LinkedIn has become one of the most important platforms for job seekers and recruiters alike.
It’s a place where you can build connections with people who can help you get interviews, find mentors and establish yourself as an expert in your field. But if you’re not using LinkedIn correctly, all those benefits might be lost on you. Here are some tips to make sure your profile is optimized so hiring managers will notice it:
Create a good profile.
Your LinkedIn profile is your professional face to the world. It’s what people see when they Google you, and it should be designed to make you look good.
It’s not enough just to have a decent picture; what matters most is how well-executed your profile is overall. Your headline, summary and experience section should be written with care; don’t just copy/paste them from other sites! And don’t forget about the skills section–it’s one of LinkedIn’s most powerful tools for helping people find jobs or connect with new colleagues.
If this sounds like too much work (or if you lack confidence), consider hiring me as an expert editor/writer who can help craft a great online presence for yourself!
Add a professional photo that’s updated regularly.
- Make sure your photo is professional. A good rule of thumb is to choose a headshot that resembles how you’d like to be perceived by others. If you’re applying for a job in sales, for example, it wouldn’t make sense for your profile picture to be an action shot of you skiing down a mountain with friends or surfing on the beach–these images may feel more appropriate if they were posted on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram (and even then, they should still be carefully curated).
- Update regularly! LinkedIn allows users who want access to their own profile data such as photos and job titles/descriptions etc., but other users won’t see these details unless we allow them by clicking “Show My Full Profile” under Edit Profile in Settings > Privacy & Settings . This means that even if people know who we are based on our name alone (or because they’ve searched us out), they may not realize what kind of work experience we have unless we tell them ourselves!
Make sure your profile is complete and accurate.
The first thing you need to do is make sure your profile is complete and accurate. This means having a professional photo, a complete description of your experience, education, skills and other pertinent information that prospective employers are looking for.
To check for completeness:
- Go through each section of your profile (Summary, Work Experience etc.) and see if there are any gaps or missing details that need adding in order for it to be considered complete. If so add them!
- Use LinkedIn’s ‘Profile Checkup’ tool which will highlight any areas where there may be gaps in what’s currently on offer so you can go back over these sections again later with fresh eyes – making sure everything looks good before posting anything live online!
Connect with people, but not too many people.
The first thing to keep in mind when connecting with people on LinkedIn is that you don’t want to connect with everyone. It’s important to be strategic about who you add as connections and why. You should only connect with people who are relevant to your career goals, people in your network (including former colleagues), and people who work at companies where you want to work someday or have similar interests or goals.
Add your resume, but don’t make it the focus of your profile.
Your resume should be a summary of your experience, not the focus. You don’t want to overwhelm people with all the details and responsibilities of your job title. Instead, use this section to highlight the skills and qualifications that are most relevant to your potential connections’ needs.
LinkedIn has made it very easy for job seekers who are looking for work (or those who want to make sure they’re being seen by recruiters) by allowing them to add their resumes as PDFs directly on their profiles–and also allowing recruiters searching LinkedIn for candidates who meet certain criteria (like location or industry) access those resumes directly from their search results page.
Add a summary and add more details to your experience, skills and education sections.
LinkedIn is a professional social network, so it’s important that you provide an accurate and detailed picture of your career. To do so, add a summary at the top of your profile that includes information about what makes you unique. For example: “I’m an experienced marketer who has worked with several Fortune 500 companies.”
Next, write detailed descriptions for each section in the “Experience,” “Skills” and “Education” tabs on LinkedIn (if applicable). You can also add more than one job to the experience section if they’re related or relevant; for example, if you’ve worked in two different departments at one company over several years. The same goes for skills–if there are two skills that apply equally well to one position, list both! If you have more than one degree from different schools or programs (or even just one), include all relevant degrees under education as well!
Write a unique headline and explain why you’d be an asset to the company you’re applying for.
To get noticed, you need to be specific.
The first thing that comes up when someone searches for your name on LinkedIn is your headline. It’s the most important part of your profile and the one that should stand out the most because it gives people an idea of who you are and what kind of work experience or skillset they can expect from reading further into your profile, so make sure it’s clear what kind of job search or career move (or combination thereof) that aligns with their needs.
To accomplish this goal as efficiently as possible without coming off as generic or unoriginal, use keywords relevant to industries within which you’d like to work; this way employers can easily find what they’re looking for in their search results without having to waste time sifting through irrelevant information about irrelevant jobs just because someone has used them before–and trust me: no one wants anything less than perfect efficiency when searching through hundreds upon thousands (if not millions) of profiles!
Include links to articles you’ve written and other content that helps demonstrate your expertise in an area of interest to the hiring manager or recruiter reading this post.
Include links to articles you’ve written and other content that helps demonstrate your expertise in an area of interest to the hiring manager or recruiter reading this post.
You can also include a link to your professional profile on LinkedIn, which will appear at the bottom of your post when it’s published. This is a great way for potential employers to learn more about who you are and what skillsets and experience make up your unique value proposition as an employee or contractor.
LinkedIn has changed how we look for work these days, so make sure you’re doing it right!
LinkedIn is the most important social network for professionals. It’s also the best way to find a job, especially when you’re out of work. And if you’re looking for a job in a specific industry or location? Well, then LinkedIn has got your back there too!
LinkedIn has changed how we look for work these days, so make sure you’re doing it right!
Hopefully, this post has helped you understand how to make your LinkedIn profile more successful. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
