9 LinkedIn Tips to Improve Your Job Search

Having an unfinished or poorly ‘completed’ profile can send the wrong signals to recruiters and potential employers. LinkedIn is an invaluable network for both job seekers and experienced professionals, but it is also used by recruitment agencies to find candidates. The right LinkedIn profile can improve your visibility, expand your overall online presence and reinforce your professional brand. Here are MET Marketing’s 9 key LinkedIn tips for creating a great digital CV.

Add Keywords Recruiters & employers use LinkedIn’s keywords function (Advanced Search) to target potential candidates. That is why keywords are significantly important throughout your entire profile. Because of this it is worth you invest some time to carefully place handpicked keywords into your profile. Contemplate what terms and phrases would be of importance to potential employers. If you were to put yourself in their position searching for a candidate for a specific role, would you be able to find yourself online using only keywords?

Update Your Profile Photo It’s time to update that old photo of you in your holiday shirt on the beach. We tend to trust others more if we can see them, it is a part of human nature. As trust is key to any interaction, we advise that you find the most clear and professional looking picture of you and crop it to a head and shoulders shot.

Update your Specialised Professional ‘Headline’ Your headline, positioned underneath your name on your profile page, is set by default to include your most recent job title. This is not always ideal because you could be seeking a job in a different profession or sector than you currently work in, you may also have an abnormal job title which isn’t conducive for SEO purposes.  First impressions are huge in business, and as this is the first point of contact a potential employer or business partner will see it is therefore of paramount importance. This message needs to be clear, concise, well phrased and tell people what you are about.

Let Your Character Shine Through Your Profile ‘Summary’ is where you can show a bit of personality. This section is as about relevant data, it is not simply enough to just cut and paste information from your cover letter. Make it specific and culturally sound to the profession you desire. Include your achievements, knowledge, experience and technical proficiency. You have 2000 words in which to display yourself as the most compelling, experienced and accomplished version of you so make every word count and do not forget to embrace the use of keywords to help professionals find YOU!

Build Your Network & Connect With Groups Interact with others in your field… that is the entire point of social networking! A targeted connection is of more value than connecting with anyone and everyone for the sake of it. Be selective in your choices and choose experts in your field, colleagues, potential clients, the people they work with and so on. To search for industry specific groups click on Groups and then Groups Directory. Use the filters in the left column to specify the groups that interest you. Contributing regularly to a few key groups will not only help you learn more, but you may soon be looked upon as a source of knowledge for others and could stand out as a potential hire or recommendation to others in the group.

Get Recommendations Recommendations are a great asset to a profile. Like letters of recommendation are invaluable to a candidate in the hiring process, LinkedIn recommendations act as a source of validity to a profile and are more often than not a key decision maker when deciding between two candidates with similar credentials. Recommendations are often reciprocal so provide recommendations with people who know your work well.

Setup a Custom LinkedIn URL Custom URLs are cleaner than a URL string of random letters and numbers, and they can be customised to include your first and last name. The benefit of this is twofold as it gives your profile a more professional look and is important from an SEO perspective. To set up your own custom URL, click Profile from the top menu and choose Edit Profile. Then, click the pen next to the URL on the right column

Include Relevant Experience Recruiters and employers who view your profile will likely be interested in your previous work experience, so it is important that this section is up to date and informative. Instead of just including a job title and dates of employment, also add a paragraph or two for each of your positions that highlight your responsibilities and achievements. Be sure to include previous responsibilities that are in line with the job you are currently looking for, and place these at the top of your paragraph to ensure they are noted.

Brandish Your Awards & Education The education portion of your profile is the place where you will add all of your modules, classes, specialities and certifications. Outline in the Honours and Awards section any and all awards received or accommodations given. This section is also located in the left column, down the page beneath Education. This section is an important part of your profile as it gives genuine validity as a viewer is able to see your background. Furthermore if you schooled in the same institution as the person viewing your profile it could prove influential to gaining a new connection.

A strong profile will significantly increase the chances of a recruiter or employer contacting you about relevant opportunities, as well as helping you avoid unwanted calls about irrelevant positions. Keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date should be of great importance to you as it is your online CV. Not doing so could mean missing out on a great opportunity! Is there anything we missed? Would you like to add any tips or profile set-ups you believe to be beneficial? Please leave your feedback below.