With more than 500 million existing profiles and two new members every second, LinkedIn is changing the professional paradigm and making it easier for companies and users to interact.
Thus, the classic CV alone is no longer enough to “sell” your skills – an effective online professional profile is essential to get noticed by recruiters and hiring companies and to land great opportunities.
We leave you with five quick and effective tips to update your LinkedIn profile today and make the most of this professional online platform.
- Make a good first impression
First, photography. It’s the first thing recruiters will see, and it serves as the face of your profile. Adding a photo to your profile significantly increases the odds of receiving a message on LinkedIn, with profiles with more professional-looking face photos getting many more views.
Ensure your photo is taken from the front, with a smile, and ambience behind you that is distraction-free or professional. When you upload the file, try to change its name to lastname.jpg (for example, mariasilva.jpg), which guarantees that it will appear on the first page of Google results, and also in the image results of this search engine when someone searches your name.
Second, your professional resume. This is the speech that conveys your personal brand, being an opportunity to tell your story and introduce yourself to potential recruiters and other professionals who view your profile. Include any new achievements, successes, and career ambitions, and specify the type of jobs you may be looking for. End your professional summary with a call to action, that is, what are the next steps you want from the reader of your profile?
Keep your information up to date as well as your current rank. The more content you have, the more likely you are to appear in recruiter searches.
- Update your most important work experience and achievements
Profiles with work experience get more views. In a way, your LinkedIn profile is your online resume. Even if you are not looking for a new job, it is important to update your experience with all the new successes you have achieved. What should it include?
Certificates, courses, awards, languages, projects, and publications. In addition, it can also take into account your participation in voluntary or charitable activities.
Don’t forget to also include your academic background, adding universities or other types of schools that have their own LinkedIn account, as this can foster networking opportunities with alumni and perhaps provide referrals to join new companies.
Finally, add supporting documents to your profile, if applicable. Review what you have presentations, whitepapers, and images of your work that might support your profile. This will make your portfolio stand out visually and support your written profile. Make sure you are allowed to share your work publicly, especially if there is commercially sensitive information included in it.
- Review your contacts and groups
Effective networking with your peers in the profession or in the same industry can be the key to achieving your career goals, by finding contacts that can introduce you to new opportunities. Scroll through your contact list and review who’s in your network – are there important people you’ve met recently that you haven’t added yet? If yes, get in touch. Also look for your co-workers, or new clients that you haven’t connected with yet, and add them.
The more connections you have, the larger your global network, thus creating more long-term opportunities, and increasing the likelihood that your profile will be viewed.
Keep your information up to date as well as your current rank. The more content you have, the more likely you are to appear in recruiter searches.
Also, check which groups you belong to and if you are participating in order to derive some value from them in professional terms. Whatever your industry, belonging to and actively participating in specific groups on LinkedIn can put you in touch with experts in the same field. Publishing smartly and participating in group discussions can lead to you becoming an opinion leader in the market.
Maybe there are new groups you can join to expand your contact horizons, or leave others that are no longer relevant. A quick review of your LinkedIn group membership to ensure you are where you need to be can make a difference.
- Recommend others
If you make recommendations to others, you will get recommendations on you. An excellent professional background, with good references, will undoubtedly help to attract attention to your profile. The recommendations of others will really convince recruiters that you’re worth betting on. Make recommendations whenever possible and prove the reciprocity effect. If you do it for the long term, your search for the ideal opportunity will be much easier.
- Optimize search rankings
Recruiters look for keywords. Optimize your rankings by incorporating industry terms into your title, summary, and work experience. Stay informed about the most frequently used keywords and make sure you use clear and concise language.
Remember: these days, a great resume alone is unlikely to lead you directly to your next job, as the vast majority of candidate search techniques include LinkedIn and other social networks. When it comes to getting noticed, a professional presence on social media is very important.
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