LinkedIn top 7 tips
A platform built for professionals, LinkedIn is where a significant amount of recruiting takes place. There are 2 million Irish people with LinkedIn profiles so having a presence on the site has become increasingly important. Use our tips below to optimise your LinkedIn profile and stand out from others in your industry.
Add a profile picture
Your LinkedIn profile picture should ideally be a professional headshot but even if it isn’t, you should not use a picture that features anyone but yourself. Don’t use pictures of couples, friends and families as they do not appear professional. Leave these to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Profiles without pictures are viewed far less so adding one will give you a greater chance of getting noticed.
Add your current location
Recruiters and HR Managers will often search LinkedIn by the current location of candidates, so ensuring this field is accurate is very important.
Add media
Adding pictures, videos or slideshow presentations will help people to visualise your role and experience. Use this space to amplify some of your significant achievements or positions on large projects. Supported file types are PDF, PowerPoint, Word, JPG and PNG.
Get recommendations and skill endorsements
Endorsements for skills are also valuable as they demonstrate your expertise in specific areas. Therefore, get recommendations by team members or managers to reinforce your value as an employee and showcase the difference you make. Having skills on your profile leads to more profile views and more messages from recruiters and hiring managers.
Proofread
Just like a CV, it is important to ensure that your LinkedIn profile contains no spelling or grammatical errors. Having another person review your profile is advisable as it will help to minimise the chance of any mistakes.
Let recruiters know that you are open to new opportunities
By displaying that you are open to opportunities, recruiters and HR Managers (with the LinkedIn Recruiter subscription) can identify you as someone who is open to hearing about relevant job opportunities. This information is hidden from people that have provided details indicating that they work in the same company as you. You can also add an #opentowork frame to your profile picture if you are openly looking for a new opportunity.
Create a custom LinkedIn URL
By default, LinkedIn will give you a URL that is usually made up of your name in addition to several other letters and numbers such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/your-name-a3343417a/. You can edit this to make it shorter or more reflective of your profession. You can use your name (such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/your-name) if it is available, otherwise you may have to add a middle initial or your profession after your name such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/your-name-engineer. A distinctive URL on LinkedIn can help reinforce your professionalism.
