Your LinkedIn profile could be a strategic tool to advance your career. Strategic use of your profile can land you your dream job/company, position yourself to get headhunted for roles, get industry news, etc.
87% of recruiters use LinkedIn specifically to find candidates for jobs 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet job candidates.
Recruiters can't find or vet you without a complete and fully optimized LinkedIn profile.
Here are some general guidelines you can use to fully set up your profile:
Add a professional photo
This builds credibility between you and anyone you engage with on LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn, profiles with photos get a 7x’s higher response rate.
Your Name
Keep it simple! Using your real name makes your profile both professional and authentic. By using titles after your name, members will have a hard time finding you in their search.
Headline
The headline area is a very valuable piece of real estate, so do not let it go to waste! This is an area where you can include keywords that are searchable by recruiters. Think about the words recruiters would put into their search to find someone like you. Remember they should be searchable terms, so putting something like “looking for employment” will likely not be a good use of that space. Instead, think of 3 to 4 keywords that describe who you are and what you do and separate them with a horizontal line like this “|”. For example, It should look something like “Recruiter | Human Resources |Talent Acquisition”
A custom URL
A custom URL is a great way to customize a public profile link and build your professional brand! It can increase your searchability on LinkedIn and search engines. To set this, go to your main profile and you will be able to change it in the “Edit public profile & URL” setting.
Make sure your proper email is connected so that messages will go there. You can add your email under the “Contact and Personal Info” section.
Summary Section
Consider your target audience, Recruiters! Highlight the skills you have acquired in your career, career highlights, and the value you bring to your organization. This is an area where you can also a list of relevant keywords that recruiters are likely to be searching with.
Media
Under this section, you can attach your portfolio, any work samples you have, or your resume.
Experience
Similar to the information in your resume, this should be written in a way that explains what you did in current and prior roles. You should aim to include 3-4 sentences.
Recommendations
Having recommendations on your profile builds your professional credibility. Don’t just wait for them to come in, go the extra mile and ask for peers, colleagues, and past managers to rave about the great work you’ve done.
Skills
Add your most relevant skills and ask for them to be endorsed in the settings.
Once you have completed the steps above, check the dashboard section of your profile – you should have an All-Star status.
Once you have completed the steps above, check the dashboard section of your profile – you should have an All-Star status.