More than 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn profiles to hire the right people for their organizations. LinkedIn is one of the best places to showcase your knowledge and expertise and grow yourself and your company professionally. Nowadays, a simple generic profile doesn’t work. You have to opt for a more strategic approach and work on how you want others to perceive you on the social network. This calls for optimizing your LinkedIn profile where your profile clearly demonstrates what you do and your expertise.
Optimizing your profile helps you rank higher in the searches and urge more people to connect with you.
Here is how to go about it:
Choose a Professional Profile Picture
Your profile picture is your first impression. It should be a positive one. You can capture an excellent picture with an iPhone if you have one. The picture should feel authentic, warm, professional, and confident. It should give friendly vibes. There are some main considerations you should follow:
- The background should be solid colored and do not distract.
- Your face should make up 60% of the image
- Your facial expressions are important.
- Use soft natural light.
- Your background should match the profile header.
- Only use high-quality HD images.
Add Relevant and Interesting Headline
This would be the first thing that recruiter will see after going through the search results. Your headline should be attention-grabbing. The best headline is to the point and demonstrates what you do and can do for people. You have a limit of 120 characters to make a precise deadline for what you offer.
Write an Authentic Summary
You can add many things to your summary. You have a 2000 character limit to explain who you are and what you can do for potential clients. If you are from sales, add contact information like phone or email. Add a clear call to action.
Optimize Job Titles
Seemingly simple, job tiles may vary in different industries and companies. If your job title is uncommon, add a bracket or another equivalent job title.
Optimize Experience Details
It is best to mention your experience in a paragraph of three lines that explain your overall scope of work and your main duties and job responsibilities. Best to add three to five bullet points of your key highlights.
Optimize the Skill Section for Better Rankings
You can add up to 50 skills to your profile, and LinkedIn allows you to pin at least three skills. Make sure they are the top ones you wish to highlight. Use the relevant keywords as well. Identify the functional key skills that employers look for.
Request Endorsements and Recommendations
A profile with authentic and positive recommendations comes off as reliable and trustworthy because so many people can vouch for the person. Ask your clients and colleagues for recommendations. It would boost your credibility and make you look like a person with high potential.
Post Relevant Content
This doesn’t impact your profile. However, it increases your chances of getting noticed by potential clients. Post quality, relevant, and regular content and grow your LinkedIn network.
Once you have optimized and completed your LinkedIn profile, be active on the platform to enhance and increase your searchability and visibility.
Do all this, and you will see your LinkedIn profile changing for the better.
