Introduction – Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Today I am going to share with you some tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile and increase your chances of being noticed and hired.
As most of you are on LinkedIn already, I want you become exceptional because you are, and for that, I am going to through some facts and numbers to get you excited and warm up.
We will do some preparation work next, and then I will walk you, through my 10 tips, to have the perfect LinkedIn profile.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn Profile today, go and create one right now. If you have one, then the question is: are you missing something today? Unfortunately, most people barely use LinkedIn or they don’t know how to unleash its absolute potential. Let me explain.
The Missing Opportunity
We are living in a world where online reputation is driving the next wave of skills outsourcing.
78% of recruiters check search engines today to find more about potential employees. This means that your chances of landing your dream job, might depends on your online presence, especially if the other guys you are competing with, are doing great job in marketing themselves and growing their network.
Have you ever asked yourself, Who’s On LinkedIn today?
Well, LinkedIn has over 756 million users and 57 Million companies, so basically most professionals and companies that you want to work with are already there. 3 people get hired every minute on LinkedIn. Most importantly, people with optimized LinkedIn profile have 71% higher chance of landing a job interview
LinkedIn is not only used for landing your next dream job. It is a marketing tool to grow your brand, and attract people to connect, and perhaps do business with you
Every time a recruiter contacts you, you can be sure that they’ve looked at your profile. Your LinkedIn profile will act as a validator in that, you are a real person, and not someone who’s CV or resume, is too good to be true.
Not convinced yet? Well, LinkedIn is free! And it’s a great way to network. Think about LinkedIn as your next generation of virtual contact cards, while it’s easy to lose a business card, a connection on LinkedIn will always be there.
Let me say it loud and clear, optimizing your profile is not a one-time job. You always need to engage with existing connections, perhaps post new things or grow your network.
Personas
There is something for everyone in LinkedIn. If you are job seeker, this can be landing your next job.For recruiters, they use it to find candidates to hire.
If you are already working and perhaps happy with your job, you still can use LinkedIn, this is a chance to grow your network, find the right partner to help you grow your business, or get help on business problems.
For salesperson, this is your backyard, you use to find leads and learn more about your prospects. I use it a lot actually everyday at my work.
Other people might use it to learn new skills, endorsements and its is a great opportunity to connect to your school alumni and catch up with them.
1. Profile Picture
The first tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Profile Picture.
Researchers found out using heat maps that the first thing people look at is your profile picture. It is your chance to create the best first impression, so make sure to work on this first.
High resolution is absolute must, make sure your picture is 400×400 pixel. Don’t be shy to ask for help from your friends.
Second, please please don’t use a group photo and make sure you are the only one in the photo. We all love partying at night, playing in a sport event or enjoying nice vacations. THOSE are not pictures you put as your profile picture.
This one is awkward, just don’t use your passport or ID photo. The resolution is not right, and most probably your photo is 10 years old at least. Next, NO selfies. This is not instagram or facebook.
What else, yes this is a good one, don’t stand far away from the camera. Your face should take around 60% of the frame. Remember, this is your chance to leave great first impression. It is also good to wear what you’d wear at work. Use your own judgement here.
Lets now have some fun, what’s wrong with these profile pictures shown below?
These are good examples, professional, not cropped, face not far away from camera, and lighting is great. I would go for simple backgrounds and not noisy one always.
Finally, my advice to you, Stop looking on your phone for a nice picture, and if you are serious about your LinkedIn profile, go to a professional photographer and take one.
2. Background Image
The second tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Background Picture.
LinkedIn Background image, is all about showing your personality and brand. It tells unspoken words about who you are, and is seen in the first couple of seconds. Saying that, It depends on you how utilize this feature.
You can simply show some personality, promote for your mission, or a recent book you’ve authored. Keep in mind that There is no wrong or right here.
3. Improve your headline
The third tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Headline.
You might be tempted to simply write your job role and position and call it a day. My advice to you is to ask yourself, how do you want to sell yourself and please Tailor your headline to your audience.
People usually include their mission, industry or skills. The key thing to remember to use good keywords to get better chances of being discovered by recruiters. For example, if you want to land a job as a cloud architect , make sure to use the word architect in your headline.
Remember, your headline is
- Used by recruiters when searching about you (Keywords)
- Sell yourself, your value, and/or your services once people are on your profile
- It’s okay to Get creative
I will share with you a simple formula to create a good headline. You can start with your title and company, what do you do , and optionally the industry you are working in and key skills
Form the headline of John smith shown below, we learn he works in sales, in a company called maverick. He is role to to sell cloud solutions and accelerate innovation, and he is specialized in teclo and retail.
Remember that less is more sometimes, you don’t need to put your entire life story in your headline. Be creative. Simplicity is a key sometimes.
Sometimes, numbers speak by themselves if you use them efficiently. This is handy usually in sales roles.
4. Summary Section (About)
Now, let’s talk about the Summary section and Please guys give me your deep attention in this section, It is so important.
I want you to use the summary section (or About Section) Wisely. If LinkedIn is giving you something valuable, it is your summary section because you get incredible chance to introduce yourself in your own words.
You no longer have to let your latest role speak for you. A LinkedIn summary allows you to make a personable first impression and highlight your accomplishments and expertise using your own words. While your prior roles may be notable, they’re not the only things people should know about you.
Add a little flair and humor or keep it super professional. Either way, your LinkedIn summary will give recruiters and other users a taste of what they can expect if they reach out to you. It can also help recruiters gauge culture fit and help prospects and potential clients get a sense of whether they’d like to work with you.
LinkedIn uses the summary section in its algorithm, as well as your LinkedIn headline, current title, and other factors. By writing a keyword-rich LinkedIn summary, you can become more visible to potential prospects and recruiters in search results.
Now, let’s get creativity working for us!.
I love this summary from Fernando shown in the screen, he did great job in showing the real person behind his profile and emotionally connected to the reader. Please avoid using abstract things like (problem solver, work under pressure, and team player).
Don’t be shy from talking about who you are outside work. Let me introduce you to Mrs Smith, an executive assistance, and notice the highlighted text in red (picture below)
If you are recruiting for an executive assistance, would you hire her? I would definitely call her for an interview.
You can use Symbols to make your linkedIn profile stand out. Use this link to find many of them.
Here is an example of how to use symbols to separate sections in your headline.
And here is a great example of how you could write your Summary section with symbols. In this example, we have separate sections, what do you do , how you do it, your skills and call of action to connect.
5. Experience Section
The next tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Experience section.
Let’s see how Tom Cruize is using the experience section as shown in the picture below. First, notice that he is adding all his titles while working at Maverick technologies, to show his promotion history. Recruiters love to see your promotion history and work progress.
For each role, he is adding Result driven achievement statement using the action verb as we will see next.
And for each role, LinkedIn allows you to add relevant skills for each role under Skills section.
Tom has been working for Maverick technologies for 7 years and he was promoted after 3 years to regional channel sales manager.
In his new role he acquired new skills such as Sales, business strategy and SaaS Solutions opposed to his previous role where he focused on SAP and ERP solutions. He is achiever as we can see from his 40% YOY sales growth.That’s ladies and gentlemen is a good way to show your work experience.
Focus on your achievement not your duties. For each role, add an achievement driven sentence for that role with an action verb. for example (Initiated (action verb) a targeted email marketing campaign (specific task) that resulted in a 15% upswing (quantifiable result) in newsletter registration.).
6.Education Section
The sixth tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Education section.
First, add your higher education first and make it more visible. Second, Show the skills you’ve learned and how this helps you at work.
Tom Cruise here graduated from Harvard, so he wrote that in Harvard, the case method that Harvard is famous of, helped him solve complex business problems at work.
If you took an executive education, write down what skills you’ve learned and how it makes you better leader or be more efficient at work.
Third, take some time and reconnect with graduates from your school and university to grow your network.
Featured Section
The seventh tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Featured section.
The Featured section allows you to showcase samples of your work to people who view your LinkedIn profile. This is a great way to provide evidence of your skills and experience.
Here is an example of how you can make this section stand out with right sized images, and good titles.
8. Endorsements Matter!
The 8th tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Endorsements section.
This is important because according to LinkedIn, people who list at least five skills, receive up to 17x more profile views. Always remember, If you want to get endorsements and recommendations, start by giving them to others.
9.Recent Recommendations
The 9th tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Recommendations section.
Recommendations enhance credibility. Make sure to get relevant recommendations. If you are a salesperson, make sure you get recommendations that highlights your selling skills.
Remember, when you ask people for recommendations, tell them what skills you want them to highlight. Don’t just settle for generic one.
10.Interest Section
The 10th tip for you to optimize your LinkedIn profile is to work on your Interest section.
Think about it, when you enter in another person office for the first time, the first thing you do is to look around. You look for trophies, pictures, or any object that tell you something about his/her personality.
As soon as you catch hold of any commonality, you have a conversation started. Right there.
Tom Curiz in the below picture shows that he loves football, and he follow Real Madrid club. It adds a personal touch and an opportunity to connect on a different level.
Bonus Content
More tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile can be found below.Scroll through the below images to learn more.
Watch It on YouTube
I have a full video explaining the same ideas here.
Let me know what do you think
I hope you enjoyed this blog post (How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile) and you will take immediate action to start your next level of LinkedIn experience.
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