Five Things You Must Include In Your LinkedIn profile
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Five Must Haves For A Stand Out LinkedIn Profile
The search for a job is more competitive than ever these days and, with qualifications perhaps not quite as worthy as they once were, it’s important to make sure you stand out from the crowd.
Everybody has their own ideas on what way it is best to do that but, for us, having an excellent LinkedIn profile is the best way for you to get noticed in the extremely busy marketplace that is job hunting.
Recruiters, just like us, live on LinkedIn these days, hunting out the very best talent for the roles they have available. Have the best profile that they come across, and hey presto, you’re well on the way to landing yourself an interview and nailing down that dream job.
So, what do we think are the five must-haves in any LinkedIn profile?
- Get a Custom URL
We all have custom names on Twitter and Instagram these days and LinkedIn should be no different. It’s much better to publicise your profile with a custom URL (like linkedin.com/yourname) rather than using the confusing set of numbers that LinkedIn will automatically give to you when you sign up.
It goes without saying, but just remember that this is a professional profile you are publicising, so try and avoid names like MUFCTom or SassySal123. Going with your actual name is probably best.
- Get a Proper Profile Picture
This in LinkedIn, it’s a professional platform, so choose your profile picture accordingly. Your night-out snaps are better saved for somewhere else. Pick a clear, friendly image that portrays you in the right light to any future employers.
If you’re struggling with what to choose, then take a look at what people in your target company or industry are wearing in their profile pictures and match that. You know what they say, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you’ve got.”
- Showcase Your Achievements
If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Don’t be scared to get all of your achievements onto your LinkedIn profile, it’s exactly what us recruiters spend hours looking at in our search for the very highest performers.
It’s important to market yourself as exactly that as well. Get those action words into your summary and experience section, and don’t forget your accomplishments or the times you’ve been promoted or hand-picked to work on particular projects.
As Take That once sang, “just let it shine”.
- Request One LinkedIn Recommendation a Month
It always good to get praise for our efforts at work, but now it’s time for you to start noting them down and getting them on to your LinkedIn profile.
When someone says, “You did a great job on that project!” get them to write you a recommendation on LinkedIn. Something specific, like “Chris’s contributions on the project helped us to raise profits by 5%” will really showcase your strengths.
- Update Your Status
Just like we all regularly do on Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn gives you the chance to update your status as often as you wish. So, keep active on there.
Update it professionally and strategically with the work or blogs you have been doing, ideally once a week. Your entire network will see your updates, both in their news feeds and in the weekly LinkedIn network updates emails, they receive.
You’ll soon see that the more you post, the more interaction you’ll start getting about possible job opportunities.
Don’t forget, First Achieve is always here to help you in your job search as well. We advertise all our roles on social media, but if you can’t find what you are looking for then visit our jobs page today to see the roles we have available.