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5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

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5 Ways to Instantly Improve

Your LinkedIn Profile

 

Did you know that LinkedIn is used by roughly 95% of recruiters to source potential candidates for open positions? If you are a professional who is seriously pursuing opportunities in the business world, you need to be on LinkedIn, and your profile needs to be more than just a basic presence. With the job market as competitive as it is today, your profile needs to do 2 things: it needs to make use of the way LinkedIn’s search engine works in order for you to be found, and it must be effectual and well-crafted, with a direct and powerful message about you, the candidate.

 

I came across an awesome infographic over the weekend entitled, 17 LinkedIn Profile Must-Haves. Today’s list comes from that infographic.

 

  1. Use Keywords

The basis of every search engine, including LinkedIn, is keywords. While keywords can vary greatly within an industry based on the field, position, company, etc., there is certainly a core group of common keywords for each industry. In order to get an idea of the right keywords for your profile, you can do a search on LinkedIn for your job title, then look at the top results for common keywords. Pick a set (5-10), and utilize them in multiple places throughout your profile.

 

  1. Get Serious About Your Photo

If you want to be seriously considered as a professional, you can’t get by with that group photo you cropped everybody else out of or a bathroom-mirror-selfie anymore. While a professional headshot is preferred, that may be out of the budget for some. If you are going about it on your own, make sure you have a friend snap the photo. Go for a solid background, and make sure you are dressed in interview-attire. (For more info about low-cost professional photos, contact LGarr@ProfessionalProgressions.com)

 

  1. Brand Your Professional Headline

The LinkedIn default for your Headline is going to be the job title for your current position. While most people just leave it at that, it is much more effective to try to really attract a recruiter with that section. Pack it with keywords to be found by the search engine, and make sure you are illustrating your full value. You have 120 characters in this section (the info graphic says 110, but that’s incorrect), so use that space to market yourself as effectively as possible. It really makes a big difference to recruiters who browse through hundreds of profiles per day.

 

  1. Get Connected

LinkedIn’s search engine also works based on your number of connections. The more connections you have, the more relevant LinkedIn will view you, so it will put you up higher in search results. That means that more recruiters will see you sooner, which means you will have higher chances of being contacted for open positions.

 

  1. Join Relevant Groups (And Be Active In Them!)

Speaking of being connected, LinkedIn groups are a great way to do that. You can learn a lot form the discussions, and being active in those discussions is a great way to be seen. You can start to gain connections that way, and also start to identify yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. The more active you are in your groups, the better!

 

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