Employers and recruiters are increasingly checking the LinkedIn profiles of candidates prior to hiring. Even if your CV shows you as the perfect candidate for the position, if your LinkedIn Profile isn’t up to scratch, you are harming your chances of getting invited to interview.
Here are 5 tips you can adopt to improve your LinkedIn profile and help you attract employers and recruiters.
1. Write a compelling headline
Craft your headline so that it instantly attracts employers’ and recruiters’ attention. Your headline should be a short sentence giving an overview of who you are and what your areas of expertise are. You have a limit of 120 characters for the headline so choose your words wisely.
2. Use the summary to highlight your strengths and the value you can offer
You need to make sure your summary entices employers and recruiters to read the rest of your profile. Your summary should contain the following three crucial details:
- highlights of your areas of experience which convey your value to employers and recruiters
- details of your skills (including soft and technical skills)
- your quantifiable achievements
3. Make sure your LinkedIn Profile isn’t a carbon copy of your CV
A common mistake that candidates make is to use the same content across their CV and LinkedIn Profile. However, this isn’t a good approach as both documents have completely different functions. Your CV is a more formal document whereas your LinkedIn Profile is more personal and so the style, language and content across both should be different.
4. Your LinkedIn Profile should contain relevant keywords
Recruiters find candidates by searching for particular keywords on LinkedIn. You need to ensure that your profile contains the relevant keywords for the jobs you are interested in so recruiters can see your profile. These keywords should be sprinkled throughout your LinkedIn profile from your headline to your summary and experience.
5. Get recommendations from people with credibility
Employers and recruiters love to see recommendations on candidates’ LinkedIn profiles provided they are from people with credibility. People with high credibility include your former manager or another former colleague who is higher in the hierarchy than you. Generally, more weight will be given to a recommendation from a Director rather than a colleague you managed, so try to get recommendations from high ranking former colleagues.
Bringing it all together
Writing a LinkedIn Profile that attracts employers and recruiters’ attention is no mean feat. Having read these recommendations you might find that you need to re-write your LinkedIn Profile from scratch. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as LinkedIn is a global platform and you don’t want to be selling yourself short, so use these tips to improve your profile and attract employers and recruiters attention.
About the Author
Shilpa is an ex-recruiter turned CV Writer and offers CV Writing, LinkedIn Writing and Cover Letter writing assistance. Shilpa is currently offering free CV reviews where she will personally review your CV and give you clear recommendations to improve your CV. Connect with Shilpa on LinkedIn here or email her at snayya307@hotmail.com for a free CV review