How Hsiu-Fen Lin Was Found By Her Future Employer on Linkedin. Client Job Seeker Success Story

Hsiu-Fen Lin resigned as senior project manager after 7 years with a leading Insurance Company in Zurich. We worked together to improve her Linkedin profile —and through the influence of job titles and keywords, she earned more attention by recruiters.

Interview by Erica Kessler with Hsui-Fen Lin in Zurich.

Why where you looking for a Linkedin trainer?

My goal was to find a challenge role in the area of Project/Programm Manager.

I knew that most of the time, hiring managers look into Linkedin to explore more about me. I also knew that my profile on Linkedin should give a very good impression.

My colleaguegue, Min Wang a client of Kessler Social Media, recommended me to Erica Kessler. She believed that updating and optimizing my Linkedin profile and using it professionally is important. My goal was to position myself better, get found by recruiters, to expand my network, and deepen the relationships with interactions on Linkedin Messenger.

I continues to share my unique vision and experiences as a speaker, primarily focused on educating professionals through presentations and keynotes about the power of Linkedin.

This was prior to Erica’s coaching:

I stood out with the professional profile picture, which I took a few weeks before the training with photographer Peter Sturn in Zurich. And yes, this is how I am dressed most of the time at work. It was one of the first questions Erica asked.

How did the Career and Linkedin questionnaire help you prepare for your coaching? What was the value?

I had to think and consider my unique positioning and what kind of job I was looking for. I identified my focus and chose some of my success stories and on who could recommend my past work.

How was the first 3 hours of coaching?

Erica helped me position myself by asking relevant questions—such as, “How exactly should your next career step look? And, “Would you consider moving?” She coached, trained, and educated me on how to accomplish my goal. It was a good mix and helped me a lot.

What changed after the first coaching?

Erica inspired me and I was highly motivated. She could see and feel that I was not confident as a job seeker. Erica gave me confidence.

Erica’s style of coaching is very positive. She is patient and structured. She analyzed my situation and gave her opinion. She also gave options and let me choose the best solution for me.

“It was challenging to write my career story. Everyone can read it on Linkedin.”

How were the second 3 hours of coaching?

I did some research, further optimized my profile, and wrote all the copy on Word. I was happy that I could send the draft beforehand to Erica to review it. She gave me feedback and we discussed. This helped me a lot. She instructed me to post professionally on the Linkedin newsfeed and share an industry article by adding value.

Erica showed me how I should reply to comments. I could immediately see that my profile views increased. Erica showed me several possibilities on how to engage with Linkedin messenger which was one of my goals. I could confidently continue to build relationships with colleagues that I knew from the finance industry.

“Number of Linkedin searches increased.”

Erica told me that recruiters are using saved “search strings” daily with the Recruiter tool to find talent to hire. They are looking for job titles, keywords, languages, and more.

Since I quit my previous job, I chose to add a sentence for recruiters stating that I was open for a new opportunity at the end of the summary section.

We worked to make it easy for recruiters to find me by adding contact information. This strategy worked for me. Here’s what I wrote:

Please contact me if you are looking for a Project/Programm Manager in the Zurich area: +41 79 xxx xx xx or e-mail me at: xxxxxxx.lin@icloud.com

Linkedin InMail from a recruiter

A recruiter from Credit Suisse contacted me with a job offering with a nice and professional message. I was interested and replied. Then the normal recruitment process followed by sending the CV.

What were the 3 most helpful coaching tips?

I changed the job title after doing some research, optimized the headline, and added skills. I also added a background graphic with my favorite flowers which strengthened my personal brand and helped me stand out.

I learned that the summary section is my career story—that keywords and a clear positioning would help me find opportunities—and that I could add “open for a new challenge on my summary” to let people know how we could work together.

I’m a creative person and I liked to add a background graphic and make my profile more lively. I also like standing out from other job seekers.

Erica introduced me to her IT network in the finance industry and also to Monika Schweizer who opened a door to a headhunter.

“It helped me to get introduced by Erica’s network.”

Five months after Erica’s coaching I started to work at Credit Suisse on IT Business side in Zurich.

“A recruiter from Credit Suisse found me on Linkedin and contacted me.”

A special thank you to Hsiu-Fen for sharing your success story to inspire others. It was fantastic to work with you. I wish you further success and all the best.

Specials thanks to Ming Wang, Founder Route2China, and Monika Schweizer, Founder Outdoor Fitness, Personal Trainer, Männedorf/Switzerland.

What are your experiences and success stories during the job search on Linkedin? Please share below. Thank you.

If you like to explore the opportunities as an Executive job seeker on Linkedin please contact me to discuss the opportunities.

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Erica Kessler