One thing that I find interesting on LinkedIn is when I look up a person that I’ve met and they have more than one profile setup.  Aside from the fact that this practice is technically forbidden by the LinkedIn Terms of Service, it makes me wonder how it happened.  I’ve come up with four possibilities:

1. It was an accident.  They didn’t remember that they had already created a profile a long time ago so they create a new one.  If they don’t try to use the same email address, they may never know that they’ve done this!
2. The person thinks they need to setup a new profile every time they change jobs…A “starting with a clean slate” approach.
3. They can’t remember the email address/password combination they used to create the old account, so they just create a new profile.
4. They consciously are trying to separate two (or more) different parts of their life.

Here’s the problem…you are diluting your brand!

Just accept it.  You are a single human being who has a variety of skills and experiences; and you, the “brand”, encapsulate a unique combination of those skills and experiences.

Use LinkedIn to celebrate your entire package……that is the core of your personal brand!  As a former recruiter I’ve talked to many job seekers who have told me that they wish employers would see them for what they can do and not only for what they’ve done in the past.  This is your chance!

One very cool feature on LinkedIn is the “Summary” section.  This is the place where you can demonstrate to a potential employer or client exactly how the dots connect.  Use this section to answer the question “Tell me about yourself?”.   This very common interview question normally relies upon, well, getting an interview!  Using the Summary section on your profile to answer that question sets the stage for someone as they look over the rest of your profile from the perspective that you create.  AND this could happen while you are sleeping!!

I am always amazed that people just skip over this very valuable section of their profile and merely list their work history.  Think about it, if you present that you are only as good as your work history, how can you expect a potential employer to give you the opportunity to grow?

So, if you have multiple profiles, I encourage you to consider yourself a total package and to leverage that fact effectively in a single, powerful profile.

There are other problems with multiple profiles including connection dilution/confusion and group affiliations that can be problematic so this is just the first of several upcoming posts about LinkedIn profile basic best practices.  Stay tuned!