about your professional experience and direction. Uh-huh. Yeah. And that story should answer three questions. Three questions. What do you do? What are you known for? What results have you delivered? Uh-huh. Yeah. If someone reads your resume and still has to guess, it's not clear enough. So for instance, instead of writing responsible for managing projects and coordinating teams, shift it to led cross-functional projects that improved efficiency and reduced turnaround time by, and then put that percentage in there.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Do you hear the difference between those two? Yeah. One tells what you did, the other shows the impact. That's what makes your resume stronger. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. So let's talk about positioning versus listing. Because another common mistake is trying to include everything, right? Every role, every task, every detail. But your resume is not a place to prove how much you've done. It's a place to position yourself for where you are going. So be selective. Uh-huh. Yeah. Highlight the experiences that align with your next move, not just your past. Because a strong resume doesn't just reflect your history, it supports your direction. It supports your direction. And I want to talk about before we get into the LinkedIn uh profile, I want to talk about a few other things about your resume because some people have not had to do a resume in a very long time. I have talked to people who have been on the same job or with the same company for 20 years or more, right? And so let's talk about the heading of your resume, right? The heading of your resume is your name, your uh LinkedIn URL if you want to have that up there, your phone number, possibly your city and state. You do not need to put your address there. No one's going to send you any mail. They will send you email. So your name, your email address, your phone number. You may want to put your city and state, uh, but not your complete address, and then your LinkedIn URL. That is what goes on the heading of your resume. Okay? And then let's talk about the summary portion of your resume. The summary portion of your resume is just that. It's a summary of your experience. You can highlight some of your key skills in that area as well. Okay. And be mindful in terms of how far you're going back. Because, as I said earlier, you don't need to list every job, everything that you've done. Because in this job market, I will say this ageism is real. Okay. And so any professional uh resume writer will tell you you do not want to go back any further than 10 to 15 years of experience on your resume. Um, and you know, if there if you've been at the same company for more than that time, there's some workarounds with that. Uh, a professional resume writer would be able to help you with that. And then also your education. Now, if you've just recently graduated from college, then yes, your education can be toward the top of your resume above your professional experience. But if you graduated from college more than 10 years ago, you want to have your professional experience above your education. And then when you list your education, you don't have to put the dates there, okay? That's not really necessary. All right. And then another thing, I saw this recently, and I thought this person has not done their resume in quite some time. You know, back in the day at the bottom of the resume, we used to put references upon request. We don't need that. Don't put that on your resume, okay? That is no longer needed. All right. All right. So I just wanted to share those few things about the resume, and now we're gonna talk about the LinkedIn profile. So your LinkedIn profile is more than just an online resume, it's your professional presence, okay? It's often the first place someone, recruiters, hiring managers, that may be the first place that they go to learn more about you. If they're looking to fill a position, they will do what we call um a Boolean search, and they'll have keywords in there, and anybody's profile that has those keywords will populate in their search. And so that may be the first place that someone gets an idea of who you are, and within seconds, within seconds, guys, seconds, not minutes, seconds, they are forming an impression. So then the question becomes does your LinkedIn profile clearly communicate who you are and what you bring? Or does it leave people guessing? And your LinkedIn profile is important whether you are an employee looking for a new job, or even if you're an entrepreneur or a business owner, you still want to have a strong LinkedIn profile, okay? Your headline matters more than you think. Yeah. Some people just use their job title, and you know, that's not wrong. It's not a wrong thing to do to use your job title, but it's not strategic. It's not strategic. And your headline, guys, that's some valuable space in your LinkedIn profile. Your headline is valuable space, so it should speak to what you do, who you serve, or the value you bring. So think beyond your title. Think about your impact. Yes, your impact. And the next area is your about section. Your about section. This is where you bring your professional story to life. Uh-huh. Yeah. Not in a long, complicated way, but in a clear, confident, and authentic way. This is your opportunity to say, here's who I am. Here's what I do well. Here's what I care about. Here's how I create value. And here's something important. You don't have to sound like everyone else. You don't have to use formal language or complicated phrases. Clarity and authenticity will always stand out more than trying to sound impressive. And let me just say this too about the uh visual of your LinkedIn profile. Some people choose not to put their picture on their LinkedIn profile. I suggest putting your picture on your LinkedIn profile. If you are wondering if it could cause, say for instance, racism, right? Um guess what? They will find out what you look like eventually if they are going to pursue you. So go ahead and let them know who you are and what you look like. Yeah. The background uh banner that goes behind your picture. There's a generic LinkedIn background. And I often tell people when I see that you're not generic. So why would you want to have a generic background behind your picture? So I often suggest putting something industry related, whatever your industry is, put something industry related back there. So I just wanted to kind of touch on those things. Um, also, you can modify your LinkedIn URL. So the one that you have, the the uh the one that's the default, it will possibly be some form of your name with some weird numbers behind it, but you can personalize that URL so it is more in tune with who you are, okay? So just wanted to share those um quick uh snippets of information, okay? So let's talk about alignment, okay? Because your resume and your LinkedIn profile should not contradict each other, they should reinforce the same professional narrative, the same positioning, the same strengths, the same direction because consistency builds credibility, and I tell people this all the time: your resume and your LinkedIn profile should mirror each other, okay? All right, now let's talk about confidence in your communication because updating your resume and LinkedIn profile isn't just a technical exercise, guys. It is not just a technical exercise, okay? It's a confidence exercise. It's a confidence exercise, yeah. It requires you to own your experience, right? It requires you to articulate your value and then speak about your accomplishments without minimizing them, right? And for many people, this is the hardest part. But here's the truth. If you don't communicate your value clearly, you make it harder for others to recognize it. I am going to say that again. Here is the truth. If you do not communicate your value clearly, you make it harder for others to recognize it. Yes. And this brings us to something deeper. Confidence in your materials translates into confidence in your opportunities. Yeah. So I say keep it simple, but also keep it strategic. Yeah. Because you don't need to complicate the language, right? You don't need to overly design, uh, have overly designed templates or a long list of buzzwords. What you need is clarity, clear positioning, clear messaging, clear alignment with where you are going. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

So as we get ready to close this show today, I want you to think about your resume and your LinkedIn profile. And as you do, I want you to reflect on this. Am I positioning myself for where I want to go? Or just documenting where I've been. Yeah. Because your experience matters, your work matters, and how you communicate that matters too.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

So you don't need to overcomplicate it, you just need to be clear, intentional, and confident in what you bring to the table. Yeah. And when you do that, guys, your resume and your LinkedIn profile stop being stressful and they start becoming powerful tools that open doors. Yes, yes, yes. So if you've been laid off recently and you feel like you could use some assistance with your resume or your LinkedIn profile, feel free to contact us. Our information is in the show notes. Also, we'd like to thank our media director, Tyrone Sullivan, who does a fantastic job producing and editing each episode of the Purpose and the Pivot Podcast. He is such a blessing to us, guys. His information is also in the show notes. Yes, yes. Well, guys, until next time, be encouraged, enlightened, and empowered. I am C. Renee McLain. Thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Thank you for tuning in to the Purpose and the Pivot. If today's episode encouraged or inspired you, be sure to follow the show and share it with another woman who's navigating her own transition. For coaching support or to connect with C Renee McLean directly, visit McLean Career and Life Coaching. Or schedule a consultation using the link in the show notes. Remember, your purpose evolves, and you have permission to pivot. Until next time.