LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms where you can build your personal professional brand. With over 930 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is a platform where you can showcase your achievements and skills, share content with other professionals, and connect with colleagues, business partners, and potential employers.
Your LinkedIn profile is a great way to let people know who you are, what you stand for, and what you are really interested in. Creating a LinkedIn profile has become a necessity nowadays, as it gets easier for the recruiter to identify you and get to know about you a little bit more before calling you in for an interview.
It might sound easy to create a LinkedIn profile and manage it, but in reality, the story is a lot different. With millions of people using this platform, your competitors could be thousands of people. How will you stand out from the crowd? What will enhance your profile? How could you grow your network? The following article answers all of your questions.
Ways to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Profile
By following the simplest rules, you can create an
outstanding LinkedIn profile.
Profile Picture
Your profile picture is the first thing anyone notices on your profile, so upload a great profile picture. The profile picture you use should be recent and should take up around 60% of the total space. The main aim of a profile picture is for people to recognize you. As you already know, LinkedIn is a social platform, where a greater network means everything, and your profile picture should help people you have met earlier recognize you easily.
Headline
Headlines are basically very short descriptions that are mostly used for job titles, but to give it a more personalized touch, you can add a bit more detail about your current role, what it means to you, or what you’ve accomplished so far. Creating an impactful headline also gives a boost to your profile.
Tell Your Story
The LinkedIn summary section allows you to tell your story to everyone. This way you can tell your potential employers about your interest, your skills, your qualifications, etc. It allows you to describe yourself in a nutshell, and it should be something that would entice your potential employer.
Highlighting Skills
One of the most amazing features of LinkedIn is that it allows you to highlight your skills. You can easily search and select skills that match your experience and expertise, and there are many options from which you can select. However, make sure that you don’t overcrowd your skillset section. While highlighting your skills is critical, make sure they’re relevant too.
Share Content
Creating an impactful LinkedIn profile also includes sharing valuable and relevant content. Sharing content increases your reach and network, and when an employer searches your profile and they find that you have shared some valuable content, then they would know what your beliefs and opinions are, which creates more transparency between the employer and the employee. If potential connections click through on great content from your profile, they’re more likely to come back. Moreover, you can share content like thought leadership posts, posts of industry influencers, etc.
Request Recommendations
Even though highlighting skills is a great way to show your expertise in the field, requesting recommendations from your connections can also make you go a long way. If you have ever worked on a project with someone, or simply even have a connection with them, then you can ask for their recommendations. There is no limit to recommendations, and you even have the option to hide any recommendations that do not match your professional goals.
Use Visual Media
Who doesn’t like to see creativity? To be more creative, you can pick a theme for your LinkedIn profile that speaks about your profession or personality. LinkedIn also allows you to connect with other media and use infographics too.
Stay Active
Once you have completed your LinkedIn profile, that does not mean that your work is done. You need to stay active on LinkedIn, if not much, then you should at least spend 15 minutes on LinkedIn every day. During that time, you should make comments on relevant stories, answer any messages, make comments when needed, and get updated on something you have missed.
Keep Your Contact Information Updated
If your contact information is out of date, then you should update it immediately. Keeping your contact information updated is very important, as it increases your chances of getting connected with other people. While some recruiters and connections use the built-in LinkedIn messaging platform, however, a large majority of people prefer emails or phone calls to contact someone. If you don’t want to miss any opportunity, keep your contact information updated.
Use The Buzzwords
If you want to stand out from the crowd, then you have to work on your content. Don’t use the same
old and typical words that are common on LinkedIn. To the greatest extent possible, choose words that you would feel comfortable using to describe yourself. Your vocabulary reveals a lot about your personality and communication style, so never confuse recruiters by presenting yourself in different ways online versus in person.
Take a Skills Assessment
A skills assessment is an online test that enables you to demonstrate the level of your skills, and display a Verified Skills badge on your profile. When you show a badge or a certificate of a skills assessment on your profile, your chances of being selected can increase tremendously. The best part is that displaying the results of your skills assessments is entirely voluntary, and you can even retake the tests as often as you like before showing that you have passed.
Conclusion
The better your LinkedIn profile is, the better your chances become of landing your dream job. Crafting a perfect LinkedIn profile does not have to take hours, just stay consistent!
