5 Great Tips to perfect your Linkedin Profile
- Annita McCullagh
- Feb 23, 2017
- 3 min read
With over 400 million users in 200 countries, LinkedIn provides one of the best opportunities to increase your visibility and credibility with members of your industry. It helps you stay connected to large networks of contacts. Now that you can add videos and images in your summary and experience fields, you can develop a truly three-dimensional view of your personal brand. Using all the features of this powerful online tool will help you paint a compelling picture of who you are.
Your LinkedIn profile might be the first professional impression someone has of you. Even if you don’t join groups or actively search for a job, LinkedIn profiles are searchable on Google and businesses do actively look there. In fact, many companies are now looking up Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to see what kind of information is posted about a candidate before they hire. Post carefully!
We thought it would be useful to give you 5 great tips to perfect your Linkedin Profile...
Professional Photo
Upload a photo and more importantly a professional professional picture. It just makes the whole experience real – for you and for other members and employers. Find (or take!) a high-quality photo of you alone, professionally dressed, facing forward. Nothing inappropriate. No party shots, cartoon avatars, or puppy pics! LinkedIn is not Facebook or Instagram, and it’s definitely not Snapchat.
Fact > Research shows adding a profile picture could result in 14 times more views than someone without!
Headline
Your LinkedIn Headline is very much like a headline in a newspaper. It should grab your reader's attention and compel them to read more. Who are you and what you do?
Here are some great examples...
“QUB Biochemistry student seeking an Industry placement year”
“Engineer building game-changing consumer products.”
“Direct marketing guaranteed to get you more business”
“Coaching for Entrepreneurs - My Clients have results”
Summary Statement
Make your personal brand pop! Demonstrate to the world that you are an expert and someone who deserves to be noticed. This is where you sell yourself and showcase your accomplishments and products.
Around 150 to 350 word summary
Outline your career goals and interests, key relevant experience and achievements
Write it in first person (ie me, myself and I)
Fill it with keywords to increase your google search potential
Fact > A summary of 40 words or more makes you more likely to turn up in a future employer’s search!
Recommendations
We rely on recommendations for everything from where to eat, shop, travel, and what products or services to buy. Recommendations is purely a referencing tool so people have confidence in your talents, expertise and character.
Employers Tip > Send a request to your connections to give you a recommendation and do not forget to return the favour!
When you give, you receive. Here are 3 pointers to write a great recommendation…
What is your relationship and how do you know them?
What did they do for you?
What was their key strengths and talents?
Experience
Showcase your experience. List the jobs and positions you’ve held, a brief description of what you were responsible for and what you accomplished. You can choose to make it either more or less detailed than your CV. What really matters is that you’re not leaving out critical details about your work history. If you’ve held more than one job somewhere (including a promotion), list all of them with dates so that people can see you progressed and took on more responsibility. You can even add work projects, photos, or videos to specific jobs you list.
Professionals Tip > You can use the Projects section to highlight products, services or other projects. Adding this section will allow you to name your project and link it to its website.
And think broadly about your experience. Be sure to include volunteer activities if you have them, under “Volunteer Experience & Causes.
Fact > 42% of hiring managers surveyed by Linkedin said they view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience!
Students & Graduates Tip > If you earned a prize or recognition (whether in or out of school), you can list it under “Honors & Awards.” You can also list classes, languages, certifications or team projects that demonstrate the skills you’ve worked hard to acquire.
We asked one of our consultants how important they think Linkedin is, here’s what Owen thinks...
“In my experience it is important for everyone to have up to date recommendations it also helps if they are relevant, if you scroll down and see recommendations it instills confidence. Also a professional profile picture is critical if you are looking for a senior role. No holiday snaps!”
Start today and grow your network... Connect with Riada here
- Team Riada -
PS Don't forget to check your spelling and grammar!
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