Have you optimized your LinkedIn profile yet?
If you haven’t, perhaps now is the best time to start.
Over 90% of recruiters are active on LinkedIn. What this means is that you have the best shot at getting the job of your dreams by simply reaching out to recruiters in companies you want to work with.
That’s not all. Read on to learn the art of attracting recruiters on LinkedIn:
Optimizing your profile image
The people you will get the opportunity to network with on LinkedIn are there to either advance their job search, to head-hunt potential employees, to advance their business, or to simply connect with like-minded people in the industry.
Long story short, LinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. This means that it is best to keep your presence on LinkedIn strictly professional.
Your profile picture matters. So make sure that you have one and see to it that your profile picture is not in informal attire. Instead, upload a clear headshot picture on LinkedIn with formal attire upon a plain background. Ask someone to click your picture with a good quality camera.
And here’s the catch:
People with a profile image are more likely to get approached by potential employers just because it showcases that at least there’s a real person behind the profile, not a bot.
So it’s probably best to have a professional-looking profile image that is open to the public as it helps build the trust factor and encourages a potential employer to get in touch with you.
Writing an attractive Headline and Summary
You just have 120 characters to communicate your professional expertise, so be informative and original when writing a profile headline. Don’t forget to add domain-specific keywords in your profile headline to increase your searchability for recruiters.
If your name is Bella Swan and you’re a business analyst, you can simply write that as your profile headline followed by 2-3 key skills or expertise areas.
Example:
Certified Business Analyst | Business Analysis & Strategy | Data Analytics | User Engagement
Moving on to your profile summary, it should be sharp, crisp, informative, and well presented. To make the most of your summary, draft a short summary with clear lines describing your major skills and past accomplishments in your domain.
There are no summary templates that guarantee a 100% success result but the one thing which can take you ahead of the competition is giving a personal touch to your summary.
Adding a short video introduction of what you can bring to the table – your major areas of expertise and what results you can furnish for the company – can help keep the dice rolling in your favor. So, if you’re comfortable with that, go all out and make that video right away.
However, that said, you can choose to skip this because not everyone is comfortable with making videos, and that’s okay.
If your profile summary is informative and well-articulated, you’re already halfway through your journey.
Optimizing the Experience Section on LinkedIn
Most recruiters tend to skip to the experience section when glancing at your LinkedIn profile so put your best foot forward while drafting this section on LinkedIn.
It’s the same concept as writing an experience section for a paper resume, but you have the liberty of adding more information on LinkedIn.
Below are some things to keep in mind before writing the necessary information in the experience section relating to format and what it takes to master the craft of detailing your professional contributions.
- Use one-liner points to talk about your designated roles and responsibilities under each job profile.
- Always start with an action verb and try to replace commonly used words like ’handled’ or ‘managed’ with power verbs like ‘directed’, ‘spearheaded’, etc. In other words, use action verbs to create more impact.
- Try to use performance figures wherever possible. Doing this will help you showcase the visible results of your professional contributions.
- Group every 2-3 points under a unique subheading along the lines of your target profile.
Get Recommendations & Endorsements on LinkedIn
Blowing your own trumpet and glorifying your own skills will not guarantee you a job.
But getting recommendations from your colleagues will definitely help build credibility.
In the eyes of recruiters, recommendations are seen as a testament to your competence in your functional roles and expertise areas in the organizations you have worked with. As such, recommendations serve as an acknowledgment of a professional’s abilities.
The same rule applies to endorsements.
While getting endorsements for your skills is great, getting it from just about anyone is not advisable.
Recruiters are not stupid. They will most likely scrutinize your LinkedIn profile.
Seeing recommendations and endorsements from people with whom you have no working relationship will be seen as extremely shady.
For example, reciprocity of recommendations and endorsements by friends who you have no working relationship with is easily detected and frowned upon by LinkedIn, so we advise you not to indulge in such black hat activities.
Pro Tip:
Don’t reciprocate any recommendation or endorsement on LinkedIn for at least 90 days as LinkedIn sees this practice as inorganic.
Adding Skills in your LinkedIn Profile
You can add up to 50 skills in your skills and endorsements section so you should always choose the most appropriate skills that describe your professional caliber in the best possible way.
While you pick the skills that resonate with your functional areas, make sure that you prioritize those skills best describing you as a professional.
For example, for a Content Marketer, skills like “content marketing”, “facebook marketing”, is more relevant than more generic skill-sets such as “creativity” and “multi-tasking”.
Pro Tip:
LinkedIn suggests skills when you type them in the skills section based on your industry and the most searched keywords by recruiters. So make sure that you include these suggested skills as long as it resonates with the skill-set you actually possess.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is the third-largest social media platform so every job seeker should make use of this professional network to attract recruiters.
In this article, we have covered all the major aspects to help you optimize your LinkedIn profile in order to make it recruiter ready. By applying the above-mentioned tips, you will be able to showcase yourself professionally. And, if that’s not enough, you can check out these hand-picked profiles by Linkedin so you can gain more clarity on how you can shape your own profile.
In case you missed it, here’s a quick summary of the key takeaways of this article:
- If you don’t have a profile picture, add one. A clear headshot image will do.
- Write an attractive headline and a well-articulated resume summary.
- Fill up your employment details in all your work experience.
- Get recommendations and endorsements from people you have worked with.
- List your skills and prioritize the skills that most resonate with your professional role.
