This article explains the steps to fill out your professional information with some examples
Your professional information is what Wellbeing Hub clients will see: most of them are not familiar with you, your experiences and expertise, therefore it is extremely important to create a good profile. This article will guide you through the process with examples of good (and not so good) profiles.
Please note: you're more likely to get client bookings by providing a detailed description of your background, services and specialities, so we really advise you to devote some time to giving clients a strong insight into your services.
1. Access Professional Information
1. In the top-right of your professional Kara Connect account, click your name and then click Settings.
2. On the left-hand side, click Professional information.
3. Click Edit with the pencil icon to the right of Professional details to upload your picture, edit your job title, specialities, primary work categories, languages spoken, and the About me section.
4. Scroll down and click the Add Eduction + icon to the right of Education to enter details pertaining to your education.
5. Below Eduction you can see About me section. Click the Edit with the pencil icon to the right of About me to write a couple of paragraphs about yourself as a professional.
6. After you have completed the steps above, you can see what your profile will look like to clients by clicking Profile preview at the top.
For more information about each section, please read the rest of the article below.
2. Professional Details
Professional details include: your picture, job title, specialities, primary work categories, languages & location.
Your clients will be able to see your profile preview first and then expand your profile to learn more about you.
Profile Preview shows your picture, job titles, your sessions type (online, in-person or both); your location (City, Country); languages you speak; some of your specialities and your closest available slot.
When your clients click on View Profile they can see the rest of your specialities; read more about you; see your education; your address for in-person appointments and its Google Maps location if you provide in-person sessions; see your available slots and place a booking.
2.1 Profile Picture
Your picture is the face of your profile, so here are some guidelines that we recommend following:
- Your face is clearly visible: keep in mind that clients can't enlarge your picture, so your face should be clear, visible and recognisable in the circle appearing above your name.
Avoid pictures that are too close-up; pictures taken from below or from above; full height pictures; group pictures; pictures in which you're wearing sunglasses.
Use a picture showing your face, full-face or slightly turned, neck and part of your shoulders (think Roman busts), your expression neutral or smiling. - Neutral setting: neutral doesn't mean boring! Use a picture in which you wear bright colours or that was taken in a nice place. However, your background and setting shouldn't be distracting or too informal.
Avoid pictures taken in a club, at parties, mirror selfies, pictures of you wearing leisure wear, swimsuit, Halloween costume etc; pictures of you smoking or drinking.
Use a picture with a plain background; taken outdoors, in an office environment, in a studio or a picture with a blurred background. - Good quality: your picture doesn't have to be professionally taken (although it is great if you have those!) but it should have decent quality.
Avoid pictures that are pixelated, compressed; picture with bad lighting; photos with filters; pictures taken with a web camera or frontal camera of your phone, and photos of photos.
Use professionally taken photos; photos taken with the main camera of your phone; digital camera; digital scans of physical photos.
Good examples:
All three pictures follow the guidelines above:
- The face is visible and recognisable;
- The setting is neutral;
- The quality is decent
Bad examples:
Let's look at the examples above:
- Who is this guy on the top of a mountain in the first picture? It's a great photo but unfortunately it doesn't work as your profile picture: clients should be able to see your face.
- The second picture is a great one for your socials but again - it doesn't work for your professional profile: firstly, it is impossible to understand which one of those ladies is you; secondly, the setting is inappropriate: remember, first and foremost, you profile should look professional;
- The third picture has poor quality and is a bit too close up: remember of Roman busts and try to include your full head and a bit of shoulders when cropping, it will most likely improve quality too!
What do I do if I can't upload my picture?
Most likely, your picture is in a wrong format. Kara Connect only supports .png and .jpeg formats. There are a couple of ways around it: you can take a screenshot of your picture and upload the screenshot instead; use an editing tool like Photoshop or an online converter.
What do I do if I can't save my picture?
Most likely your picture is too long, try cropping it to make it more square and upload the cropped version instead.
2.2 Job Title
You can add the maximum of two job titles, both of them will be shown on your profile preview. You can choose from the list of suggested job titles or create your own. To create your own job title, type it and press Enter: it should appear there.
You might want to create your own job title if:
- We don't have your job title on the list: our list is of job titles is a suggestion but you don't need to limit yourself by it.
- You need to include more than two job titles: for example you are a Psychologist but you also want to mention that you can do Career Coaching and a Financial Coaching. In this case, you can choose Psychologist from the list and then create a custom job title "Career Coach and Financial Coach" by typing it into the job title field and pressing Enter.
2.3 Specialities
Your specialities are areas of your expertise and issue you can help your clients with. We don't have any requirements regarding how many you need to include, however, there are some general guidelines that you can take into consideration when you're filling out this section:
- Try to keep the number of specialities between 4 and 20, however this is not a rule and sometimes just one or two specialities say enough;
- Only add topics that you can give advice on: we understand that all areal of well-being are connected, and improvement in mental health might improve your client's diet, sleep, career and other areas of their life, as well as regular exercising might be beneficial for mental health. However, we would advise against including specialities that are not directly related to your areas of expertise as it will make it more difficult for clients to find the right support;
- Don't limit yourself with specialities we provide: you can create a custom speciality by typing it in and pressing Enter.
Sometimes when you create a custom speciality, a different one from the list is selected after you press Enter - that's a little bug that we're working on fixing. Just start typing again and you should see the speciality that you just created on the list, now you can just click on it to add it!
2.3 Primary Work Categories
Primary Work Categories are designed to allow clients to view professionals in each of 5 categories:
- Mental Health;
- Family & Relationship;
- Physical Wellness;
- Career Guidance;
- Finance & Legal
They're designed to make it easier for clients to navigate their Wellbeing Hub and find the right support. We recommend choosing one or two Primary Work Categories that are the most relevant to you to avoid confusion.
2.4. Languages Spoken
Here you should add all the languages that you speak that that you're comfortable doing sessions in.
Your list of languages is available to clients and it plays an important part in choosing a professional.
2.5 Location
This location will be visible on your profile in the format City, Country regardless of whether you provide in-person appointments or not.
I don't see clients in person and I don't want to disclose my home address, what do I do?
As mentioned above, your full address won't be visible, however we understand that you might not want to share it. Instead you can add a random address in your city: it could be a shopping centre, a cafe or just a house on the main street. Unfortunately the address has to be precise (house number, street name, city) but only the city will be visible to clients.
3. Education
This section is related to your education and is available for clients when they expand your profile.
You don't need to upload any of your diplomas here but it is a good idea to include your education to build credibility with your potential clients.
Add your professional degree, certifications, courses and other qualifications as well as any other education in other areas that you think is relevant.
4. About me
This section should describe you as a professional in more detail. There are no requirements regarding or word count but we feel like 1.5 - 2 paragraphs is a sweet spot.
You have a full creative freedom here but here are some tips that you can use to write your bio. Remember, those are guidelines only!
When creating a biography and description of your services for potential clients, there are a few tips to keep in mind:
1. Be clear and concise: Your biography and description should be easy to understand and provide a clear picture of who you are and what you do.
2. Highlight your unique qualities: What sets you apart from other professionals in your field? Be sure to highlight your unique qualities and what you can offer to potential clients.
3. Use a professional tone: Your biography and description should be written in a professional tone and free of errors.
4. Provide relevant information: Make sure the information you include is relevant to your target audience. What are they looking for and how can you help them?
5. Focus on your audience: it is good to highlight your experience and how it got you where you are now but put the emphasis on your clients and what you can to for them.
By following these tips, you can create a comprehensive biography and description of your services that will effectively communicate your expertise and value to potential clients.