According to LinkedIn statistics there a huge 44 thousand job applications submitted through the platform daily. With 87 per cent of recruiters using LinkedIn to find candidates for jobs they’re trying to fill and 94 per cent saying they use it to vet candidates, you don’t need to be actively looking for a job on the channel, in fact if you optimise your profile correctly a job could come looking for you.
With an optimised profile ranking higher in LinkedIn searches by recruiters and hiring managers, here are our top tips to improve your profile today.
1 – Complete your profile
Ultimately an incomplete profile provides an incomplete picture, therefore limiting a recruiter’s access to information about you. It can seem tiresome to complete all information required however users who fully complete their profiles are 40 times more likely to receive job opportunities. Simply adding 40 words in the LinkedIn summary section means that your profile is more likely to end up in a job search too.
Despite contrasting advice as to whether you LinkedIn profile should be professional or show a peek of your personality, we recommend adding your interests and hobbies to your profile.Global human resource trends show that work culture is becoming more important for many businesses and more companies are now hiring based on a candidate’s personality as much as their skills and experience.
Top Tip: Add a professional photo not your Facebook profile picture. Did you know that adding a photo will result in your profile getting 11x more views?
2- Optimise your keywords & skills
Think of two or three keywords that best describe you and think of these words as aspects that you would want to be identified for in a job search. It’s good to use words that are industry specific and skill based and include these in the sections of your profile when you’re completing it.
Top Tip: Try doing a search on LinkedIn for your job title and check out three or four of the top profiles that appear and make a note of any words or phrases that they may use. Or check out some current job opportunities for your position. These are a great place to find keywords because hiring managers will fill these up with the skills and experience they find the most relevant.
Although LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills in your skills and endorsements section, only the top ten skills will show up so make sure the first ten skills are your top skills.
Top Tip: When you add skills, LinkedIn will autosuggest others to you. Choosing a suggested skill is better than entering one in manually because the suggested skills are things people actually search for on LinkedIn.
3 – Mirror your CV
It may seem obvious, but make sure that the information on your LinkedIn profile corresponds with that of what’s on your CV. LinkedIn is a great place to expand on the information that won’t fit on your CV, but discrepancies, for example between dates, can throw off a recruiter.
Basic rules to follow:
- Write your job history in reverse-chronological order starting with your current position
- Underneath each position, include a brief description of the scope of your responsibilities at that job
- Demonstrate your progression. Rather than repeating responsibilities write about the new tasks you took on as you progressed
Check out LinkedIn’s full guide on networking and boosting your career here
Call us today and see if we can help with your job search 0161 238 7450 | 0113 357 1350.