The majority of people these days will have a LinkedIn profile, no matter what industry they work in but often have only the most minimal information on their profile, which defeats the purpose of having an account in the first place. This is especially true if you are currently looking for a new job, as recruiters like Agile Recruit often use LinkedIn as their first port of call when working on filling a position. With nearly half a billion profiles on the site, it pays to make sure that yours stands out.
With a little bit of time and effort, there are several things that you can do to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is optimized and helping you present yourself in the best light to both future employers and recruiters alike.
Set Your Location
Unless your career choice means that your role can be completed remotely, setting your location is one of the most important things that you should tick off your LinkedIn checklist. Not only does this help you see the right job recommendations, but it also increases the chances of your profile being seen by the right people. Most companies will be looking at candidates who are in the same area as them – even if everyone is still working from home for the most part.
Make Sure That You Have a Profile Picture
Having a profile picture is crucial on any social media site, whether it is for personal or professional use, not only because it adds more personality to your profile but also because a little grey box shows that you have put minimal effort into building your profile up. Potential connections and recruiters are both far more likely to look at your profile if you have a good, professional headshot on it as this can be as much of a representation of you as the written information.
Fill in the Skills Section
This is an often-neglected section as most people will list their skills in their profile summary and under each previous role. However, you would be missing a real opportunity to get noticed. Recruiters often search by skill so it is worth filling out the specific skills section near the bottom of your profile as this will help recruiters find you for the right roles and will also improve the jobs that LinkedIn recommends to you based on your profile.
Complete Your Profile Summary
Your summary is the first thing that anyone viewing your LinkedIn page will see, as it sits at the top of your profile, making it vital that this is as close to perfect as possible. To make the most of this opportunity to catch the eye of recruiters, make sure that you list your most significant professional achievements and highlights of your skills from your CV.
Keep Your Experience Up to Date
The experience section of your profile is one of the most important as this is essentially your CV, so this must be as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Otherwise, it may look like you’ve been out of work for a while or that you aren’t actively on LinkedIn.
