How to create a winning LinkedIn profile
Posted almost 3 years ago by Julia WilliamsStep 1 of getting a job after uni - Sign up to LinkedIn.
Step 1 of trying to get noticed over other job seekers - Sign up to LinkedIn.
Step 1 of connecting with more people in your sector - Sign up to LinkedIn.
In today’s digital networking and job searching environment, LinkedIn is promoted as the place to go. So you register in eager anticipation that your dream job will magically find its way to you, but as the days and weeks go by, you begin to lose hope. The inmails have dried up and your feed is starting to look a little like Facebook.
If you’re collecting tumbleweeds rather than connections, then it’s likely you’re not using LinkedIn to the best of its ability.
So, to help you write a LinkedIn profile which wins you connections and perhaps lands you that dream job, here are some of my tips as a recruiter.
How to give your LinkedIn a boost:
Make your information clear and concise.
We don’t need your life story, your CV does that for us. Your LinkedIn should give a brief insight into who you are and what you do, so try to avoid lengthy sentences and paragraphs in job descriptions and opt for a bullet pointed overview instead.
Utilise all available features.
LinkedIn loves it when people use everything it offers them. Typically profiles which are fully fleshed out with recommendations, cover images, job descriptions perform better than those who aren’t.
A few things to consider:
+ Get your peers to make recommendations - assuming they like you!
+ Boast about any publications you have - you smarty pants!
+ Publish content regularly using either the feed or article function.
+ Fully flesh out your profile with a cover image, profile picture, job descriptions - the full works.
+ Use the open to work feature - to avoid awkward conversations with managers, don’t make this public to everyone, just recruiters.
Engage and create.
Not everyone on LinkedIn is a marketer, but connecting, creating and engaging is important when it comes to getting your profile seen.
+ Create content which feels natural to you. Pictures of dogs, birthdays and other milestones alongside opinion based material make for fantastic Linkedin content which attracts and engages with connections.
+ Try to post on a regular and consistent basis - LinkedIn loves to see that you’re active so a post a day or every other day works wonders.
+ Connect with other people - they won’t bite!. LinkedIn is really about meeting new people, so there’s no reason to feel awkward connecting with someone you don’t know. It’s like a snowball effect, the more people you connect with, the more engagement your posts may receive and the odds your profile gets seen by more people are high.
Hey! If you’re looking for someone new to follow on LinkedIn, we would happily connect with you. Our team are active there on a daily basis if you need some recruitment/job searching advice and our page is updated frequently with new videos and content.
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Header: Photo by Prateek Katyal from Pexels