Tips to create a standout LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn is the most important social networking tool for professionals to get noticed by recruiters or hiring managers, especially now many organisations have moved to remote working. Having a top of the range LinkedIn profile is vital to attract the right people to your profile and it’s now more likely to be the first place a hiring manager or recruiter will go to find the skills they’re searching for. Having recently written about tips to enhance your CV, making sure you have all the necessary ingredients for the perfect professional LinkedIn profile is the next step.
90% of recruiters now use LinkedIn regularly to research their candidates. So what is it that recruiters are specifically looking for when they are scanning through profiles? We spoke with some of our consultants on important tips for standing out on LinkedIn right now.
Add a professional profile picture to boost your visibility
A picture paints a thousand words and the same can be said for having an updated, professional-looking LinkedIn photo. Having a picture leads to nine times more connection requests and about 21 times more profile views. When other users can put a face to the name, they’re far more likely to engage with you.
If you’re not sure what makes an appropriate LinkedIn profile picture, have a look at pictures of employees from the kind of companies you’d like to work for. We recommend avoiding selfies, heavily filtered pictures, low pixilated images and cropped group photos.
Make sure your headline, summary and profile are complete
What is it that makes a profile complete? Include a summary and any visual examples of previous projects that are relevant to the line of work you are looking to get into. Think of your LinkedIn summary as your digital elevator pitch - tell people the most important things they need to know about your career in under 30 seconds.
Steer clear of long paragraphs and make sure your summary includes keywords related to your experience, as this allows hiring managers and recruiters to find you more easily. Having a complete profile will not only, help you to be found by recruiters/hiring managers for job opportunities you might otherwise miss out on, but it will also make it easier for recruiters to discover your profile when searching for suitable candidates.
Create a custom URL
Creating a custom URL is a great idea for two reasons; not only does it allow yourself and others to search for and share your profile easily, it also looks tidier and can be easily added to your CV. It creates a much better impression to hiring managers and recruiters giving off the impression that you’re a savvy LinkedIn user. Check out Linkedin’s tips for how to do this.
Identify keywords in job descriptions and use them in your profile
It’s all well and good making sure you have a profile that’s ready to win over hiring managers or recruiters, but there’s not really any point if they never see your profile. Adding your LinkedIn profile to your CV and filling your job profile with the words that are commonly used to describe the role you’re looking for allows hiring managers to find you more easily and opens yourself up to more job opportunities. This is a great way to optimise LinkedIn.
Ensure your skills, achievements and endorsements are relevant and up to date
The niche skillsets required for the engineeering industry has led to recruiters spending more time headhunting for highly experienced professionals. To stand out in those searches, make sure your top achievements are on your profile - adding tangible numbers and statistics of your accomplishments will show your worth and wealth of experience. Also, include any awards or certifications you may have won or received from exams, as this will only increase your credibility.
Recommendations help you stand out
By acting almost like references, LinkedIn recommendations are a good opportunity for your colleagues and previous employers to demonstrate the value and impact you made in previous roles. If you feel uncomfortable talking yourself up too much for fear of coming across as overly confident – this solves the problem. Let someone else talk about how good you are. Having these endorsements and recommendations from colleagues/clients will help boost your profile and look impressive to recruiters and hiring managers alike.
Share your expertise and get involved in discussions
LinkedIn is a place to not only be social but to be yourself too. Don’t be afraid to show your enthusiasm for your field, your industry, and your job. This doesn’t need to be reduced to your LinkedIn summary, get active with publishing advice/opinion posts, join relevant groups and get involved in conversation. Share articles and news as status updates and follow industry leaders and companies you’re interested in. By becoming more active in discussions about the industry you’re in and the future of the field, you increase your chances of being seen as an expert and industry leader by showing passion for what you do.
Connect with people in your field
LinkedIn is a social network and it’s difficult to be social by yourself. The more connections you have on LinkedIn, the more you’ll be able to build up a reputation as someone knowledgeable with a good network. It is not necessary to connect with thousands of people, however, you should aim to have a minimum of 50-150 connections. Connect with relevant people such as colleagues and clients, both current and past. Don’t be afraid to connect with recruiters too and reach out to them if you spot a job they post online. This shows initiative and confidence and is also a great way of seeing daily job postings from recruiters.
Are you ready to start your job search?
Whether you are actively using LinkedIn to find a new job or you just want to use LinkedIn to get ahead in your career, following the above advice is a sure way to get noticed by recruiters or hiring managers and stand out in the social network crowd! For more information on positions we currently have, please visit our job search page and connect with us on LinkedIn for the latest updates.
