Your profile photo, or lack of one, is the first thing that viewers see on your profile. Make it count! Having a photo has been PROVEN to increase your profile views. When selecting a photo, consider these three rules: 1. Take a high-quality photo. It doesn't have to be an expensive professional, headshot. Many smartphones these days take great-quality photos. 2. Smile! Smiling indicates confidence, likeability, and approachability. It makes your profile more inviting. 3. No selfies! Have a photographer, or even just a friend, snap a quick photo of you outside, or against a simple backdrop.
The headline consistently holds the heaviest weight in the LinkedIn algorithm and one has 220 characters (with spaces) available...use them all. "But my job title isn't 220 characters!" True, but remember how recruiters find candidates: They type the job title they have open then add 3-5 keywords associated with that title to parse OUT candidates who do not have that criteria. Use keywords you feel recruiters would use in a search to find candidates like you...and add a couple words that can differentiate you from others. Also, spell out your title. For example, you are not a VP of IT, you are a Vice President of information technology (never use IT because recruiters cannot search using that term because T follows I in too many words...like my last name). Remember, you need to "Out-SEO" your competition if you want to get found by recruiters.
The most important thing to understand about LinkedIn if you want to be found by recruiters and talent professionals is to think of your LinkedIn profile more like a website than an online CV. Make it your shop window to sell you, the job seeker. This means it is all about ensuring you have the right search terms in the Headline, About Box, Job Titles (most important), and Skills sections on LinkedIn. You also want recent recommendations on your profile to provide social proof and increase the chance of recruiters reaching out.
On LinkedIn, everyone can claim he has stronger and better skill and knowledge to compete against you. However, It’s not convincing enough. A savvy recruiter will want to know - Why you could get this skill/knowledge - How you get it - What achievements it has helped you to create Provide a story that connects with your claim in skill/knowledge, which will make your claim more solid and logical. Moreover, your story can be a great differentiator to set you from others. Name: Hank Chin Web: www.ipibresume.com LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/linkedinhank
Think of a written recommendation as an online review of what you can do and what it's like to work with you. When recruiters see recommendations that support the information you've included on your profile, you appear more credible and trustworthy. Aim for 2 written recommendations annually. Great recommendations disclose how the person knows you, what that person observed in your working relationship, and/or any significant results you delivered. For example, "Lissa and I were peers at XYZ company. We worked on projects together regularly where I saw Lissa utilize excellent project management best practices to move work forward. As a result, the projects were delivered on-time and on-budget. Lissa brought positivity and fun to the workplace and I really enjoyed working with her!" Pro tip! When asking for a recommendation, have a point-of-view on what skills/results you'd like your recommender to focus on. "I'd love for you to focus on my project management skills."
Don't start with your LinkedIn profile. I know that may sound strange but so many people get caught up and lost in the details of their profile that they forget - it's not for them. Your LinkedIn profile is for your ideal audience and that means understanding job roles, job markets, company objectives, industry trends, regional/cultural differences, and most importantly, who are the people behind the scenes. Can you identify the person who created the job/who wrote the job description? Do you know the person or team of people with the same job title? What other teams/departments work with people who have this job title? Who is responsible for hiring? Your profile needs to be speak directly to them and that means spending time researching and actually speaking to these influencers and decision makers.
Creating a LinkedIn profile is the start of job search but don't wait for recruiters to find you from your profile. Create your own content, and engage with others by commenting on their posts. Where to start? (1) Check out LinkedIn News articles on your Home page and add to the discussion. (2) Create a poll question to get engagement (3) Above all, don't be afraid. You have something just as valuable to offer as anyone
The skills section on LinkedIn is often a set-it-and-forget-it section for many, but the skills section can be a very useful section, especially for job seekers. LinkedIn allows you to choose up to 50 skills from a pre-populated list. Use all 50! Focus your skills section on the jobs you want by including skills you have that are relevant to the jobs you want. This may mean taking out skills you used years ago or taking our skills that are irrelevant, especially in a career change. Start by doing a skill assessment. 1. Do research to determine, what skills you need for the jobs you want. 2. Do you have these skills? If you do, ensure they are in the skills section. 3. If you don't you now have a list of skills you need to learn to be most marketable for the jobs you want. Be sure you are adding modern skills. If you have out-of-date skills in your LinkedIn skills section remove them.
Think of LinkedIn as an extension of your CV so it is very important you complete it with rich media. This is a great opportunity to prove who you are and what you have done through picture and videos, something you won't be able to do on your CV. Everyone loves seeing pictures and videos and engage with them ;)
Online Visibility & LinkedIn Coach at The Business of Being Visible
Answered 3 years ago
Most of us have numerous job titles that appear in the Experience section of our LinkedIn profiles. But how well are those job titles helping us attract the right recruiters? A simple job title like “VP Operations” (nearly 200k LinkedIn members) or “Marketing Manager” (over 25 million) presents a real challenge for recruiters. They have to significantly finetune their searches down to a manageable number of viable candidates, which could easily be less than 20! Even if you already have keywords in your profile, you may be overlooking this power move: Increase your ability to get seen by recruiters by adding keywords that follow your official job title. Instead of “Marketing Manager” as the title for your job description, up-level to “Marketing Manager| Digital Strategy, Content Creation, Media Analysis” in that same Job Title field so you can boost your visibility and help more recruiters find you for your specific expertise.
Ensure that you’ve updated your job preferences to make it easier for recruiters to find you on LinkedIn. When you click “Open to” and “Finding a new job” on your profile, you’ll be prompted to fill in the following information regarding your preferred: 1. job titles 2. workplace locations 3. workplace environment (on-site, hybrid, remote) 4. job type (full-time or part-time positions) This will help recruiters figure out if you’re a good match.
Marketing & Outreach Manager at ePassportPhoto
Answered 3 years ago
One tip for optimizing your LinkedIn profile is to use the right keywords. A keyword-optimized profile makes sure that the right recruiters can find you. Therefore, individuate the keyword that perfectly describes your skills, position, and experience, and include them in your profile. Including relevant keywords in your profile summary, job titles, and skills sections will help improve your search ranking, and recruiters can easily find you.
One tip to optimize your LinkedIn profile to make sure the right recruiters can find you is to use relevant keywords in your profile. Recruiters often use specific keywords to search for candidates on LinkedIn, so it's essential to include relevant keywords in your profile to increase your visibility. This can be in the headline, the body, or even hashtags. Ensure that the keywords have the most impact and relevance to the field and the type of opportunity desired.
Make sure you talk the same languages as them. How? check the job descriptions of the roles you have most interest in, find the most common key words and add them to your profile. Don't be creative with your job title, use one that already exists on LinkedIn, so you will appear in higher number of searches. Be active on the platform, follow companies you would love to work for, get to know them better, check who works there, check if you know someone who already works there and ask for a referral. By taking all these actions you will become LinkedIn's algorithm best friend. Good Luck!
The job titles in your Experience section significantly influence your visibility in recruiter searches. However, some companies may use unique terminologies, so use universally recognised job titles. A business may name its Receptionist "Director of First Impressions", which won't rank in a search for Receptionists. You could also incorporate descriptive keywords related to functions of your target role (Business Owner - Project Management, Financial Management) to improve your visibility in target fields. But remember to substantiate your claims!