5 Quick Steps to a LinkedIn Profile That Wows
If you’re currently looking for a new job, it should be no secret that LinkedIn can be a huge advantage for you!
It’s a powerful tool and resource to find out about job opportunities, put forth your candidacy or even have recruiters find you and contact you directly, all on the strength of your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn has made it fairly easy for business professionals to create their profiles.
Easy however doesn’t mean effective.
I hear this all the time from clients…
“I have a LinkedIn profile but it’s not really doing anything for me!”
How to "work" LinkedIn
In order for LinkedIn to “work” for you, you need to know how to work it!
And one of the first steps is to have an inviting and complete profile.
It’s like curb appeal for your professional self.
And doing it right will help you get noticed when you’re applying for new roles whether you do this through LinkedIn or some other source.
Employers these days pay attention to your social media, to your online presence and there’s simply no better way for you to shine than by having the right profile on LinkedIn.
Read on to get it done quickly and painlessly and if you already have a LinkedIn profile, make sure it has all of the elements below.
Step 1
Photo: the professional YOU
All you need is a clear photo that represents your professional self.
It should be a photo of only you, no spouse, kids or pets, best to leave those for your Facebook or IG profile.
A smile is always welcoming and a colour photo tends to be more eye catching.
Include a neutral background and a professional attire and you’re all set.
Don’t like how you look and therefore resisting putting up a photo?
Well, you might as well not have a LinkedIn profile if you don’t include a photo!
Studies clearly show that job seekers with no photo are overlooked.
If you can’t find a photo that you like, find one you don’t hate and move on. You can always update it later!
You can also enlist a professional photographer to help feature you in the best possible light- yes, lighting can make a huge difference!
Step 2
Headline: your top specialties, in keyword format
This section is the most misused by job seekers on LinkedIn.
Most people put their current role title here as a default.
This misses an opportunity for LinkedIn SEO, meaning this section is one of the most important ones for your profile to rank in search engines when recruiters are searching for candidates with a specific set of skills and the right experience.
Here’s an example of an effective headline for a candidate looking for a Customer Service Manager role:
Customer Service Manager | Driving Customer Satisfaction | Call Centre Efficiency
The above are all keywords that you would find on many job descriptions for Customer Service Manager roles.
Don’t stop here with keywords, you want to include them throughout your profile.
Having top ones in your headline goes a long way to help you rank at the top of these searches.
Step 3
Summary: Your Brand
This is your opportunity to further highlight your “brand”.
Your brand, as it relates to your profession and your career, is what makes you unique and different and should be aligned with what you have become “known for” at work.
In other words, you can position this in terms of the problems that you help solve for employers.
This can be done by starting with a 3 sentence paragraph that summarizes what you specialize in.
You can then include your top strengths with keywords, and adding a sentence or two demonstrating how you’ve leveraged those strenghts in your career and past roles.
This section is important real estate and will add a ton of “curb appeal” to your LinkedIn profile.
Step 4
Your Work History
This section is a massive opportunity for most people.
The majority of profiles I see look like a copy and paste of duties from job descriptions.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t help anyone outshine their competition and clearly show the value and the problems they solve at work.
Instead:
Use accomplishments throughout this section. Focus on facts, figures, specific results and problems solved.
Employers want to know what you’ve achieved in addition to your job duties.
Most people can “do the work” but stellar employees go beyond and that’s what employers are looking for.
Make sure you highlight that clearly in this section with a focus on your most recent, relevant roles.
Step 5
Add some personality
This is the section of your profile where you can let your personality shine.
LinkedIn is after all a social media platform.
I’m not saying you should share your innermost thoughts here but it’s an opportunity to make you interesting and human 🤗
And it doesn’t hurt if some of your personal interests can help boost your appeal as a top candidate as well.
Case in point: if you’re an avid athlete or exercise on a regular basis, that’s something you can place in the interest section. Most employers view this positively since it demonstrates you have some healthy habits that could potentially make you more productive and focused.
LinkedIn deserves that you spend some time creating a profile that wows prospective employers and have you move right into the interview phase for your ideal role!
Ready to fully leverage the power of LinkedIn?
Then you need The LinkedIn Profile Makeover Toolkit!
