First impressions count and if you are a working professional you will have heard about LinkedIn and I am sure you will also know it is the world’s largest professional networking tool with around 400 million members. It’s a great way to build your professional identity and to connect with colleagues, clients or potential business opportunities on a professional platform. As recruiters we see a lot of different profiles each day and there is a mix of good and bad on there. Resolver Recruitment have done the hard part and put together our top 7 tips to help refine your profile page to ensure it is portraying the most professional version of you.
Professional photo: A photo of you on holidays, out at drinks or laying on the beach is a big no. Keep it strictly professional, no selfies just a simple head shot in professional work attire that is relevant to the industry you work within is sufficient and make sure you are smiling.
Relevant headline: Your job headline needs to be exact to your current job title, beefing it up or putting creative terms in your title will actually work against you. LinkedIn works on key words so if you are a sales agent and are using a title such as “Million Dollar Lister” you simply won’t come up in any searches.
Follow companies of interest: This is a good way to stay ahead of industry news, changes to companies that might affect you along with being able to interact with like-minded professionals that you can potentially refer business to or do some mentoring with.
Skills summary: Your summary should be an overview of your skills and talents so people can see where you can add value to a company. This is going to be the first part of your profile people will read so keep it honest. You should aim to highlight your top three to four career achievements and have it read like a bio.
Your current location: Putting your current city is crucial, if you want to use LinkedIn as a business tool the more relevant your profile is the better quality outcomes you will get.
Certifications & education: Adding these to your profile will not only allow you to connect with fellow students or other professionals with similar qualifications. It will also highlight what you are qualified to do and people can approach you for work or business opportunities based on this.
Recommendations: These are like testimonials from past bosses, clients or colleagues and act as a great way for people to gain an insight into what your work style is like and can build up your credibility. There are features on LinkedIn where you can request these from your connections.
