LinkedIn Tips & Advice
Your LinkedIn profile serves as a digital and visual representation of your career journey and your unique personal brand – think of it as on your online CV. Your LinkedIn profile can be your ticket to a variety of new opportunities like jobs, partnerships, volunteering, or new business.
Your LinkedIn Profile is in many cases the most important aspect of your professional presence online. You can use LinkedIn to connect with people in your network, and recruiters often use it to find you when they are sourcing candidates.
While LinkedIn can be an effective networking tool, it’s no easy task to distinguish yourself from the billions of users who are also trying to stand out.
But just a few small improvements can have a big impact. Better yet: Just twenty minutes today is enough time to take your profile to the next level.
Now, that we are on lockdown it is a good time (while you have the time), to spruce up your profile. Here are a few suggestions by Daly Recruitment to make your profile stand out:
1. PROFILE PICTURE
It sounds common sense but start with your profile photo. Profiles with a photo get seen 21 times more often than those without. Your profile photo should be professional yet approachable, giving people a true sense of your personality.
Banner – your cover picture should be eye catching and contribute towards to your career path /story to date.
Canva is good for creating banners.
2. CONTACT INFO :
Make sure your email, phone number (if you feel comfortable), location is all up to date.
Remember: LinkedIn InMail is only available to Premium users, and you want to make sure anyone can contact you about great opportunities.
3. CREATE A CUSTOMIZED URL.
A custom URL makes it so much easier to send people to your profile—and means you no longer have to worry they won’t find you. You could share your name with 100 other people.
Here’s how to create a customised URL how in four steps:
1. Click on profile
2. Click edit profile
3. Click edit right under your photo.
4. Under contact information set your URL.
For the most professional URL try: http://linkedin.com/in/firstnamelastname. If that isn’t available, add your middle initial or industry – always keep professional.
4. THE ABOUT SECTION:
The About section of your LinkedIn profile is the ideal way to highlight what makes you unique and stand out to your industry – include all skills, awards accomplishments on your career to date which are related to your industry and career.
The more robust your profile, the more you likely you are to get notice. Always select an industry, because recruiters / employers often use that field to search.
5. HEADLINE:
Don’t forget the headline, since it is right at the top of the page when someone views your profile – ensure it reflects your current role and skills.
Your headline is one of the first thing people when they view your profile.
TAKE NOTE: Every time you change your current position or company, LinkedIn defaults your headline to your updated title. As you might guess, that’s not the best way to attract recruiters. Instead, you want a strong and unique headline to make you stand out.
6. THE EXPERIENCE SECTION OF YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE IS YOUR ONLINE CV.
When updating your profile, it is important to include employment (current and past), education, and industry. While you might not include every job in your past on a traditional CV, it is appropriate to include your entire work history on LinkedIn.
To quickly create a profile, review your CV and copy/paste the relevant information into your profile. It’s essential that your CV matches your profile because prospective employers will check. However, when you get more time, make sure to add as much as possible to your LinkedIn profile. Employers expect your CV to be somewhat condensed and specific to the job you seek. But your LinkedIn Profile should contain more detail and be an extended version of your CV.
Also, don’t overlook summarising each job you’ve had in your experience section. Remember:
This gives your audience more insight into your skills and background.
7. THE SKILLS AND ENDORSEMENT SECTION
The Skills and endorsement section are an important aspect to your profile. Endorsements are a great way to get recognized for your skills and help build your professional reputation. It’s a way that recruiters / potential employers can find you and how your connections can see, at a glance, your core competencies.
In fact, your profile is more likely to get viewed if it includes skills. Just like you did with the Experience section, you use your CV to get started with a list of skills to include. Focus on the skills that highlight your strongest assets and are most relevant to your career goals.
Top tip: is to read your past job descriptions (if you still have them), or the job descriptions of jobs you seek. Include any key words you find that are relevant to your skills and experience.
As your role changes and your expertise grows, make sure to refresh and reorder your skills!
8. TAKE TIME TO ASK OR RECOMMENDATIONS
Take time to request LinkedIn Recommendations from people you have worked with whom carry a lot of weight. To a potential employer, a LinkedIn recommendation is like a reference in advance.
Request them from your former bosses (so long as you still have a good relationship with them), mentors, and/or college professors.
On a “what not to do on LinkedIn” note, don’t ask people you don’t know for references.
9. INCLUDE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Use the Accomplishments section of LinkedIn to highlight projects you’ve worked on, awards, industry courses completed and any other accomplishments you have contributed to i.e. part of team that gained upgrade on star status, Michelin listing etc.
10. HOW TO STAND OUT
Look at other industry peers’ profiles, make yourself stand out from others. Look at wording and all of the above. Be different. What is on your profile to make you stand out from someone with same position in a different property.
11. CONNECTIONS
The right connections are more important than the actual number of connections you have. Ideally, you want connections that are relevant to your line of work, that can potentially lead you to a job opportunity, or can provide valuable advice. Engage with your connections to make you stand out and be noticed.
LinkedIn goes way beyond your personal network. It allows you to keep up with people in your industry as well as successful people who inspire you. By following key leaders and influencers, your newsfeed will fill up with advice that’s relevant to you.
12. TURN OFF LINKEDIN ACTIVITY BROADCASTS WHEN YOU’RE JOB HUNTING
You don’t need to advertise the fact that you are job hunting, especially when you’re employed. When you are job searching and don’t want your employer to know that you’re updating your LinkedIn profile, it’s a good idea to turn off your activity broadcasts. Here’s how to set your account, so your updates don’t show in your feed:
- Click Settings (Under your profile headshot on the top right of page)
- Scroll down to the section, “How others see your LinkedIn activity.”
Examine all the other viewing features on this page to see if you feel that any other privacy features apply – change accordingly.
13. PROFILE VISIBILITY
Finally, make your profile public, so people (employers and recruiters) can find you via searches.
14. VIEWING PROFILES ON LINKED IN
Just so you are aware people, people get notifications on LinkedIn when you visit their profile. Not everyone is aware of this!