The answer is simple: As recruiters, next to our own networks, LinkedIn is our go-to platform, a veritable goldmine filled with potential candidates that can fulfil the needs of the companies we collaborate with. Make it easy for us to “get to know” you and your experiences, and before you know it, you may have us pitching you your next dream job.
We have compiled our 9 best tips that will let you show your potential quickly and attract the right LinkedIn recruiters.
1: What does your photo say about you?
Your profile photo may seem like a small, insignificant thing, but it’s important when attracting possible employers or recruiters. So, when choosing your LinkedIn profile picture stay clear of holiday and party pictures. Choose a picture that indicates how professional, hardworking and responsible you are.
Remember, you don’t have to spend huge amounts of money on a professional photographer to give the right impression. Use a mobile with a good camera, put on your best business attire, keep the background simple and the lighting good, and go for a portrait pose – it can be that easy.
2: What is your current title and job description?
Add your current job title and description in the field Headline below your profile picture. However, if your official job title is very unusual, perhaps due to an informal company culture (e.g. Digital Wizard), choose to write the common title instead.
It will make it significantly easier for LinkedIn recruiters to find you on the list when we search for people with your kind of experience, thus increasing the likelihood of us taking a closer look at your profile. An example could be IT Consultant – cloud, implementation, project management.
3: Give us your best sales pitch
Make a short, straight-to-the-point sales pitch about yourself in the About-section under your header. This will be one of the first things we get to know about you, so list your most important soft and hard skills.
It’s important to remember that only two lines will be automatically visible, so always begin with the most important. Use the space for keywords that are relevant to your current job or the job you hope to land. To continue the above example, this could be IT management, cloud orchestration, ERP implementation.
4: A complete profile is attractive
A job title is not “one size fits all”, meaning that what a Project Manager within IT does will vary from others with the same title. So, spell it out for us by describing your most important tasks, the computer programmes you use, what tools you are comfortable with, and the languages you speak as well as your level of proficiency.
Besides attracting relevant LinkedIn recruiters, completing your profile will also make it significantly faster to apply for jobs via LinkedIn because of pre-filled fields.
5: Open up your profile for all to see
If you are like most people, you have restricted the access to your profile to only include the people who are on LinkedIn. But if you go to your settings options and choose Public, you can also be found by recruiters using Google or Bing for their research purposes.
6: Get endorsed for your working skills
Ask your 1st degree connections to endorse you for your work-related skills. These endorsements will make it clear to recruiters visiting your profile, which skills your current and former colleagues think are your most prominent ones, as well as the variety of them.
For example, if 29 people endorse you for C++, then it´s a clear indication for the recruiter that you know what you’re doing. And as a cherry on top, your endorsements work as searchable keywords, making you easier to find for LinkedIn recruiters in the market after someone with your skill set.
An extra tip is to prioritize your endorsements by the number of people that have endorsed the skill.
7: Make room for more praise!
You cannot get too much praise if it’s relevant to your professional life. In the Recommendations section on your profile others can praise you from their own profile. You can always ask relevant connections to write about you, but always be ready to return the favour.
8: Let us know you are Open For Work
Are you actively looking for a new job opportunity? Then let the recruiters in on it! Under your settings, you can choose to let recruiters know that you are Open for work, which will immediately make you more visible to us, when we look for promising candidates.
9: Give your URL some love
You should change the somewhat random URL, LinkedIn automatically generates for your profile. It might seem like a very small thing, but the devil is in the details, and this minor change can be the thing that sets you apart from the competition.
Preferably change the URL to just your name, but if that’s already taken, add letters or numbers that are relevant (year of birth, country etc.)
Good luck with perfecting your LinkedIn profile! We look forward to seeing the results the next time we use LinkedIn to look for the perfect candidates.