Why LinkedIn is Important

LinkedIn is an incredibly valuable tool that is being used more and more often by recruiters, employers, and job seekers alike throughout the job search/hiring process. If you Google, “What percentage of recruiters are using LinkedIn?”, you will see that the latest survey shows 94% of Recruiters are using LinkedIn. I also found that 89% of recruiters report having hired someone through LinkedIn.

It’s not enough to just have a LinkedIn account. Knowing how to use all of its functions can make or break your success. I recently read an article on Forbes by contributor William Arruda entitled, The Five Most Important LinkedIn Features You Aren’t Using Correctly”, and it got me thinking about how much the typical user may not know about utilizing their LinkedIn profile. Arruda focuses on the Headline, Groups, Multi-Media, Endorsements, and Headshot. I would have to agree that these are highly important features of LinkedIn for Findability and Visibility.

Your Headline should be more than just your job title. It is being more widely used as a marketing piece, highlighting your most important titles, functions, skills, qualities, etc. You only have 120 characters, so you can’t get too carried away – but be smart about your use of that space. It needs to grab attention!

The Groups you follow are important for several reasons, a few of which Arruda outlines in his article. If you use Groups effectively, this can widely increase your network on LinkedIn, thus increasing your visibility.

Multi-Media on LinkedIn helps turn the words on the page into a more detailed picture of your accomplishments. However, many LinkedIn users are not taking advantage of this valuable tool. If you have multi-media that looks professional and can contribute to your online presence, use it! If you don’t have anything right now that you can add, just keep this in mind as you move forward in your career, and start saving your relevant documents in the future.

Endorsements are one aspect of Linked in that I think are important, but not as important as a similar function, which is Recommendations. While I do believe that many LinkedIn users make assessments based on Endorsements of others, most Recruiters and Employers just aren’t buying it. I would suggest focusing more on acquiring Recommendations than Endorsements.

Headshots are a huge part of your online presence, especially on LinkedIn. While it might be acceptable to use a casual photo on other social media, it most certainly is not on LinkedIn.

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