What Job Seekers Need to Know About LinkedIn
There was a time when all you needed to get your foot in the door was a well-written resume and cover letter. While a clear, concise resume is still a necessary tool in the job search process, it’s no longer the only resource hiring managers rely on to select potential candidates. Having an impressive and expansive LinkedIn profile is just as important (and in some cases possibly even more important) as a solid resume.
Resumes give a snapshot of your professional work experience, but they don’t tell the greater story. LinkedIn profiles can let hiring managers get a better sense of who you really are by allowing you to:
list your professional experience
spotlight your professional and personal achievements
showcase your network (which is better than a references list)
highlight your continuing education certifications
give the hiring manager a peek at your personality
To help you harness the power of LinkedIn, we have compiled these helpful tips to optimize your profile to achieve more results when you’re actively seeking a new professional opportunity.
LinkedIn Profile Tips
Create a Personal Brand
While resumes should be one-page (or two pages max) and take a more direct approach with hiring managers, LinkedIn profiles provide an opportunity to tell your story in more detail. Your LinkedIn profile needs to build buzz around you, just like a website builds a company’s or product’s brand. Your profile allows you to escape the confines of the resume and go into greater detail about your professional strengths, accomplishments, goals, and highlight your soft skills. By creating a “brand-driven” narrative, you can separate yourself from the competition and give HR managers a better idea of who you are.
Help Hiring Managers Find You
Are you familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? It’s a marketing strategy that uses specific words or phrases in a website’s content to help people find them when they use a search engine like Google or Bing. These words and phrases are called “keywords” and they can also be used to help your professional profile stand out when hiring managers are using LinkedIn to search for candidates.
To find these keywords, review several applications for positions you’re interested in applying to. If you see patterns like “experience with Photoshop” or “proficient in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint” across these postings, then you should incorporate these keywords within your profile in the About, Experience, Education or Skills sections.
build your network
LinkedIn is a great place to network and connect with employees of organizations you’re interested in learning more about. As you continue to build your network, it can open up new opportunities to conduct informational interviews that may lead to potential future job opportunities. If your connection introduces you to a hiring manager, be sure to brush up on your interview techniques.
Complete Each Section
When creating or updating your LinkedIn profile, make sure it’s complete. Provide a detailed and complete work history (even that part-time high school job will show you’ve been serious about work from an early age), include your contact information and upload a professional profile picture. Basically, be sure to complete every section since an incomplete profile indicates that finishing the job might not be your strong suit - which is not the message you want to convey to hiring managers.
LinkedIn Style Tips
One of the biggest misconceptions with LinkedIn is that it’s like Facebook for professionals. That is not the case. Although it’s always a good idea to include a bit of your personality in your profile, LinkedIn is not the place to post pictures of your recent vacation, weekend cookout or your new car. And it’s definitely not the place to post jokes, memes, or any content that is better suited for family, friends and after-hours activities. This is a place to showcase your professional life and not your personal life. With that in mind, it’s best if your LinkedIn profile doesn’t look like a personal social media page.
Keep Your Profile Picture Professional
For your profile picture, it’s best to use an image that conveys your professionalism. You should be wearing business attire and be well groomed in the image. If you have a current headshot from a former role that you can use, that’s great. If not, put on your best interview attire and have a friend or family member take a well-lit picture of you in front of a solid background like an interior wall or door. Professional photographers cost a bit of money but if you can afford to do so, hire a professional.
Add an Appropriate Banner Image
Much like leaving your skills or interests section blank, you should not leave your profile’s banner image blank. One of the best uses of this space is to make a custom banner that includes some of the keywords or phrases that involve your professional experience and interests. You can easily make one of these banners using a free resource like Canva.
Create a Custom URL
When you created your profile, LinkedIn assigned a series of random numbers and characters to identify the URL. That URL is not visually pleasing and it also makes it more difficult for hiring managers to find your account. Be sure to customize your URL to match your name. If your name is very common or is already in use by another account, you can get creative and use your initials or add business credentials at the end of your name (ex. JaneSmithExecDir).
By following these professional and stylistic guidelines for updating your LinkedIn profile, your account will rise above others and you’ll have a greater chance of being selected as a worthy job candidate by a potential employer!
When you’re ready to apply for that next job, turn to Elite Personnel. We work with top companies in the greater D.C. metro area who are looking for both entry level and experienced employees to join their team. Learn more and apply today!