HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile, Cristina Falcão

HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

December 15, 2010 by Erica Swallow 183

0
in Share

Share on Tumblr

email

share

in Share0

Share on Tumblr

email

share

Ads by Google
Vidro Partido iDEVICE? - Reparados na hora A Melhor Solução! iLoja® Qualidade. Garantia, Rapidez
www.iloja.pt

The Better Profiles Series is supported by Gillette. Learn more about Gillette and its products at Gillette.com.

 

With more than 85 million members in more than 200 countries, LinkedIn is a professional social network worth using, understanding and optimizing.

After you’ve covered the basics of setting up your LinkedIn presence, features including recommendations, applications, LinkedIn Answers, and the Resume Builder can add value to your profile. Many of these highly useful features, though, are often overlooked or underused by newcomers.

We spoke with four LinkedIn aficionados to get their top advice on making the best use of these tools. Read on for their thoughts and let us know which tips you’d add for optimizing LinkedIn profiles in the comments below.

---

Cover the Basics

---

 

 

 

 

The first step to spiffing up your LinkedIn profile is to fill in as much information about your work experience as possible. It’s your online resume; pay as much attention to it as you would your cover letter or paper resume.

Sharlyn Lauby, president of Internal Talent Management, HR blogger and guest contributor for Mashable, believes that a person’s LinkedIn profile should, at minimum, reflect his or her current situation. That includes an up-to-date headline along with information about his or her most recent position. A recent photo and contact information are also musts.

If you’ve covered those bases, our experts recommend focusing on making connections, joining groups, getting recommendations and posting status updates. Once again, the focus should be on quality additions in each of these areas.

“[A status update] is a great place to share an article of interest or something new you’ve been working on. People do comment on status updates, so it’s a nice way to start a conversation,” says Lauby.

If all else fails, just follow LinkedIn’s built-in status bar for recommendations on how to complete your profile. When you hit the 100% mark, though, don’t think you’re finished; there’s plenty more to be done.

---

Ask for Meaningful Recommendations

---

 

 

 

 

Astute recruiters aren’t going to take your word for granted when you describe your top-notch abilities. Instead, just as in offline recruiting, they will want to hear from those who have worked with you and have a grasp on your working style, personality and skills. That’s where recommendations come in.

Lauby notes that gathering recommendations is all about quality over quantity. “If someone has dozens of recommendations that are generic in nature, it’s not as valuable as a handful that are specific about a person’s experience and contribution.”

Focus on asking for meaningful recommendations from your supervisors and colleagues who work closest to you. Before sending out a request on LinkedIn, approach each contact in person to explain the importance of his or her recommendation. Adding a personal touch to your request will probably result in a better response rate, as impersonal, default requests can sometimes fall on deaf ears.

Be sure to thank each of your colleagues who recommend you on LinkedIn, and consider returning the favor with a follow-up recommendation.

---

Use Value-Added Applications

---

 

 

 

 

One of the hidden jewels on LinkedIn is its ability to incorporate applications. Check out its Application Directory for a taste of apps that can spice up your profile.

Here are a few of my personal favorites:

• SlideShare Presentations: If you’re a public speaker or publish lots of reports, SlideShare is a useful tool for getting the word out about your work. If you don’t have a SlideShare account, get one. If you do, this app is a great way to showcase your most recent reports or presentations on your LinkedIn profile.
• WordPress: Add personal flair to your LinkedIn profile by importing your latest WordPress blog posts onto your profile. You can choose to display all posts or only those tagged “linkedin.”
• Tweets: If you’re a huge LinkedIn buff with a passion for Twitter, Tweets is a great Twitter client for accessing the microblogging service right from LinkedIn. Plus, you can choose to display your most recent tweets on your profile.
• My Travel: Powered by TripIt, this app enables you to see where your professional network is traveling and post your upcoming trips. It then shows you who in your network will be close to you on your travels.

These apps give visitors to your profile a better idea of who you are as a person and job candidate. Lauby also recommends checking out the Events app, which enables you to discover professional events and indicate which ones you’re attending, giving you more opportunities to connect with fellow attendees.

---

Become an Expert With LinkedIn Answers

---

 

 

 

 

LinkedIn Answers is a Q&A platform that enables members to demonstrate their business acumen by answering questions from other members. When questioners choose another user’s answer as best, that user gains points of expertise. These points rank members on the Answers leaderboard, called “This Week’s Top Experts.”

We asked three of this week’s top experts about their best practices on using the product. Each of these experts spend a few hours per day answering up to 50 questions daily, which is the maximum for 24 hours.

Cristina Falcão, lawyer and pharmaceutical manager at Farmácia F. in Portugal, says that the biggest reason for using Answers is networking. “‘Expertise’ [points] is given by the person who asks and categorizes a question. Networking is about meeting people, sharing knowledge, and helping each other,” she said. “I enjoy learning from other professionals and the input from other users’ real life experiences is priceless.” For Falcão, Answers is a platform for demonstrating expertise, as well as a platform for getting answers to her own pressing questions.

“I consider it my daily marketing investment,” said Christine Hueber, a social media and search marketing strategist, referring to her activity on LinkedIn Answers. She said she usually answers questions until she reaches the daily maximum. Her dedication has paid off thus far, as she now sources most of her clients from LinkedIn. She explained:

“Since I started focusing on Answers about a year ago, all of my new clients I’ve gained either directly or indirectly through Answers, since my ranking and demonstrated expertise is very impressive to them. Plus, it’s brought other opportunities my way, like giving presentations on LinkedIn, being featured in YouTube videos, being interviewed by people like you, etc.”

Hueber isn’t alone in having benefited from being an active Answers user. Dinesh Rãmkrishna, NeST technologies business development manager, agreed that his input has been rewarded in the form of “connections, friends, well wishers, business queries and job offers.”

All three experts recommend answering questions in areas that you are well-experienced in — they also get lots of great feedback for answering questions about how to use LinkedIn, in general.

---

Use LinkedIn’s Resume Builder Tool

---

 

 

 

 

Remember when crafting the perfect resume entailed sitting at your computer for hours, using the perfect action verbs and nitpicking the formatting? Sadly, much of that process has remained unchanged for decades, but formatting is getting a bit easier, with tools like LinkedIn’s Resume Builder.

The tool enables LinkedIn users to craft resumes by simply choosing a template and customizing the content. Lauby commented on Resume Builder’s usability:

“It’s incredibly easy to use, and I was very impressed with the number of different resume formats available. Keep in mind, the quality of the resume is directly attributed to the quality of information on your profile. If people want to take full advantage of this feature, they will need to keep their profiles updated regularly with the information they ultimately want on their resumes.”

If updating your resume in Microsoft Word, again and again, is one of the monotonous tasks you’d like to shake, check out Resume Builder the next time an update is needed.

These recommendations will help LinkedIn users utilize their profiles as much as possible. Which tips would you add? Let us know in the comments.

---

Series Supported by Gillette

 

---

The Better Profile Series is supported by Gillette. Learn more about Gillette and its products at Gillette.com.

---

More Tech Resources from Mashable:

---

- HOW TO: Create Your Own Customized Short URL
- HOW TO: Customize Your Background for the New Twitter
- 21 Creative Blogger Bio Pages
- 7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web
- HOW TO: Enhance Your Online Presence with Video

Image courtesy of Flickr, Lars Plougmann & tychay

The Best Holiday Social Media Campaigns of 2011, Cristina Falcão

Live Events Aren’t Dead

The holidays also gave us live social events from flash mobs to human Christmas trees. Yes, I said human Christmas trees. Cristina Falcão of Portugal told me, “It was a one-day event in Lisbon where we all were human Christmas trees, carrying one widget light around, shaking hands and reconnecting to the meaning of solidarity in very tough times. Besides making us all get out of our shells and actually recognizing that none of us is alone in these difficult times, we saved on trees, on electricity and we managed to contribute to one of the biggest charities in Portugal – “Banco da Fome” (Bank for the hungry) that feeds thousands of people each day.”

I asked her if there were any pictures of the event, but she said, “No, unfortunately no one remembered taking photos, we were so “children like” that day.” Sounds like an IRL event that transcended our need for technology to be connected. 

Those are just a few of the good things in social I see happening this holiday season. What are some of the things you’ve seen that you thought were innovative, amusing or inspiring? I’d love to hear some of your choices. In the meantime, have a very happy and social holiday season!

 

 

http://socialmediaclub.org/blogs/from-the-clubhouse/best-holiday-social-media-campaigns-2011

In a repeated game, like Personalized Medicine ,each player has the opportunity to establish a reputation for cooperation

 

Personalized Medicine (PM) is not about having personal prescriptions delivered at home – PM is about a drug that suits you because you have genetic profile A; your neighbor has genetic profile B; what serves you will not serve him.

PM is the result of the mapping of the entire human genome and the possibility of avoiding illness by prevention. We now talk WELLNESS instead of ILLNESS. That is personalized medicine!

It is not about a new drug – it is about all the structures that will make that new drug work.

PM will involve cooperation between many players or stakeholders as you wish – it is no longer just about pharma – it is about pharma and all the other necessary services.

It is about a game of cooperation, coordination, communication, between all the stakeholders’, including the patient, insurance companies, remote control technology, etc.

Mixed strategies mean more than one Nash equilibrium

It is about the change that PM means.

PM is a disruptive innovation that will require the development of new business models. Just as outsourcing and M&A were disruptive changes to pharma companies.

The Bask country and “Tecnalia” is a PM pilot project – Half the Bask country is now “living PM.”

NASH EQUILIBRIUM

Nash equilibrium is a fundamental concept in the theory of games and the most widely used method of predicting the outcome of a strategic interaction in the social sciences. A game (in strategic or normal form) consists of the following three elements: a set of players, a set of actions (or strategies) available to each player, and a payoff (or utility) function for each player. Strategic interaction occurs in many aspects of life meaning situations in which company A strategy depends on what strategy company B will have.

In a repeated game, each player has the opportunity to establish a reputation for cooperation, and thereby encourage other players to do the same. The factor that might potentially generate cooperation in the current period is that cooperation now will help generate cooperation in the future; but if there is no future, this mechanism is inoperative.

Nash equilibrium is applied to business strategy – please read Harvard’s several papers on the subject. 

A Red, Red Rose

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mil

 

 

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

 

WHY I HATE RELIGION, BUT LOVE JESUS - Jefferson Bethke

• View Bio

Personalized Medicine –A Game with More Than One Nash Equilibrium

Contributor: Cristina Falcão 
Posted: 01/12/2012  12:00:00 AM EST 

Rate this Column: (3.6 Stars | 13 Votes)  0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Tags: personalized medicine | Cristina Falcão | personalised medicine | human genome 

There is a time and the time is now and is right for me… (1)

Welcome to the age of personalized medicine. With the mapping of the entire human genome, completed in 2003, many doors were unlocked and one of them was personalized medicine – prescription of tailored drugs and therapies based on our specific genetic code.

The key benefits of PM (Personalized Medicine) are better diagnoses and earlier interventions, more efficient drug development, and more effective therapies – in the words of the honorable Mr. Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) - “Personalized Medicine means knowing what works, knowing why it works, knowing whom it works for, and applying the knowledge for patients”.

PM is:

• Personalized, because it is based on an understanding of how genetic variation drives individual treatment
• Extrapolative, because it is able to identify what conditions a person might contract in the future and how will respond to a given treatment, thus enabling a tailored health strategy
• Defensive, because it shifts the focus from illness to wellness
• Involving, because it empowers patients to make informed choices and take responsibility for their own health.

Index:  Main Changes Affecting Health Care, the Stakeholders, the Importance of Training, the Payers View, Governments, FDA, EMEA  

Three Main Changes Affecting Health Care:

New Actors and New Relationships

Consumers can get health information from the Internet, social networking sites, fellow patients, and chat rooms (Miller, 2010).

Remote monitoring devices and mobile health applications allow people to monitor their own weight, blood pressure, pulse, and sugar levels, and send results electronically to health care providers. Patients can store and have access to their medical records online.

The Digital Revolution

Websites such as WebMD.com, MedlinePlus.gov, and many others, answer questions and provide links to discussion groups about particular illnesses. Social networks such as PatientsLikeMe represent another way to share information among chronic condition sufferers.

Genomics

Scientists have made extensive progress over the last two decades in understanding human genetics and the role of proteins and chemicals in gene behavior (Goodman, 2009) and researchers have made progress in determining who is most/less likely to benefit from possible treatments.

Stakeholders

PM is no longer about the pharma industry alone – the players/stakeholders go far beyond the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, presenting a new challenge in assembling diverse technologies and partners working together. Success in this space will require new approaches, new relationships, and new ways of thinking.

PM is a disruptive innovation that will require the development of new business models. Collaboration, Coordination and Communication will be a key to success and all these players/stakeholders will need to co-operate:

• Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology companies
• Diagnostics companies - DTC (direct-to-consumer) genetic testing products for in-home use are empowering consumers with real-time information, enabling them to predict their medical risks, detect disease earlier, and better manage their health status
• Consumer Products Companies - food and beverage companies have long fortified their products with vitamins and other nutrients, and through advancements in science and food manufacturing, they will increasingly tailor their products
• Information Technology (IT)
• Telecomand Mobile Health Systems - one good example is the Bask company, Tecnalia, which covers half of the Basque Country in Spain with remote monitoring. They use a system that is conscious of its surroundings, with networks of sensors and communications, and a mobile robot for therapeutic treatment and care support, enabling elderly/disabled/ill people to increase their independence and to stay a longer part of their lives in their own homes while being able to look after themselves.
• Infrastructure Supporting
• Integration of Data and Clinical Records
• Insurance Companies
• Primary Care Practitioners
• Hospitals
• PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers) will sell personalized medicine services to employers, which are willing to pay them higher fees for improved health outcomes and lower prescription costs. They act as an intermediary between payers and all the other stakeholders in the health-care system. Their offer of new services, such as increasing patient compliance and participation in drug-related decisions with the use of diagnostics and comparative effectiveness can help save their clients’ money

Training of Primary Care Practitioners

Physicians and nurses will need training in genomics and proteomics and their clinical applications if they are to remain relevant in an era of personalized medicine. Without the right tools and the training required to use them effectively, the personalized medicine market will not advance in the provider space or elsewhere. Universities will have to update their programs to educate the next generation of physicians and nurses in the complex issues raised by genomic and proteomic science.

Payers View and Reimbursement Schemes

The payers’ approach to PM is critical, as their reimbursement schemes will influence diverse business models. The fact that in U.S., 25% of individuals change health plans each year (due to employment-based insurance), will make payers rethink coverage.  PM has the potential to reduce payers’ costs in the long term by providing the precise diagnostics required, avoiding unnecessary or ineffective treatments, preventing adverse events, developing prevention strategies, and delivering more effective, targeted therapeutics, and, if PM succeeds in preventing/successfully treating widespread chronic conditions, such as diabetes, the cost savings can be enormous.

Governments, FDA, EMEA 

Governments are the healthcare major funders; therefore, they will play a key role in the progress of PM.

One of the goals of the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative is to accelerate the development of approved biomarkers and related diagnostics. A joint work with EMEA could set global standards that would allow that once a new drug was approved in Europe it would be automatically approved in U.S and vice-versa, streamlining the approval process.

Current EU regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals is ready to deal with PM and some new products have already been authorized. The “Conference of European Perspectives in Personalized Medicine” (12 – 13 May 2011), concluded that there are still many challenges to be addressed at European, national, regional and local levels. The Conference was particularly timely within the context of the development of the Common Strategic Framework (CSF), which will govern EU research and Innovation funding from 2014.

Adriana Jenkins diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer, credited personalized medicine treatment for living nearly ten years more.

There is a time and the time is now and is right for me…

• View Bio

Personalized Medicine –A Game with More Than One Nash Equilibrium

Contributor: Cristina Falcão 
Posted: 01/12/2012  12:00:00 AM EST 

Rate this Column: (3.6 Stars | 13 Votes)  0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Tags: personalized medicine | Cristina Falcão | personalised medicine | human genome 

There is a time and the time is now and is right for me… (1)

Welcome to the age of personalized medicine. With the mapping of the entire human genome, completed in 2003, many doors were unlocked and one of them was personalized medicine – prescription of tailored drugs and therapies based on our specific genetic code.

The key benefits of PM (Personalized Medicine) are better diagnoses and earlier interventions, more efficient drug development, and more effective therapies – in the words of the honorable Mr. Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) - “Personalized Medicine means knowing what works, knowing why it works, knowing whom it works for, and applying the knowledge for patients”.

PM is:

• Personalized, because it is based on an understanding of how genetic variation drives individual treatment
• Extrapolative, because it is able to identify what conditions a person might contract in the future and how will respond to a given treatment, thus enabling a tailored health strategy
• Defensive, because it shifts the focus from illness to wellness
• Involving, because it empowers patients to make informed choices and take responsibility for their own health.

Index:  Main Changes Affecting Health Care, the Stakeholders, the Importance of Training, the Payers View, Governments, FDA, EMEA  

Three Main Changes Affecting Health Care:

New Actors and New Relationships

Consumers can get health information from the Internet, social networking sites, fellow patients, and chat rooms (Miller, 2010).

Remote monitoring devices and mobile health applications allow people to monitor their own weight, blood pressure, pulse, and sugar levels, and send results electronically to health care providers. Patients can store and have access to their medical records online.

The Digital Revolution

Websites such as WebMD.com, MedlinePlus.gov, and many others, answer questions and provide links to discussion groups about particular illnesses. Social networks such as PatientsLikeMe represent another way to share information among chronic condition sufferers.

Genomics

Scientists have made extensive progress over the last two decades in understanding human genetics and the role of proteins and chemicals in gene behavior (Goodman, 2009) and researchers have made progress in determining who is most/less likely to benefit from possible treatments.

Stakeholders

PM is no longer about the pharma industry alone – the players/stakeholders go far beyond the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, presenting a new challenge in assembling diverse technologies and partners working together. Success in this space will require new approaches, new relationships, and new ways of thinking.

PM is a disruptive innovation that will require the development of new business models. Collaboration, Coordination and Communication will be a key to success and all these players/stakeholders will need to co-operate:

• Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology companies
• Diagnostics companies - DTC (direct-to-consumer) genetic testing products for in-home use are empowering consumers with real-time information, enabling them to predict their medical risks, detect disease earlier, and better manage their health status
• Consumer Products Companies - food and beverage companies have long fortified their products with vitamins and other nutrients, and through advancements in science and food manufacturing, they will increasingly tailor their products
• Information Technology (IT)
• Telecomand Mobile Health Systems - one good example is the Bask company, Tecnalia, which covers half of the Basque Country in Spain with remote monitoring. They use a system that is conscious of its surroundings, with networks of sensors and communications, and a mobile robot for therapeutic treatment and care support, enabling elderly/disabled/ill people to increase their independence and to stay a longer part of their lives in their own homes while being able to look after themselves.
• Infrastructure Supporting
• Integration of Data and Clinical Records
• Insurance Companies
• Primary Care Practitioners
• Hospitals
• PBMs (Pharmacy Benefit Managers) will sell personalized medicine services to employers, which are willing to pay them higher fees for improved health outcomes and lower prescription costs. They act as an intermediary between payers and all the other stakeholders in the health-care system. Their offer of new services, such as increasing patient compliance and participation in drug-related decisions with the use of diagnostics and comparative effectiveness can help save their clients’ money

Training of Primary Care Practitioners

Physicians and nurses will need training in genomics and proteomics and their clinical applications if they are to remain relevant in an era of personalized medicine. Without the right tools and the training required to use them effectively, the personalized medicine market will not advance in the provider space or elsewhere. Universities will have to update their programs to educate the next generation of physicians and nurses in the complex issues raised by genomic and proteomic science.

Payers View and Reimbursement Schemes

The payers’ approach to PM is critical, as their reimbursement schemes will influence diverse business models. The fact that in U.S., 25% of individuals change health plans each year (due to employment-based insurance), will make payers rethink coverage.  PM has the potential to reduce payers’ costs in the long term by providing the precise diagnostics required, avoiding unnecessary or ineffective treatments, preventing adverse events, developing prevention strategies, and delivering more effective, targeted therapeutics, and, if PM succeeds in preventing/successfully treating widespread chronic conditions, such as diabetes, the cost savings can be enormous.

Governments, FDA, EMEA 

Governments are the healthcare major funders; therefore, they will play a key role in the progress of PM.

One of the goals of the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative is to accelerate the development of approved biomarkers and related diagnostics. A joint work with EMEA could set global standards that would allow that once a new drug was approved in Europe it would be automatically approved in U.S and vice-versa, streamlining the approval process.

Current EU regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals is ready to deal with PM and some new products have already been authorized. The “Conference of European Perspectives in Personalized Medicine” (12 – 13 May 2011), concluded that there are still many challenges to be addressed at European, national, regional and local levels. The Conference was particularly timely within the context of the development of the Common Strategic Framework (CSF), which will govern EU research and Innovation funding from 2014.

Adriana Jenkins diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer, credited personalized medicine treatment for living nearly ten years more.

There is a time and the time is now and is right for me…