Question About LinkedIn and Companies You Have Worked For

How do you handle the Experience section of your LinkedIn profile when there is more than one name for your company in LinkedIn?

Ex: I worked for Maersk Inc. However, there is also a Maersk Line. Some of my recommendations come from Maersk Line. I have been including both companies in my experience, but this looks extremely unprofessional. This is true with more than one company on my profile. In some instances the names are not even close because the parent company's name is completely different.
You can check my profile to get a better understanding.

Anyone have this problem as well?

Thanks and God Bless,

G

Dear G:

From my standpoint, the name of your company, parent company and any subsidiaries with that root name (Maersk) is so unusual and distinctive, that it would not have raised an eyebrow at all. There are many companies such as Proctor & Gamble that have many brands under them that are totally different than the P&G name. If would not be unusual if you were in a position where you had visibility by these other entities, you might get a recommendation from one or more of these related companies that do not bear the same name as the actual entity you work for.

Moreover, I have been recommended by vendors, suppliers, ad agencies and others affiliated with companies for whom I've worked. The main thing is that they thought I was worthy of their recommendation and took the time to write one. If a prospective employer ever has a question about what my relationship was to these individuals at these other companies, then it's easily explained. I believe this would be the same in your case.

Another thing that sometimes occurs (especially in today's economy and it is prevalent in certain industries such as financial services), is that one company acquires or merges with another or as was the case with the company I work for, spins off from another company. More specifically, I worked for Cardinal Health for over three years, left, and after five years, returned. This was a "feather in my cap" and looked good on my resume, as this demonstrates that my prior employer valued my work enough to rehire me. Then Cardinal Health spun off to form CareFusion. Early on, it had no brand equity as it was newly-formed. Although it is a market leader today, I still note the original name (in a parenthetical like this) after "CareFusion Corp." so that it is clear that I was rehired.

Bottom line ... from my perspective, it does not look unprofessional or suspicious in any way. It may provoke a question from time to time, but I believe that you can easily address that. The important thing is to get as many recommendations from as many different types of work relationships (supervisor, head of department, peers, vendors, subordinates, co-workers, etc.) as possible.

I hope this helps put things in context and has ameliorated any concerns you have.

M2