Alright, here’s the scoop. When you’re searching for a job, your LinkedIn profile is your most valuable tool. This is where you can market yourself to potential employers, coworkers, and companies. The value is in the details, so here are some of the top LinkedIn profile tips our Catch Crew has to offer!
You Only Have One Chance To Make A Good First Impression.
First thing’s first, what does your LinkedIn profile picture, background, and tagged photos say about you as a brand, employee, and community member? If a recruiter or hiring manager pulls up your profile, what will their first impression of you be?
Are they met with a grainy photo of you in a bar a few years ago? An old photo from college? A makeshift headshot that isn’t centered? Or are they met with a clean profile that has a well lit, professional looking headshot (even if it’s DIY)? Obviously, recruiters and employers want to see the latter, so here are the ingredients for a good first impression on LinkedIn:
- A high quality profile picture: Keep in mind the adverse effects of bad lighting, an inappropriate background or setting, and unsuitable attire for your industry. Aesthetically, you will want to be sure that it’s high quality, centered, and representative of your professional self!
- A relevant cover photo: This can be anything related to your professional life such as a picture of your city, a logo cover of your current company, or an aesthetically pleasing background photo that is easy on the eyes.
- Your discoverability: How easy are you to find? Do you show up in recruiter’s searches often? A few things that will make you more discoverable are:
- Update your location: Where you are located helps guide recruiter’s to you in their search. If your location is out-dated, you are not easily discoverable.
- Spend some time on your bio: Your bio should be short and sweet, but also direct and to the point. This is where you sell yourself to the recruiter, even before they reach out. Things to include: what you do, who you do it for, and where you do it.
- Tag your employer and the work you do for them: This puts your portfolio out there to be discovered! Tagging your employer helps you become more discoverable to peers, recruiters, and potential employers alike. Repost relevant content like company updates, a blog post, or a comment on your coworker’s discussion post.
Limit The Noise On Your Profile.
“Noise” on your LinkedIn page can look like too many irrelevant text posts, outdated work, outdated location, or irrelevant representation as to who you are professionally. Here are a few tips and tricks to making your profile stand out with simplicity:
- Limit your relevant experience to 5 years of experience listed on your profile.
- Keep internships
- Highlight college experiences (student athlete, honor role, valedictorian, etc.)
- Get rid of summer gigs
- Clean up the volunteering section, it’s not important after college.
- Match your experience to your resume.
- Give clear ideas of what roles you have held and give examples of what you have accomplished.
- Make sure the layout, format, and style of your profile line up with each other and your resume.
How Often Are You Interacting With Your Community On LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a unique platform for many reasons, but one that you should pay attention to is: how often and in what way you are interacting with your community. Are you lifting others up and participating in discussions? Are you sharing information that you find useful to your career path? Or are you a ghost who just has a LinkedIn to check that box?
Anyone can go to your profile and see your recent activity, so make sure that you are contributing in a way that exemplifies how you would be a good culture fit. This is a great way to stand out amongst other candidates. Resharing company updates, commenting on peer accomplishments, and participating in discussion posts are effective ways to show your involvement.
Paying It Forward Matters On This Platform!
LinkedIn makes reference checks and recommendations easy for both the employer and employee. One thing to keep in mind is that they can see how involved with your community you are. Are you lifting up others and congratulating them? Are you reposting your coworkers posts in support of them and your company? Here are a few things that recruiters look for to see who you are in your community:
- Endorsements you give,
- Reviews you leave for businesses or workplaces,
- Recommendations that you post for your peers,
- Posts on your page that are related to your industry, mission, or company.
When preparing to apply to new jobs, take the necessary steps to show off what you have to bring to the table at new prospective employers. Even if you’re not on the market for a new job, these tips will help you better market yourself, represent your company, and help you show up in a recruiter’s search!
Once you’ve updated your LinkedIn, check out our LinkedIn or “Careers” page on our website to apply for your dream job!
