Most companies and recruiters use LinkedIn to recruit staff. To ensure you get noticed, it is essential you have a complete LinkedIn profile that represents you well and showcases your personal brand.
The essential elements of your LinkedIn profile are:
- Basic Information
- Headline
- Photo
- Summary
- Work experience
- Skills
Basic Information
In order to complete the basic information fully, you must include your full name, your industry, your country and a headline on your profile.
Headline
Your headline is the first thing people see when they view your profile, so make sure it represents you well.
The best headlines include your current job title, your key skills and your company’s name. For example, “Finance Manager (Retail & FMCG) at ABCD Pty Ltd.”
Your current job title is used automatically if you leave your headline blank.
If you are currently not employed, examples of suitable headlines include “Senior Finance Executive available for new opportunity”, “Marketing professional in transition” and “Pharmaceutical Sales Representative currently exploring options.”
Photo
According to LinkedIn, your profile is 7 times more likely to be viewed if you have a profile photo.
Your photograph should be a head and shoulders shot. Your profile photo does not necessarily need to be taken by a professional, but you need to look professional. There should not be anyone else in the photo, you should be wearing professional attire and you should use a plain background setting for your photo.
Summary
Your summary should include key skills and the most important aspects of your professional experience.
It should showcase what you do and what you can do for others.
The summary section presents a perfect opportunity to include important keywords that potential employers, clients and customers may use to nd people like you. Your profile will appear at the top of the search results if the terms used in your summary section match the keywords used by those searching. You can also complete your summary by listing “specialities” and ensuring your key skills are detailed here.
Features and Benefits
- Include the features and bene ts associated with your skills
- Describe what you do and what you are capable of doing
- List the Features of your skills, expertise or education, phrasing them as Benefits e.g. how will you help your employer with the skills you possess, or how does your experience make you the best person to work with?
Work Experience and Education
To add your professional and educational background or any position click on +Add.
When you are listing your school or workplaces, LinkedIn will usually prompt you with the company name supported by the company logo. Select this official name so that the organisation’s logo appears on your profile too. You can then be found by fellow colleagues who visit the company or institution’s LinkedIn page. The job title you list on LinkedIn in uences your appearance in search results. Rather than using the title you are known by within your company, ensure the job title on your LinkedIn pro le is relevant to what people will search for.
Skills
In this section list all the skills you want to display and market – what you want to be known for. This should be consistent with your personal brand and your summary.
The body of your profile should include some of the main skills you have listed, highlighting any accomplishments as a result of those skills. This gives weight to any endorsements you have received and increases their value and credibility. It increases the visibility of what you can “bring to the table” and improves your chances of appearing on searches.
You can list up to 50 skills, although listing 15 to 20 skills is more common.
There may be occasions where you receive an endorsement for a skill that is not on your skills list. Before accepting it automatically consider the endorsement and whether you believe this skill is a strength. Is it advantageous to make this skill visible on your profile?
You can remove any endorsements that you do not believe are a real strength, via the edit function.
Connections
Begin with adding everyone you know: work colleagues, ex-work colleagues, clients, customers and friends if appropriate to your professional world.
Aim for at least 50 connections. Beyond your immediate circle, it is important to keep other connections targeted, aiming for quality not quantity. Consider asking your connections to introduce you to their connections.
If you want to expand your contacts to include potential colleagues, clients or customers in your wider industry, be sure to use a personal note with your connection request, to explain why you would like to connect.
Recommendations
To a potential employer, a LinkedIn recommendation is a reference in advance.
Recommendations from people you have worked with carry a lot of weight so it is well worth the effort to request some. The best way to receive recommendations is to give them
Key points to remember:
- Ensure you have a complete LinkedIn profile
- Companies and recruiters use LinkedIn to recruit staff
- Your resumé and LinkedIn profile are your personal brand. Ensure they represent you well
At Moir Group we genuinely care about helping you find the right career move. Search our jobs or contact us to speak to our friendly Moir staff member for assistance.