You want to answer these questions first before you dive into this article.
Firstly, what does your LinkedIn Profile look like? Secondly, do you have a unique well branded profile? Or is your profile sparse and uninteresting to read? What was your answer? If you answered yes to having a unique well-branded profile, hold on to it and let’s see if your answer is accurate. If your answer to having a sparse and uninteresting profile was yes, then this is really for you. So let’s go!
LinkedIn is fast becoming the most important platform recruiters use to search for talents, which is why you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile for visibility. Your profile shows your audience who you are, what you do and what you have achieved in your field. Optimizing your profile helps you rank higher in searches and helps you stand out from the crowd.
When thinking about optimizing your profile, the first thing to consider is your recruiter. You have to think like a recruiter and put yourself in their shoes. Think about “How would they search for talent?” “What skills will make me stand out to my recruiter?” “Will my recruiter be interested in this experience?/ Does this fit into this job description?” “Are these keywords relevant in this career?” Your main goal is to get your recruiter’s attention, so how do you go about this?
Get a Professional Profile Picture
Always keep in mind that LinkedIn is a professional social media platform, hence, it is important that your language, style and everything you do fits into that category. Make sure your picture is professional yet warm and inviting. And make sure it speaks- confidence. Avoid using unclear, zoomed in or cropped photos that can make you unidentifiable.
Have a Customized Background Image
Don’t be that person who dumps anything they deem fit as their customized background Image. You can be creative with this image and customize it into anything you want. It could be your initials, your contact information or your link to your website. Make sure it speaks about you or the work you do. Don’t fix in just any picture that comes to mind.
Create a Catchy and Interesting Profile Headline
Your profile headline is the first thing recruiters see when they view your profile. You want to make sure you give them something that catches their attention and keeps them glued to your profile. Be creative and descriptive with your words and make sure you include relevant keywords in your field.
Write an authentic About Summary
Your Summary is a great place to tell your story in about 2000 words or less. There is a lot that you can say in 2000 words. Your opening lines before the “read more” are the most important. With these lines, you should tell your recruiter who you are and what you are passionate about. Talk about your area of expertise and what you are good at. Talk about this in detail and give examples. Don’t forget to always use relevant keywords – they help with your search rankings. At the end of your summary, you can invite people to connect with you.
Fill out your Job Title
You are probably wondering “Why point this out? It’s a no-brainer.” Well here is why there is a need to point it out- Sometimes, Job Titles vary according to different industries. If your job title is not a common one, it is important that you add an equivalent of it in bracket. This will help with visibility and search rankings.
Fill out your work experience in detail
Here, you can talk about the job responsibilities and duties you have held in the past. If you have a long work history, you don’t necessarily need to add everything especially if they don’t align with your job title or the responsibilities you carried out don’t fit into your current job role. Make sure you add key accomplishments and results of how you added value to your previous companies.
Highlight your Skills and Education
Identify the functional skills and soft skills that recruiters mostly search for. You may want to highlight the top three that are relevant to your job title. You should also include your educational experience – the degrees and certification you have acquired so far. You may also want to add one or two recommendations to this especially if you are searching for a job.
Be Active
Now this is the part you should call a no-brainer. After you have successfully optimized your profile, you need to start engaging and getting active. There is no way to create visibility for yourself other than through engagement. You need to start writing, sharing stories, thoughts, trends, opportunities, growth, or challenges in your field. Engage and share other people’s posts as well. This will keep you at the top of people’s minds and will create opportunities for you.
Conclusion
At this point, after you have applied these tips above, then your answer to having a unique well-branded profile should be a yes. If you are searching for a job, believe your recruiter will be attracted to your profile. So do yourself a favor and optimize your LinkedIn profile today!
