LinkedIn is still the hottest place for job-search in 2022! It allows you to showcase your experience, skills, and qualifications with future employers, while also allowing you to build and interact with your network and grow your brand as a professional. When you’re looking for a new job, LinkedIn is the place where you should be spending a good amount of your time.
And even after, doing so if you still haven’t been contacted by recruiters, you might be wondering what went wrong?
Well, that’s because you haven’t properly worked on your LinkedIn profile.
- Network Network Network
One of LinkedIn’s biggest advantages is the unique professional network you are able to grow. Depending on your professional situation you can always grow your network in the direction of your choice. A good rule of thumb when you ask to connect with someone is to let them know why you wish to connect with them. Write a few words about why you think a connection with you could be beneficial to them. Another great way to start is to connect with people you already know and to start following thought leaders within your industry. - Your LinkedIn Profile Should Tell Your Story
Always ensure your Linkedin profile answers these basic questions: Who are you and what do you want to be known for? What sets you apart from your peers in your industry? Once you know your personal brand and your specialties, you should showcase it throughout your LinkedIn profile. - Learn What Interests Your Target Audience
While designing your profile, think about who will be reading it—likely your future employers, other professionals, and recruiters. What will those people specifically want to see in a job candidate – certain business or technical skills or certain experiences or qualities? Once you know your keywords, weave them into your headline, summary, experience, skills, and anywhere else they make sense on your profile. But refrain from overdoing it. - Think of LinkedIn as a Search Engine.
LinkedIn is very much like a search engine, one focused on finding professionals, recruiters, companies, and jobs. You can use it to find jobs, openings, and recruiters, on the flip side, recruiters and hiring managers can search for candidates using Linkedin. - Add a Meaningful Cover Photo & a Professional Profile Picture
A cover photo is the very first thing on your page, so you want to make a good impression with it. Use the right size for your cover photo. The official size is 1584 x 396p but on smaller devices such as your phone, a lot of it will be cropped out. If you go for a 1000 X 140p you should be on the safe side. Use an image that reflects your personality – it could be your office, a quote you like, a banner with your achievements, or even your contact details.
Never ever have a Linkedin profile without a professional profile pic. Make sure you choose a professional photo most likely a headshot with a nice neutral background. Finally, according to LinkedIn, you should aim for your face to take up about 60% of the image once it’s cropped. - Keep Your Headline Meaningful & Catchy
Your headline is the most visible piece of information to recruiters and hiring managers, therefore instead of writing your current job title and company, make sure that you mention the type of job you are looking for. Also, mention what you bring to the table with keywords that recruiters are looking for. Your Linkedin headline should convey who you are and what you’re about in a short, clear, and concise way. - Create a Summary That Stands Out
Your LinkedIn summary is the first thing a recruiter reads after your headline, so it’s super important to get it right. Your summary or “About” section is where you can share your story. Introduce yourself: who are you as a professional and what do you do? what value do you bring to the organizations you work for? Highlight your key skills, experiences, and achievements in paragraph form or a bulleted list. Talk about your interests and finally call the readers to action by asking them to contact you about job opportunities, or do whatever you’re currently looking to get from your LinkedIn profile. - Check Your Profile Completeness
LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards users with complete profiles and you’re far more likely to show up in search results with a complete profile. LinkedIn assigns different strengths to profiles based on their completeness, and there’s a “massive advantage” to being at the highest strength, “All-Star”. - Claim Your Custom URL – It’s Absolutely FREE
When you first create your LinkedIn profile you get an automatically generated URL – a pretty clunky one with a string of random numbers. Having a more professional, clean, name-only URL is much easier to find, read, and share. Make sure your URL is easy for you to remember and share (because you should be sharing it a lot) - Join Relevant Groups and Contribute Regularly
Linkedin has a great section – Linkedin Groups, you can join groups on LinkedIn in a range of fields and interests. These groups will vary on privacy, inclusivity, and other settings, but they all function to bring professionals together. Making the most out of these groups means adding/exchanging unique content, either in the form of relevant news, posts, articles, or references. These groups are very effective in polishing your skills and showcasing your expertise. Contributing to ongoing conversations in industry-aligned groups will help you learn about your colleagues and competition, build expertise, and position yourself as a passionate, engaged professional. - Showcase Your Relevant Experience
A common mistake that job seekers make is adding too much information under the experience section. Keep it concise, crisp, and meaningful for the readers. Here are our best LinkedIn tips for filling in your work history:
Add all jobs you’ve ever had and make sure there are no employment gaps.
Use bullets and quantify your results and accomplishments wherever possible.
Dates between your LinkedIn profile and resume should align. Any difference may cause a recruiter to think you are hiding something, which is a major red flag.
If you have no relevant work experience, some things you can consider including are – relevant projects volunteer work experiences that relate to whatever field you are trying to get into. A recruiter should be able to skim your LinkedIn and know what you are looking for. They should not get confused by unrelated work experience. - Add Multimedia to Featured Section
Many people fail to utilize the multimedia “Featured” section on their LinkedIn profiles. You can clearly site the difference by checking a profile with multimedia under his or her About section and compare it to someone who doesn’t. Featured items can spice up your profile by showcasing your work. Add posts, images, articles, links, and presentations to your profile. Have any cool projects you’ve worked on? Organized any important events? Written articles or books? Great! Show them off on your LinkedIn profile. These are especially helpful if you don’t have a lot of work experience. - Endorse and Get Endorsed
Endorsements build credibility on top of recommendations, but generally require less thought and detail, as one LinkedIn professional can endorse another with a single click. Other professionals can endorse you for individual skills, but it’s your job to add the list of skills to your profile for people to see. If you actively seek out colleagues to endorse – and you don’t lie about the skills you possess – your own endorsements will arrive in due time. - Seek Recommendations
There’s a big difference between you saying you are a hard-working coworker and the same words coming from your former boss. Luckily, LinkedIn lets you ask for recommendations from people you have worked with in the past and present. Recommendations add social proof to your profile – they show that your coworkers and peers think highly of your skills. The best, most meaningful recommendations you can get are from your direct management. Had a boss that was fond of you? Ask them to help out. The second best are from clients/customers you’ve worked with. Someone, who was very happy with and appreciative of the work you did for them. - Create Profile in Additional Language
If you’re bi-lingual, or if you’re looking for jobs in more than one country, it can be an advantage to have your profile available in more than one language. LinkedIn allows you to have your profile in several languages. LinkedIn will automatically lead visitors to your profile to the relevant language. If that language has not been added the visitors will see your profile in the language that you have set as standard.
Bonus Tip. Polish Your LinkedIn Profile Before You Add a Link to Your Resume
You want your LinkedIn profile to be polished and robust. If your profile simply restates the same information that’s included on your resume, it won’t improve your chances of a call from the hiring manager. A less-than-compelling LinkedIn could even hurt your candidacy. No one likes to feel that they’ve wasted a click, and recruiters may assume that your sparse profile is an accurate picture of your qualifications. One of the benefits of LinkedIn is that it gives prospective employers and professional connections a synopsis of your credentials. So use it wisely!