Top tips on building an effective LinkedIn profile · Don’t forget to also provide recommendations and ... Top tips on building an effective LinkedIn profile. u&u Recruitment Partners

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LinkedIn is the number one social media platform for business users, especially recruiters. LinkedIn will assist you with job-hunting, gathering leads and networking.

In today’s social media-driven society, you need to be using LinkedIn as your personal marketing platform in order to create a Business Profile and get your personal brand out there.

Have you Googled your name lately to check what information is on the Internet about you? This information is your brand and LinkedIn is a digital first impression. You need to create the parameters to your brand by controlling what information is on the Internet for everyone to see.

It is easy to build a profile, but if you really want to stand out to recruiters, you don’t need to just build a basic profile. You need to build a compelling profile. At u&u, we spend many hours searching through LinkedIn profiles for top talent, so here are a few tips on how we think you can build a great profile to make sure you are getting noticed.

BUILDING YOUR PROFILE

Hint: Before you get started, turn off your ‘activity broadcasts’ in your Privacy Settings while your profile is in build mode. This will prevent your networks from being spammed with every update you make. Turn your broadcasts back on once updated and update your headline to draw in profile views.

1) Commit to a complete profile

Aim to create a ‘complete’, keyword-optimised profile. If your profile is only half completed, you won’t be taken seriously. In a matter of seconds, you need to convey as much info as possible to make someone reach out to you. Think in terms of your resume being a detailed marketing brochure and your LinkedIn profile being a flyer – grabbing attention. LinkedIn actually measures the ‘completeness’ of your profile as you are building it and offers suggestions to make it stronger.

2) Customise your URL

Invite others to view your profile using a customised URL link – ideally linkedin.com/yourname, rather than numbers assigned by LinkedIn. Select the edit button next to your URL to customise your URL link.

3) Connections

Try and aim for at least 100 connections to start with but 500+ would be ideal. Having no connections may send signals to others that you are not well-connected, so try and build your connections by reaching out to old colleagues. You should make sure each of your connections is relevant.

4) Choose a professional photo of yourself

If you are going to get at least one part of your profile right, make sure it is your photo. No photo equals no credibility. LinkedIn states that “a photo makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed”. A profile with no photo can seem less genuine and the seeker may be hesitant to connect with you or may think you are hiding something. Your photo is your first impression to a potential employer. You wouldn’t advertise your car without a photo, would you?

Top tips on building an effective LinkedIn profile













There are some great articles out there providing advice on picking the right photo but, in a nutshell, make sure it is a professional head-shot, clear and in high resolution. No selfies. Make sure it is a recent shot that looks like you, and an image without other people. Smile!

• How to pick the right profile picture on LinkedIn

• Headshots to avoid

5) Nail your headline

Your headline is the most important piece of real estate on your profile. It communicates your professional brand, and determines if you will be found and whether someone will click on your profile. Every time you communicate on LinkedIn, your headline appears next to your name and profile photo—it travels with you to comments you make in Groups and Status Updates on the Home and Company pages. By default, LinkedIn populates your headline with your job title and current company, but you don’t have to leave it that way. You need to create a compelling, keyword-rich headline; this is crucial to your success. It’s not just for a job title and a company name. Use the space to highlight what sets you out from the competition and makes you unique. It should reflect your career objective. Use dividers to divide your strategic key words.

6) Use keywords strategically

What terms resonate with your target market? What language do they use? Ask your customers how they found you. Do a job search on LinkedIn and study job descriptions noting the words that appear often. Use terms your customers would use that resonate with your market.

Once you’ve determined the best keywords to use, you need to strategically populate them throughout your LinkedIn profile. Include them in your eadline, Summary, Experience and Skills sections to gain keyword density. Keyword density is the percentage of time that specific keyword appears among all the other words on the profile page.

7) Summary

Your summary should be like a professional biography: another opportunity to market your brand. Do not use a shopping list approach; it should engage your target audience using keywords and snapshot your entire career history. It’s the perfect space for your ‘elevator pitch’ explaining who you are and your value proposition. All the words in your summary should duplicate the keywords you put in your headline; list these as Specialties at the end of the Summary. These same keywords should then be carried over to the Skills & Expertise section as well. Include a Specialties section after the blurb.

Make it visual. A picture speaks a thousand words., If you are a presenter, add a video to summarise you or share a presentation. It should include your top achievements, and speak about your passions, professional values, key or unique skills and perhaps your industry exposure.

Your profile is not a resume or CV. Write as if you are having a conversation with someone, in first person, as third person can come across as cold or pompous. Inject your personality. Let people know your values and passions. In your summary, discuss what you do outside of work. You want people to want to know you for you.


https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/2014/12/5-tips-for-picking-the-right-linkedin-profile-picture

https://blog.ring.md/professional-headshot-tips-common-mistakes-to-avoid













8) Experience

You don’t need to list all your jobs in order like in your resume. List roles that are relevant to your career goals. Give just enough information to get the reader interested and want to reach out to you. Be concise and talk about your relevant accomplishments, what you did, how you did it and what the outcome / impact was. List duties or achievements using keywords that will direct searches to your profile.

Ensure you include a current job entry when unemployed so you don’t get missed on searches as recruiters tend to use the current title box to search for candidates. Just include a dummy entry stating ‘Seeking new opportunities’ – or keep your previous job as your current job so you are not perceived negatively.

Include multimedia samples if you can, links to projects you’ve worked on, articles you’ve drafted, and videos of any presentations.

Add voluntary work. This can show commitment, your passions and skills.

9) List all of your relevant skills

Scroll through the list of skills and identify all of those that are relevant to you. Doing so helps to substantiate the description in your headline and summary, and provides a platform for others to endorse you.

10) Request recommendations

Recommendations strengthen your profile. They are personal testimonials written to illustrate the experience of working with you and highlight your strengths. Take the time to think about who you would most value a recommendation from – someone that will be a good advocate for you and have a good reputation within your industry. Personalise your request to them and don’t be afraid to ask them to write about a contribution you made to a specific project to showcase your strengths. Don’t forget to also provide recommendations and endorsements to others in your network if you can speak to the quality of their work.

GET NETWORKING

Once you have built your profile, you can get networking and utilising its features to promote yourself.

1) Join relevant groups

LinkedIn Groups can help when searching for jobs and assist with networking. These are where your potential employers hang out. It shows that you are engaged in your field. You may find some key contacts and become part of relevant discussions. Connect with others that have common interests and contribute to the conversation (you can also track the popularity of your posts).

2) Strategically connect with purpose

Take initiative and reach out to key decision makers within companies you are interested in working for. Refine your search by industry, location, company size, and job titles — whatever characteristics form your ideal employer profile. Have a list of targeted prospects and study their profiles for common bonds that you could mention in your customised invitation.

Give someone a reason to accept your invitation by demonstrating you did your homework and studied his or her profile. They’ll be flattered. You can also see who you’re connected to in your target companies. If they’re publishing posts on LinkedIn, ‘like’, comment or


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share their post, if you found it of interest. Gain their attention and then it will be a natural next step for them to connect with you.

3) Start Conversations and customise your InMails

Engage with people. Start with a conversation opener. What interested you on that person’s profile? When you receive an invite, select reply before you accept. If you don’t know why someone sent you an invite, write back and ask. Reach out to “People Who Viewed Your Profile” to find out if you can help them. If you see a connection is attending a conference you will be at, reach out and mention this.

4) Foster relationships

Introduce connections to one another. If someone shares content that is helpful or thought-provoking, acknowledge it with a ‘like’ or add a comment to start the conversation. Be concise. Too much information is likely to be skimmed over. Focus on finding out their availability and interest in a networking opportunity. Give them reason to reply by asking for advice, opinions or referrals.

5) Update your status and be active

Share content, media and marketing collateral that is relevant and valuable to your target audience. Status updates make you visible to your connections in their feeds. Add comments to shares, giving yourself a greater prominence. Well-thought-out comments can express your opinions and thought leadership in a positive way. It may draw additional comments which will then raise your profile across LinkedIn. Keep them professional; it is not a ‘social’ networking site.

6) Follow relevant influencers for your industry

Following relevant influencers on LinkedIn to help give context to your profile demonstrating your passion for what you do. It will also add interesting content in your feed, which you can then share with others when you think it adds value.


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Top tips on building an effective LinkedIn profile · Don’t forget to also provide recommendations and ... Top tips on building an effective LinkedIn profile. u&u Recruitment Partners