LinkedIn is a well-established and renowned online platform that has changed the way employees are recruited. Formerly serving as an additional asset to your resume, LinkedIn is vastly becoming the most recommended job application tool, replacing the traditional resume/CV format. In this day and age being asked for your LinkedIn profile is becoming a recurring phrase. Having a LinkedIn profile has shown to increase your job prospects, professional brand and online visibility. Having the widest breadth of data available, it’s effectively used to find potential employees within a certain field or organisation and to market and sell to a targeted audience. There are over 433 million LinkedIn members – hence why it’s important that your profile acts as a digital ‘first impression’ and showcases your skills. So how is your LinkedIn profile ranked?
Keep Your Profile Updated
Having an active and up to date LinkedIn profile will show your potential future employer all of your details in order to be considered for a position. Constantly updating your profile whether it maybe your picture, contact details, experience, sharing a post or posting content yourself will increase your online visibility as your profile can be shown in someone’s newsfeed or be recommended to organisations/recruiters.
Include Everything!
Ensure you include all the relevant details that you would normally add to your resume, for example information about your education, your qualifications, industry/work experience, internships, volunteering and skills. This will give the employers a further insight and better understanding of your capabilities and whether you fit the job description.
Proof Read Your Profile
LinkedIn is a fun and modern way to network and display your skills! Nothing is more unprofessional than a profile with spelling mistakes. You want your profile to be visually appealing, organised and professional. When an employer, causal LinkedIn stalker, or a recruiter sees bad spelling they will happily leave your profile. They don’t care if your profile picture is a 10/10 or if you have the skills that they’re looking for – bye bye. Your LinkedIn profile is your online resume, apply high punctuation skills.
Profile Picture
Last but not least is having a profile picture for your LinkedIn account. It’s important to have a good profile photo as you’re advertising your own personal brand. Profiles without a photo are often ignored and the additional effort could be the difference between receiving 7 to 14 more profile clicks. Your profile picture shouldn’t be a selfie from the weekend, with your cat or your current Facebook picture. Essentially, being well groomed, in corporate clothing and with minimal filters used (hard to resist!) is ideal. Having a good profile photo shows the employer that you took initiative, and that your level of competence and professionalism is high.Building a professional LinkedIn profile is necessary for job opportunities and professional networking. LinkedIn is a powerful platform used globally! Understand LinkedIn, treat your profile like gold and stand out from the others!
References:
http://internships.about.com/od/findinganinternship/a/Using-Linkedin-To-Search-For-Internships.htm
https://scrunch.com/blog/what-your-linkedin-profile-should-say-about-you/
https://www.linkedin.com/static?key=what_is_linkedin
