Got that all-star game going on, but wondering why your LinkedIn profile is not picking up on that?!
In this Digi-savvy world, recruitments via social media are commonplace, with LinkedIn being one of the primary centres of successful recruitments. Thus, if you want to land that dream job or be recognized in your industry and make those right connections, ensuring you have a solid, all-star level LinkedIn profile is an absolute necessity.
Remember, networking sites such as LinkedIn create the opportunity to make a brilliant virtual impression, most often, your first impression to prospective employers. According to LinkedIn, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities. That’s 40 times more job offers, clients, connections, and more! Therefore, keeping your profile up to date, complete and compelling is paramount.
Here are a few tips to ensure your LinkedIn profile pops;
Upload a Professional headshot
The simplest thing you can do to upgrade your LinkedIn profile is to put a face to your name and add a profile picture — and a good one at that. Be creative if that fits with what you do or who you are, but remember that this is the first impression people will get from your page. If you don't have a professional headshot to use, it's worth the investment. With the vast numbers of people on LinkedIn, those without a photo are easily pushed aside.
Create an attractive headline
Your headline is positioned right below your name on your LinkedIn profile and will be the first thing profile visitors read. You have 120 characters to work with, so why not write something that pops? Think of it as a miniature billboard advertisement for you and what you do. Instead of just listing your job title, mention your specialty and how you benefit your company or customers. Don't forget to keep your target audience in mind. Are you speaking to industry peers, customers, or head-hunters? Write for your target audience. Also, be sure to include the industry you work in and your geographic location under your headline as well.
Craft an interesting summary
Your LinkedIn summary allows you to tell your story. Don't just focus on your past experience but on what you do well and what you can bring to a prospective employer. Keep in mind that keywords are crucial here — use words that you want to be strongly connected to your field. Attention spans are short these days, so don't use up all of those 2,000 characters. Instead, keep it to less than half of that. Be creative and paint a picture of who you really are as a professional. Be creative, but keep it professional. And don’t forget to proofread before you post it!
Highlight your experience
You can do better than simply cutting and pasting your resume onto your LinkedIn profile. Be sure to include any jobs that you deem relevant to where you want your career to go, and use two to four interesting and impressive bullet points for each job you include. Also, use good action words to show what you did and what you accomplished in each position. The key is to demonstrate the impact you've made, the change you've enacted, initiatives you've led, and the results you've delivered. After all, as LinkedIn itself claims, having your two most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found.
Trumpet your skills and expertise
The Skills & Endorsements section is an essential component of your profile. It's a way that recruiters can find you and how your connections can see, at a glance, your core competencies. In fact, your profile is more likely to get viewed if it includes skills. Focus on the skills that highlight your strongest assets and are most relevant to your career goals. Another approach is to read your past job descriptions or the job descriptions of jobs you seek. Include any keywords you find that are relevant to your skills and experience. The best practice is to include at least 5 keywords.
Include your academic qualifications and accomplishments
You should definitely list all the schools you attended and/or got degrees from, but you don't need to provide more detail than your degree program and the years attended. An added bonus to this is that fellow alumni can find and connect with you.
In addition, if you have any academic achievements that you would highlight, this would be the section to do so! However, always ensure whatever you include is relevant to the type of jobs you are looking for.
Start making connections
You need to keep growing your connections as you meet people because of LinkedIn's system of first, second, and third-degree connections; having a lot of connections helps keep you visible to others. That being said, while you can connect with people you don't know, it's preferable to connect with individuals whom you know personally, have worked with, or met in a professional capacity. If you decide to connect with individuals you haven't met, or don't have a direct connection to, send a note with your request explaining who you are why you'd like to connect.