Leveraging Photos, Videos, and Presentations to Inspire and Hire

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Whether you’re reading a LinkedIn Influencer post, checking out a SlideShare presentation, or watching news clips — rich media informs, influences, and inspires us everyday.

We sat down with George Corbin, the senior vice president of digital at Marriott International to find out how and why he leverages photos, videos, and slideshows within his profile to not only showcase his team’s work and successes, but also to attract top talent.

What inspires you as a leader within your organization?

The most rewarding experience is identifying a major new business threat or opportunity, rallying a team around it, and then watching people swallow their fears, embrace it, and take action — and then coming out on the other side with a new business opportunity that is tremendously successful. This creates energy, motivation, and a culture that people want to be a part of. The right people make all the difference in this equation, as this is the business crucible where your next generation of leaders is born.

Why do you think it's important to showcase your professional achievements through rich media on your LinkedIn profile?

LinkedIn has dropped the traditional barriers that used to make finding and matching job seekers with employers so inefficient and hit-or-miss difficult. As an employer, LinkedIn has now made search virtually frictionless. Therefore, the challenge has shifted from “being found” to “proving you’re the right fit.” It’s a competitive job market out there, so this goes both ways: job seekers need to show they’re the right candidate, and as an employer I know you have more career options than ever, so I need to prove that my company is the right choice for you.

In this newly networked labor market, savvy job seekers and employers both understand that we have shifted to “don’t just tell me…show me.” We have evolved from job and resume boards to professional showcasing.

What advice would you give to someone looking to begin building or improving his or her professional profile on LinkedIn?

For job seekers, don’t think of LinkedIn as just your online resume — think of it as your professional brand page. This means showing the outputs of your work, demonstrating your insights, and providing objective evidence of your accomplishments. This is where rich media can make such a difference. If you’re a designer, show your work.

If you’re a consultant, show how your work has impacted your client. Did you
give a presentation at an industry conference? Show it! It will give me an immediate sense of how you think, speak, and act. For employers, we have to demonstrate that the work our company does resonates with you. You need to know that you will be part of something big, important, and personally rewarding, and our job is to convince you. For example, I lead the digital area for Marriott. Now, if you’re a web designer or a mobile product manager, Marriott may not be top of mind for you in your job search. If you read that Internet Retailer ranked us among the top retailers in mobile revenue, would you view us in a new light? (And did you know that we’re hiring?) We’re seeing that this kind of information works.

I think we’re at the early stage of this shift, and LinkedIn’s new rich media tools are a real boost to helping both sides of the employment market make their case to one another in a more tangible way. I’m looking forward to the next stage in the evolution of this global exchange for professional matchmaking.

Adding rich media content to your profile is easy—