10 Tips for Creating a Strong LinkedIn Profile
What with LinkedIn being the number 1 social network for professionals, you probably already have a profile on there. The trouble is, so does everyone else. You have to work extra hard to make your profile stand out.
Here are 10 tips on creating a LinkedIn profile strong enough to see off the competition.
Choose the Right Picture
Although there are some people out there who still don't have a picture on their profile, it's pretty much a given that if you're going to bother being on LinkedIn at all, you have to upload a photo of yourself. Any picture is better than no picture at all, but the right picture is even better. In the context of LinkedIn, the most appropriate image to post is a professional headshot of yourself that shows your head and shoulders.
Customize Your URL
When you first create a LinkedIn profile, you get assigned a standard URL for it but you have the option of customizing it. This makes it easier for people to find your profile when they search the site for your name. For example, if Jo Bloggs customizes her URL, it'll be https://www.linkedin.com/in/jobloggs. Anyone who searches for "Jo Bloggs" will see this profile right at the top of the search results.
Use Your Headline
You also have a "headline" option, which allows you to write a tagline for your profile. Wherever you go on LinkedIn, your tagline goes with you. For example if you post a comment in a LinkedIn group, your headline appears next to your profile picture and name. Therefore it's important that you use the headline to clearly communicate who you are and what you do. If you're a HR consultant, put "graduate" in your headline.
Include Past Achievements
Employers, recruiters and potential clients/customer want to see concrete proof of what you're capable of as a person and as a professional when they're looking at your profile. In a word document, make a master list of all your past achievements, be they from your school or university days, from previous jobs, from your current work or from spare time activities. Take the biggest or most relevant accomplishments and copy and paste them into your profile summary.
Describe Your Work Responsibilities
Instead of just listing your past job titles and employers in the experience section, make use of the opportunity and space to describe what exactly you did in each position. Include hard data such as how many people were under you or what size budget you managed in order to provide quantitative evidence of your success in each role.
Include Keywords
Throw in some keywords that the people you want to attract are likely to be searching LinkedIn for. For example, if you're a customer service professional looking for a new job and you want recruiters in that field to find your profile, use words and phrase such as "listening", "communicating" and "customer care".
Use Flawless Grammar and Spelling
You wouldn't allow any grammar or spelling mistakes to creep into the final edit of your CV so don't allow them onto your LinkedIn profile either. They look just as unprofessional on there as they do on a resume. Check and double check everything you write, especially if you don't have a web-based spellchecker installed in your internet browser to highlight errors.
Add Context to Qualifications
To avoid your education section just being a list of academic institutions and qualifications, add context to each qualification by using the description field to explain why you did it at the school or university you did and how it's boosted and enhanced your work life so far.
Ask for Recommendations
Fellow LinkedIn members you've worked with or for can write endorsements for you known as "Recommendations", which you have the option of allowing to be displayed on your profile. It's a good idea to get as many recommendations as possible onto your profile as positive testimonials are often the difference between people reaching out to you after viewing your profile and your profile just getting lost in the crowd. Don't be afraid to ask your LinkedIn connections to write recommendations for you - preferably as soon as possible after you've finished working with them, so that they remember your good points in detail.
Check Your Skills & Endorsements Settings
Another way that people can endorse you on your profile is in the skills & endorsement section. LinkedIn members can mark you as having specific skills and a list of these skills appear on your profile. With your profile in 'edit' mode, miss out on getting endorsed. You can not only indicate that you want to be endorsed but also that you want to be included in the endorsement suggestions that get sent to your connections. You can also have such suggestions sent to yourself, which is a good idea as this encourages you to endorse people - who in turn may well endorse you as a reciprocal gesture.
Here are 10 tips on creating a LinkedIn profile strong enough to see off the competition.
Choose the Right Picture
Although there are some people out there who still don't have a picture on their profile, it's pretty much a given that if you're going to bother being on LinkedIn at all, you have to upload a photo of yourself. Any picture is better than no picture at all, but the right picture is even better. In the context of LinkedIn, the most appropriate image to post is a professional headshot of yourself that shows your head and shoulders.
Customize Your URL
When you first create a LinkedIn profile, you get assigned a standard URL for it but you have the option of customizing it. This makes it easier for people to find your profile when they search the site for your name. For example, if Jo Bloggs customizes her URL, it'll be https://www.linkedin.com/in/jobloggs. Anyone who searches for "Jo Bloggs" will see this profile right at the top of the search results.
Use Your Headline
You also have a "headline" option, which allows you to write a tagline for your profile. Wherever you go on LinkedIn, your tagline goes with you. For example if you post a comment in a LinkedIn group, your headline appears next to your profile picture and name. Therefore it's important that you use the headline to clearly communicate who you are and what you do. If you're a HR consultant, put "graduate" in your headline.
Include Past Achievements
Employers, recruiters and potential clients/customer want to see concrete proof of what you're capable of as a person and as a professional when they're looking at your profile. In a word document, make a master list of all your past achievements, be they from your school or university days, from previous jobs, from your current work or from spare time activities. Take the biggest or most relevant accomplishments and copy and paste them into your profile summary.
Describe Your Work Responsibilities
Instead of just listing your past job titles and employers in the experience section, make use of the opportunity and space to describe what exactly you did in each position. Include hard data such as how many people were under you or what size budget you managed in order to provide quantitative evidence of your success in each role.
Include Keywords
Throw in some keywords that the people you want to attract are likely to be searching LinkedIn for. For example, if you're a customer service professional looking for a new job and you want recruiters in that field to find your profile, use words and phrase such as "listening", "communicating" and "customer care".
Use Flawless Grammar and Spelling
You wouldn't allow any grammar or spelling mistakes to creep into the final edit of your CV so don't allow them onto your LinkedIn profile either. They look just as unprofessional on there as they do on a resume. Check and double check everything you write, especially if you don't have a web-based spellchecker installed in your internet browser to highlight errors.
Add Context to Qualifications
To avoid your education section just being a list of academic institutions and qualifications, add context to each qualification by using the description field to explain why you did it at the school or university you did and how it's boosted and enhanced your work life so far.
Ask for Recommendations
Fellow LinkedIn members you've worked with or for can write endorsements for you known as "Recommendations", which you have the option of allowing to be displayed on your profile. It's a good idea to get as many recommendations as possible onto your profile as positive testimonials are often the difference between people reaching out to you after viewing your profile and your profile just getting lost in the crowd. Don't be afraid to ask your LinkedIn connections to write recommendations for you - preferably as soon as possible after you've finished working with them, so that they remember your good points in detail.
Check Your Skills & Endorsements Settings
Another way that people can endorse you on your profile is in the skills & endorsement section. LinkedIn members can mark you as having specific skills and a list of these skills appear on your profile. With your profile in 'edit' mode, miss out on getting endorsed. You can not only indicate that you want to be endorsed but also that you want to be included in the endorsement suggestions that get sent to your connections. You can also have such suggestions sent to yourself, which is a good idea as this encourages you to endorse people - who in turn may well endorse you as a reciprocal gesture.
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