As a young professional, it’s important to maintain connections and make yourself visible to recruiters, colleagues and employers. LinkedIn allows you to develop your personal brand and share it with the professional world. You can follow influencers to gain professional advice and insights, and with a strong profile and a good LinkedIn summary, you can attract potential job offers. Follow these tips to make your Linkedin profile stand out:
A good LinkedIn summary is essential for any profile. Your summary is the first thing many recruiters, connections and potential employers will see. Make the most of it and include the important things about yourself. Briefly describe your professional or academic trajectory, and mention your key skills.
Every good LinkedIn summary should focus on your specific accomplishments, either academic or professional. Are you the founder of a club on campus? Make sure to include the steps you took to get there, the mission, number of members etc. Don’t be afraid to use numbers. Employers want to see tangible successes. If you increased your company’s social media reach by 150% – use it in your summary.
Regardless of industry or country, recruiters and employers want to see well-rounded applicants. Take advantage of the optional sections on your LinkedIn profile to speak about your hobbies, interests and skills, even those that aren’t related to your career field. Highlight activities that showcase your adaptability, and if you have international experience, make sure to put it at the top!
Just like on any other platform, to get noticed on LinkedIn you need to be active. Make sure your profile is up to date, and that you actively share and engage with other people’s posts and updates. LinkedIn is a great way to explore the professional world, and connect with some of the most successful people in your industry. Articles, studies and news reports are great ways to keep your professional audience engaged.
If you want employers and recruiters to find your profile out of the millions of profiles on LinkedIn, you need keywords that they’ll be searching for. These keywords will be different depending on your industry, so start by taking a look at words that show up in the job descriptions you read. Think about the types of things a recruiter searches for and use them to build a good LinkedIn summary and title.
If you meet someone at a conference or event, don’t just put their business card in your wallet and never look at it again. Reach out to them with a personalized message on LinkedIn within 48 hours, with a quick reminder about how you met. Be sure to engage with their posts and content, and to share your own.
When you’re looking for a job, you need to be easily accessible. If you aren’t comfortable sharing a personal email, consider creating a professional address that you can share on your LinkedIn profile, to make it easy for recruiters to contact you.
Encourage people to connect with you on LinkedIn by including the link to your profile on your professional website and Twitter page. Anywhere you share your professional work is a good platform to connect to LinkedIn.
In addition to your summary, your picture is right at the top of your profile, so it’s important to make a good first impression. Choose a photo that shows a clear image of your face, with a clean background.
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233482
https://www2.deloitte.com/sg/en/pages/careers/articles/top-tips-to-make-your-linkedin-profile-stand-out.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecenizalevine/2017/12/11/ten-ways-to-make-your-linkedin-profile-attractive-to-recruiters/#6c93ad787342
Photos:
1. based on Scrabble Now Hiring, by Amtec Staffing, CC BY-SA 2.0
2. based on Man wearing blue blazer at business meeting, by, CC-by-2.0
3. based on Businessman and Woman Shake Hands, by Perzon Seo, CC-by-2.0