Dynamic Happenings

Smarten Up Your LinkedIn Profile – 9 Quick Ways

● Do you know more than 90% of the recruiters search and hire a new talent via
LinkedIn?
● Do you know LinkedIn is responsible for more than 60% of visitor traffic on
corporate websites via social media channels?
● Do you know LinkedIn’s users have crossed the 275 million mark?

Now that you know these facts, you must have realized that you cannot afford to ignore your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is unlike any other social network in that it’s designed mainly for professional networking. As a job seeker, you are on LinkedIn primarily for two reasons - to find recruiters and to be founded by recruiters. As an employer, you want to target the right candidates that fit well with your job profile. 

With professionals checking your updates and information multiple times in a day, it becomes imperative to keep your profile above 80% complete and leverage it to set the right impression on viewers. Here are a few tips to help you hone your LinkedIn profile.

1.  Add Summary and Headline

On an average, recruiters have less than 30 seconds to scan through your profile. You can’t expect them to go through the lengthy content. It’s important to highlight your key skills and achievements, experience and professional goals, but it is even more important to do it in a concise manner. The headline and summary should give an idea to the employer about who you are and what differences you would you bring to the organization. To get inspired, take a look at the headlines and summary of prominent people in your network.

2.  Give Correct and Complete Information

The information on your profile gives a reflection of your competence and commitment to fit into the position. Limited information might turn off the searchers. A complete profile makes a statement about your professionalism and leaves a positive impact on potential employers.

3.  Put a Profile Picture

It’s good to have a profile picture. One thing to remember while uploading a photo on LinkedIn is that it’s not a facebook profile picture. Unlike facebook, a simple and passport size photo works best on LinkedIn.

4.  Add Keywords

Optimized LinkedIn profiles bring higher visibility to job seekers among prospective employers and clients. If you are an employer, it goes the same way. Select the keywords according to the intent of your target audience. The keywords should describe your skills and aptitude. You can use keywords in headline, education, experience, skills and summary. Using keywords in your profile will pull you into their search results and help you get picked up by top recruiters.

5.  Join Relevant Groups

Being in the relevant professional groups helps you stay informed about the latest buzz and happenings around your industry.  A candidate can join up to 50 LinkedIn groups to see the posts of relevant job vacancies. It is very easy to manage LinkedIn groups. You can gain visibility and credibility in your group by liking and sharing interesting and relevant content with them.

  6.  Get Recommendations

Ideally, you should have a few recommendations for your work from other people in your network.  The recommendation can go both ways: you ask for a recommendation from a person and in return offer to make a recommendation for them. 

7.  Showcase Your Work

For the employer, your ‘LinkedIn Profile’ is the best answer to the question, “Is this candidate a good fit for our job profile?” You should make good use of LinkedIn platform to showcase your skills and strengths. Adding sample work really adds value to your profile.

8.  Share your Achievements

Highlight any awards and accreditations you have obtained throughout your career. It adds substantial credibility to your profile.

9.  Call to Action

Make sure you include your contact information in your profile including fax, e-mail and phone number. 

A Word of Advice

Once you have a stellar LinkedIn profile, you are all set to make an impression on potential employers. But there’s one more thing you need to do in addition to having a great profile.  It’s very important to stay active on LinkedIn. It helps you stay up on the search list of your prospective employer. Being active and making constant updates in your profile such as adding new skills and endorsements, makes you more visible to potential employers. Another way to stay active on LinkedIn is following a trend that other professionals in your industry are following.

Time to get Linked In!