Job wrapping on LinkedIn refers to the practice of bundling multiple roles and responsibilities under one job title. This allows professionals to fully showcase their varied experiences and skills gained in a role, rather than being limited to a potentially restrictive formal job title.
Why do people use job wrapping on LinkedIn?
There are several key reasons why professionals utilize job wrapping on their LinkedIn profiles:
- To fully reflect the scope of their work: Traditional job titles don’t always encompass the full range of responsibilities and achievements in a role. Job wrapping enables professionals to fully represent what they accomplished.
- To highlight transferable skills: By detailing their various responsibilities, professionals can better display transferrable skills that may not be apparent from a job title alone.
- For optimization and discovery: Wrapping multiple facets of a role into a headline allows for better optimization for keywords and aids discovery by recruiters or opportunities searching LinkedIn.
- Career progression and flexibility: Job wrapping can illustrate career growth and flexibility by showing progression of responsibilities over time within the same company.
- Personal branding: Used strategically, job wrapping provides the opportunity to self-define your brand and what skills or achievements you want to be known for.
Common examples of job wrapping on LinkedIn
Here are some common ways that professionals utilize job wrapping within their LinkedIn headline and profiles:
- “Digital Marketing Manager – SEO, Social Media, Email Marketing”
- “Product Manager – Strategy, Roadmap Planning, Stakeholder Engagement”
- “HR Business Partner – Talent Development, Performance Management, Recruiting”
- “Software Engineer – Frontend, Backend, APIs, Cloud Infrastructure”
- “Account Manager – Client Relations, Sales, Onboarding, Support”
Best practices for effective job wrapping
To leverage job wrapping successfully on LinkedIn, here are some top tips:
- Be specific – Use clear, distinctive keywords and responsibilities that define the scope of your role.
- Keep it concise – Aim for a tight headline that wraps 3-5 main responsibilities or skills maximum.
- Accuracy is key – You must have genuinely performed the responsibilities you include in your wrapped job title.
- Show evolution – Use job wrapping to demonstrate growth and change over time in a role.
- Highlight transferable abilities – Include keywords and skills that are valuable across roles and industries.
- Match to opportunity – Adapt job wrapping appropriately for the positions or opportunities you are targeting.
- Quantify and qualify – Use metrics, numbers, and context to quantify achievements where possible.
Pitfalls to avoid with job wrapping
While job wrapping can be beneficial when applied judiciously, there are some potential downsides to avoid:
- Misrepresenting roles – Job wrapping should never exaggerate or embellish actual responsibilities and achievements.
- Keyword stuffing – Simply packing as many buzzwords or skills as possible dilutes your profile.
- Too broad or vague – Generic terms like “strategy” or “operations” don’t convey meaningful information.
- Focusing on tools not skills – Listing software or tools used doesn’t communicate abilities and impact.
- Duplicating your resume – Avoid just porting over all responsibilities from your resume without summarizing.
- Inappropriate titles – Don’t include unofficial titles or internal jargon that don’t make sense externally.
Should you include job wrapping in your LinkedIn profile?
Here are some key considerations when deciding if job wrapping is right for your LinkedIn presence:
- Will it help me stand out? Evaluate if your formal job title already communicates your most relevant skills and experience.
- Do I legitimately perform these responsibilities? You must be able to back up and prove all components you include in your wrapped title.
- Is this common practice in my industry? The norms and expectations around job titles vary greatly across different fields.
- Am I tailoring it to my goals? Only wrap your job in ways that align with the positions, companies, or opportunities you are targeting.
- Does it reflect career growth? Look for overlaps between titles over time at the same company to illustrate increasing scope.
- Will I keep it up to date? Be sure you can maintain an accurate wrapped title as your role evolves.
Conclusion
Used strategically, job wrapping on LinkedIn can enable professionals to more fully represent the breadth of their experience, highlight transferable skills, and optimize their profile for discovery. However, job wrappers should avoid exaggeration, redundancy with resumes, and focus on showcasing relevant abilities.
Thoughtfully showcasing a wider scope through your wrapped job title can maximize your profile’s impact for career progression and opportunities. But this needs to be balanced with the need for accuracy and conciseness in your headline.
Key Takeaways
- Job wrapping refers to combining multiple responsibilities and achievements under one LinkedIn job title.
- Professionals utilize job wrapping to highlight transferable skills, optimize profiles, and demonstrate career progression.
- Effective job wrapping is concise, accurate, and tailored to your professional goals.
- Pitfalls to avoid include exaggeration, keyword stuffing, vagueness, and duplication from resumes.
- Thoughtfully using job wrapping can showcase a wider range of your most relevant skills and experiences.