One of the big mistakes folks make during their job search is overlooking their LinkedIn profile as a tool. Optimizing your profile is a great way to help you stand out and have something working for you in the background while you apply!
The Basics
- Your headline should follow something similar to this format: Current Title @ Current Company | pronouns (optional) | key words relevant to your experience (for example, mine are: People and Culture | Human Resources | Talent | Public Speaker) to maximize what recruiters see first
- Turn on the Open To Work feature and fill out roles you’d be interested in to prioritize your search ranking (note that LinkedIn takes steps to prevent recruiters at your current company from seeing this, but they cannot guarantee complete privacy)
- If you have a portfolio or website, the best place for this used to be under the somewhat hidden Contact Info - LinkedIn has added a Website section that will appear directly under your location with much more visibility
- Add a background photo that will help you stand out - Canva has a huge library you can customize
- If you create content, turn on Creator Mode to add features that help grow your reach including added analytics
Building Out Your Profile
- About Section
- There are so many ways to tackle your summary that it could be its own blog post - read here for a great write-up of approaches and here for some examples that stand out. The very basic format should touch on an overview of your work history, accomplishments, and show a bit of your personality
- Experience
- Paste your resume bullets here and max out the Skills section with each role. LinkedIn is all about keyword searches - it’s rare that someone will stumble organically on your profile so you want to make sure you’re using terms recruiters are searching for, plus it helps give context! For example, if I’m looking for someone that has experience managing a team I can’t always tell from a title alone; adding that context to a role can make or break someone reaching out to you
- Other Sections
- Don’t forget to add volunteering experience, bootcamps, or courses you’ve taken!
- Leave recommendations for managers or coworkers you’ve really loved working with - asking them to return the favour will help add credibility to your profile (plus it’s such a nice confidence boost!)
Another mistake folks make with LinkedIn is thinking they need to create content to get noticed. Don't feel pressured to become one of the thought leaders on the platform - focus on figuring out your goal first! If it's getting noticed by recruiters, taking these steps to having an optimized profile will get you started.