According to Business Insider, more than 30,000 organizations throughout the globe use LinkedIn to recruit new hires. If you’re looking for a new job and haven’t optimized your LinkedIn profile, you’re missing a HUGE opportunity!
Read on for 7 ways you can upgrade your LinkedIn profile to become more attractive to hiring managers.
Written by: Tara Luther, Promega Corporation
Think of your personal profile picture as your brand.
Just as you would not show up for an interview with your furry friend or in casual clothing, you should leave these items out of your profile picture as well. As this is one of the first items on your profile that a hiring manager will see, make sure your profile picture shows you in your best light. Choosing a picture that is representative of the industry you are looking to gain employment in will go a long way to set a great first impression.
Spruce up your headline.
This is the text that shows just to the right of your name and will default to your current or last position held. As your headline is among the first items that hiring managers will see upon looking at your profile, and it appears in various other places on LinkedIn, this is a great opportunity to stand out. LinkedIn allows you 120 characters to describe yourself. Think of keywords that will set you apart from your competition. Do you have many years of experience? Were you a manager in your former role? Are you an expert in your field? Use this opportunity to make your profile pop!
Share any publications that you’ve written.
What better way to show a hiring manager your skill set than by sharing research you’ve done? Sharing publications also helps to build your credibility and trust. Listing research you’ve completed on your resume is a great first step, but including this research in its entirety allows you to expand upon this to show what kind of employee you’ll be. This will also give you a leg up on your competition who aren’t posting. One word of caution – choose what you share carefully and share publications that your audience will want to see. Show a hiring manager that you know what they are looking for in an employee to build trust with them. LinkedIn will now allow you to publish directly to the platform as well. Consider using this tool as another way to reach hiring managers and to show that you have authority in the field.
Be sure to include relevant keywords in your summary section.
Hiring managers don’t have time to diligently read each potential candidate’s profile. Make your profile more user-friendly by including keywords relating to the job you want in your summary. This way, when a hiring manager performs a search, your profile jumps to the top.
Be active in the (online) community!
Joining (and participating) in two to three groups that relate to your industry or niche. Not only is this a great way to connect with other professionals in your industry, your profile is five times more likely to be viewed! One thing to remember – groups are about the community and discussion topics should be relevant to the community. This is not the place to sell yourself or your services, but rather to be a team player. Did you know that ISHI has a group on LinkedIn? Check it out and join here! As a bonus, you can message other members in a group you participate in even if you’re not first degree connections!
Ask current or former colleagues for written recommendations.
Recommendations that are written for specific roles will show up underneath the position they were created for. A former manager taking the time to acknowledge your passion and excellent work ethic will speak volumes to potential hiring managers and will build your credibility in their eyes.
Promote yourself in the skills and endorsements section.
Endorsements allow your network to recognize you for a certain skill and they also serve as social proof that you are knowledgeable in the areas you mentioned in your summary and experience. Think about a time you’ve purchased a product on Amazon. Were you more likely to purchase a product with 5,000 reviews or 500? LinkedIn will prioritize search results based upon how many endorsements a person has received for a certain skill. If you’ve received 100 endorsements for DNA Sequencing, you will be placed higher in the search results in comparison to someone who only received 50. Encourage your contacts to endorse your skills by endorsing them first. Good will can go a long way!
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