LinkedIn Overhaul

LinkedIN is an underused resource in the professional world, there are over 347 million users but many profiles fall short. A job seekers paradise, LinkedIn is a great way to network and share your expertise with colleagues and within your industry. With so many users’ profiles missing the mark, how can you make sure that your profile is an accurate presentation of your professional self? It’s time for a LinkedIn overhaul!

There are 4 essential components to your LinkedIn profile: picture, headline, summary and keywords.  Updating these essentials will increase the number of visits to your profile while better defining your skills and expertise. Keeping your profile updated will allow hiring managers and recruiters to get a better vision of how you could be useful to their companies.  

Picture: Just like a first impression during a face-to-face meeting, the inclusion of a picture on your profile will many times determine if your profile will be clicked on.  Profiles with pictures are clicked on 30% more of the time, so this is a key component in setting yourself apart. The job of this picture is to make you look friendly and accessible. When choosing the picture you will use, make sure that it is a clear headshot with no background distractions, in fact the background should preferably be white or another light solid color.

Headline: The job of your headline is to tell what you do, not who you are. This is critical component and will appear alongside your picture in listings, group discussions and homefeeds.  When users do not manually change their headline it will default to your job title and company, which is not always a bad thing when the job title is self-explanatory but more often that isn’t the case. Your headline should instantly allow the viewer to know what you do and who you do it for.

Summary: The advantage of having a well written summary is being able to communicate your personal brand and strengths while briefly summarizing your work experience. Make sure to include work that is relevant for the job that you want and define your career aspirations in this section. Your summary should be your mission statement.

Keywords: The secrets to increasing traffic to your profile is the inclusion of keywords throughout your summary, headline and job descriptions. Think of keywords as buzzwords that are used within your profession or industry. Adding this valuable content will attract employers’ interest and these are the words or phrases that a recruiter would use to describe your next job. To determine keywords to use or avoid visit: Indeed.com/jobtrends

By updating these 4 essential areas in your LinkedIn profile you will attract attention from your network, hiring managers and recruiters.

Have a question? Ask an expert!  Post your questions below in the comments and I will answer them!