Are you tired of having a lacklustre LinkedIn profile that fails to impress potential employers, clients, or collaborators?
Look no further! In today’s job market, having a strong online presence is essential, and your LinkedIn profile is the perfect place to showcase your professional brand.
In this article, I’ll guide you through the steps of creating a killer LinkedIn profile that will grab attention, showcase your skills and experience, impress potential clients, and help you stand out in a sea of candidates..
From crafting a compelling headline to optimizing your profile for search engines, I’ve got you covered.
Let’s dive in and take your LinkedIn presence to the next level!
Why do I need a great LinkedIn profile?
Having an optimized LinkedIn profile is crucial for professionals in today’s job market for several reasons.
First – LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 700 million users. It’s a powerful tool for connecting with potential employers, clients, and collaborators and building your professional network. Your profile serves as a virtual resume, providing a snapshot of your skills, experience, and achievements and making it easy for others to learn about you and your work.
A strong LinkedIn profile can also help you stand out in a crowded job market. Recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn to find and screen candidates, and a polished, professional profile will create a long-lasting positive impression.
And let’s not forget LinkedIn is an important platform for building your personal brand and establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field. By sharing content, engaging with others, and showcasing your expertise, you can demonstrate your value to a wider audience.
And that’s why a great LinkedIn profile can help you expand your professional network, increase your visibility, and establish your personal brand.
So if you’re serious about your career, it’s essential to invest time and effort into creating a profile that showcases your skills and experience in the best possible light.
8 Tips for Crafting a Powerful Profile
A LinkedIn profile has many different elements, so let’s take a look at each one of them.
1. Use a high-quality professional headshot
First impressions matter. Users notice your profile picture before they look at anything else on your profile. Besides, your profile picture appears on search results as well. You want yours to leave a lasting impression.
Use a recent headshot on your profile. Not that one picture from college or high school that you posted on all social media platforms.
Remember, LinkedIn is a professional platform. I wouldn’t recommend you use that selfie with your cat (no matter how cute your cat is!) Get a professional profile picture taken by a professional photographer. Make it easier for professionals you’ve recently or virtually met to recognize you.
Your goal is to look like you normally do at work. They say dressing is a form of good manners. Dress like you would in a meeting or interview. Whether you choose to dress in full formal attire or smart casual, the decision is entirely up to you. No potential employer will look down on you for being smart.
While you want to look professional, don’t be too serious. Smile on your profile photo to look approachable. A LinkedIn recruiter will click on your profile if your profile picture is inviting.
A good professional headshot is one that shows your face clearly. Some people include their shoulders, chest, and hands. The key is to make sure that your face takes up at least 60% of the professional photo.
2. Set a background image
A background image on LinkedIn is just as important as your profile picture. Once recruiters and LinkedIn networks click on your profile, the first thing they see is your background banner.
Using your background photo to showcase what you do and how recruiters can reach you is more beneficial than leaving it in the default generic mode.
Unlike the profile photo, you don’t have to necessarily include your face on the background banner. Use it as an opportunity to tell your LinkedIn page visitors, “This is what I do” and “This is how you can reach me.”
For example, if you’re a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist who works from home, you can use a picture of your laptop on your home office setup. Similarly, if you’re a real estate agent, you can use a photo of you talking to your potential clients during an open house.
In case you’re wondering how you can include your contact information in your background banner, you’ll be pleased to know that you can design a simple graphic yourself. Online tools such as Canva have made it easier to create a simple graphic with a captivating image and your contact details.
There are also many types of templates you can find online based on your industry.
3. Write a compelling headline
LinkedIn’s algorithm considers the profile headline as one of the most important fields for search. You need to have a compelling and optimized headline to achieve top priority on search results.
The default LinkedIn headline is your current job title and company, such as “Internal Auditor at XYZ firm.”
Edit this headline at the top of your profile to make it more impactful. Keep in mind that you only have 120 characters to make it compelling. This is enough room to add more details alongside the default headline.
Instead of the default headline in our previous example, you could update it to something like:
Internal Auditor at XYZ Firm | Certified Accountant | Financial Analyst | Economist
With this headline, you demonstrate a wide skillset and specialization. You’ve included specific skills that a recruiter might enter on LinkedIn’s search bar all while using 84 characters.
This is a great example of a headline – it shows Lauren’s position, her strong points, what she offers to clients, and the thing that is most important to her – quality content.
4. Tell a story in your LinkedIn summary
Your LinkedIn summary gives you a perfect opportunity to paint a picture of who you are in your professional network’s minds. While it’s not part of your first impressions, you must get it right since it’s a vital aspect of your profile.
Display your storytelling abilities. You have up to 2,600 characters (roughly 350 words) to demonstrate who you are. You want to use this part to narrate your skills, strengths, and where you want to be in your career in a few years.
Many professionals underutilize this section. Ensure you give your profile visitors a glimpse into your career. However, don’t highlight your current experience too much. There’s space for that in the Experience section, which we’ll be looking at in a minute.
Don’t be too technical while writing your summary. While you want to demonstrate your competence, avoid too much jargon. Be conversational and friendly. You want to make it straightforward and easy to read.
Again, don’t forget to optimize it for search. Include industry-relevant keywords and phrases to make it easier for recruiters to find your LinkedIn profile. It’s not a crime to look up other professionals’ profiles and use them for inspiration. 😉
5. Update your experience
Treat this section like your online resume. Primarily, this is where you highlight where you’ve worked before and your current position. The best thing about LinkedIn is that you have a choice on what to include.
Ideally, you want to remove any irrelevant experience. If it’s not boosting your LinkedIn profile in any way, it’s okay to remove it.
If you find yourself struggling to choose what experience to include and what to leave out, ask yourself, “What narrative do I want to craft about my career?” Your answer to this question will help you select relevant job titles.
One more thing; demonstrate your career progression in the same job. You don’t have to keep creating a new job for promotions. Just show the promotions in the same job.
6. Add 5 or more skills and get endorsements
For starters, the Skills section is for highlighting your transferable skills, such as “Public Speaking” or “Programming”. Similarly, Endorsements are the people in your professional network who say that they’re certain of your skill.
I would recommend that you add at least five skills and pin the most relevant ones to your profile so that users can see them without having to expand your profile.
In case you’re not sure which ones to pin, think about your current goals. They could include building your personal brand, accessing more job opportunities, or finding new clients.
In the same breath, get your LinkedIn network to endorse your skills. LinkedIn highlights the skills that you’ve been endorsed in, especially by those who are highly skilled in that particular skill.
When it comes to LinkedIn endorsements, you’re more likely to receive endorsements from people whose skills you’ve endorsed. As such, start endorsing your networks to start getting more endorsements.
You can also ask people who you’ve worked with before to endorse your skills.
Oh, and just so you know, digital marketing, problem-solving, and sales are some of the top in-demand skills on LinkedIn right now. Over to you.
7. Include your education
It may sound obvious, but adding detailed descriptions of your education is a vital aspect of building your LinkedIn profile.
I understand that this part may be tricky, especially if your degree has nothing to do with what you do now. However, treat the schools you attended and what you earned as the bare minimum.
If you’re fresh from college, this may give you access to good job opportunities since you probably don’t have relevant experience yet.
In addition to the basic details of your education, add any honors or awards you earned. Include relevant extracurricular activities, as well as modules.
For example, if your job search is in the marketing industry, include how you were part of the editorial team in your college magazine.
8. Be an active LinkedIn user
There are roughly 14 million jobs on LinkedIn at any time from about 20 million companies. This makes LinkedIn an essential tool for your job search. However, you need to make sure you’re active on the platform.
An active LinkedIn profile is evident to recruiters. Post articles on career advice, engage with other professionals on their posts, share news, join groups, and get endorsements frequently.
There’s a section for recent activity and articles on your profile. This section has a column for articles you’ve written and posted yourself and another column for other people’s posts you’ve shared and comments you made.
This could be extremely useful if you’re looking to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Your LinkedIn profile isn’t meant to be like your CV, which you only dust off and update when applying for jobs. Make it a habit to visit your profile, post, and engage with other professionals at least twice a week.
Create a LinkedIn Profile That Shines
LinkedIn is an essential platform for professionals looking to boost their job search, build a personal brand, and connect with other industry professionals. The better your LinkedIn profile is, the higher your chances of capturing the attention of recruiters and other professionals are.
However, just like people, there’s no such thing as a perfect profile. But with just a bit of polish and elbow grease, you can get your LinkedIn dolled up and ready for the ball!
Good Luck!
