With the new year upon us, and many workers set on finding new employment in the coming year, updating and refreshing your LinkedIn profile is an essential step toward landing a new job. One of the first places hiring managers and recruiters will look for talent is on LinkedIn and having a profile that you spent time perfecting will go a long way in helping you stand out in a sea of candidates. Here are a few simple things you can do to improve your LinkedIn profile…
Revamp What You Currently Have
An easy step to take towards improving your LinkedIn profile is updating and refreshing what you currently have. This may include updating your profile photo to make sure you look professional and polished. For your photo you’ll want to make sure it’s a fair representation of how you currently look (no filters or photos from 10 years ago), you’re wearing something professional, the photo is taken in good lighting, and that it is a photo of just you meaning you’re not using a group photo with others cropped out. In addition to your profile photo, make sure to have a background photo using a subtle image that’s ideally related to your career. For your work experience, you’ll treat this section like your resume and list the type of work experience you have with bullet points for key information. Finally, for the headline section, you can highlight your career scope and skills and where you see yourself advancing in your career. With these sections, make sure to double-check for grammar and spelling errors (using a tool like Grammarly can be helpful) since a sloppy profile will be a mark against you. Overall, try and create a profile that is aesthetically pleasing, detailed, and oriented around your career goals.
Get Seen Using Keywords
Using keywords on your LinkedIn profile will help you get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters. You’ll want to include keywords in your headline, about, and experience sections that are relevant to your current role and will help you advance toward your next position. Look at people that have similar roles and titles to you as well as job postings for roles like yours and see what reoccurring keywords they have listed. Try to avoid over-used keywords such as “detail-oriented” and instead choose keywords that are more industry-specific. In an article on LinkedIn, they say “The most effective way to add keywords to your LinkedIn profile is to imagine yourself as your target audience. Try typing “finance director” or “event planning” to see if any of these phrases or terms are relevant to your industry. By using relevant keywords, you can create a highly targeted listing for the right keywords. In the end, you will be able to attract more potential employers.”
Become More Active
Even if you don’t choose to join groups or publish articles on LinkedIn, there are some simple ways you can be more active. Simply liking, sharing, and commenting on posts is enough to remain active on the platform. If you can post some content yourself, even just once a month of something such as highlighting a recent career recognition, a networking meeting you attended, or a work team event, that will show hiring managers you are an engaged employee and an active participant in your company culture.