Stand out from the crowd: how to build the best LinkedIn profile
Posted by Sanderson Recruitment | Posted 28/08/2019
Not getting the right response from your profile? It may just need a little updating! Our step-by-step guide walks you through creating a LinkedIn profile that sets you apart.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world, with an astounding 645 million members - it’s no surprise then that 87% of all recruiters use the site for finding potential job candidates.
Given these stats, it’s important to have a profile that ticks all the boxes and that will get you noticed; helping you to make relevant connections and develop your professional career.
We’ve put together a list of our top tips for creating the best version of your LinkedIn profile.
Get back to basics
Firstly, it’s good to check that you’ve got the basics covered:
- Make sure your LinkedIn account is signed up using an email address that you check regularly so you don’t miss any connection requests or messages.
- Use a professional headshot for your profile to give off the right impression to your network.
- Download the app so that you can check your profile on the go.
- If you’re currently unemployed, consider using phrases like ‘Currently looking for employment opportunities’ or ‘Open to opportunities’ in your job title field.
Experience & Skills
Experience
Your ‘Experience’ section is arguably the most important part of your profile, as it reflects all of your career achievements thus far. To save time, LinkedIn gives you the option of uploading your CV but should you choose this option, aim to expand on your roles in each individual section on your profile to draw in your connections.
Think about using bullet points or line breaks in your experience sections which makes the copy more legible.
Skills
Try to have a minimum of 5 skills; profiles that have 5 or more listed skills receive 17 times more profile views and LinkedIn allow you to add up to 50 skills to a profile.
Your Professional Summary
Writing your profile summary can be difficult – it’s always hard to write about yourself! However, it’s worth spending some time on this as it’s the first thing a connection or visitor sees when they click on to your profile.
Make sure that your profile summary contains all the essential information about you and your career in an easy, digestible format. Start with your profession, years of experience, and education before including your skills; think about your profile summary as an equivalent to your elevator pitch.
"Think about your profile summary as an equivalent to your elevator pitch."
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Check, Edit and Check Again
After you’ve filled in all the relevant content sections, make sure to check it and proofread it. Even asking a friend or colleague to look over it for you can help you spot areas that you may have missed. It’s also important to frequently update this information; adding any promotions/changed job titles and skills you’ve acquired.
Enhance your network
Keeping your connections up-to-date is vital to your profile as it helps you to become more discoverable within your industry by potential connections. Meet someone at an industry event? New colleague? Send them an invite to connect!
If you don’t already, consider posting or reposting content on your newsfeed that is relevant to your industry and profession. This will demonstrate to your network your continued interest in professional self-development. If you do – use hashtags in order to be included on hashtag-specific channels. This will enable your content to reach a wider audience and potentially attract new connections.
See something on your feed that draws your interest? Engage with it and add your opinion in the comments. This is a similar tactic to the above in that your profile will now be visible to those also viewing the content – letting you reach a new audience!
By following these steps, you can use your profile to generate more interest from people in your industry and make more fulfilling connections, whether that be a recruiter, a hiring manager or even future colleagues!
Are you making these changes because you’re on the job hunt? Skip a step and submit your CV directly with us here.
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