5 Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Better Job Results

Need to kick start a revamping of your LinkedIn profile? If you’re like most job seekers, you do. Here’s some professional guidance to help.

The boom in technology has led to the rise of LinkedIn as unquestionably the best professional networking website available to job seekers. It is the perfect platform where professionals from various fields connect and interact. It also allows amateurs and novices in the field to learn and expand their network and prepare themselves for the future of work.

LinkedIn also allows everyone to search for better job opportunities and for that it is vital that you optimize profile on their platform. As you set about to do this, maintain a sense of professionalism and leverage all the features that LinkedIn has to offer.

Here’s a few tips that can help kick start the revamping of your LinkedIn profile:

1. Secure Your LinkedIn Profile When Browsing

It is so important to secure your LinkedIn profile when browsing using public networks such as WiFi and free hotspots. These networks are not secure on their own, and third-party users can interfere and even alter with the information that resides on your profile.

LinkedIn offers https (hypertext transfer protocol secure). To enable it, follow these steps: Go to “Settings” tab on your LinkedIn profile; Click on the “Account” tab; Click “Manage Security Settings.” Don’t worry if you don’t find this option. LinkedIn has been enabling it automatically for users.

2. Writing That Perfect Summary

The Summary section is one of the most important parts of your LinkedIn profile. This is where you can write about yourself and tell the backstory behind the professional decisions you’ve made. Also, this is the first section that is easily visible on your profile.

Ensure that your summary is catchy which will help attract more viewers to you. Many recruiters won’t look at the rest of your profile if they find your summary unimpressive.

Consider the following three tips when writing a summary:

Your summary should clearly showcase your skills and uniqueness. Write in detail as to what your differentiating factor is when compared to others in the same industry. Also, recruiters need individuals who can add value to their organization. Use your summary to create good first impressions by telling the reader how you can add that value to their organization.
Include suitable keywords so that professionals in your industry can easily relate to you. Read the summary of renowned people in your industry, and notice the type of keywords they use. This will definitely help you craft an admirable summary.
Remember to mention your soft skills along with your hard skills. Situations where you have led a team or managed to pull off a project within deadlines can be mentioned here so as to give an all-round outlook.

3. Powerful Recommendations

LinkedIn profiles with recommendations are given higher priority by recruiters as compared to profiles without recommendations. Why? Recommendations serve as proof for your professionalism, character and skills.

Try to get at least six recommendations. Here are some quick guidelines: Ask your recommender to start off the recommendation by describing the professional relationship that you shared with them and also the time span that they have known you. They should then mention your strengths along with some examples where you have showcased them. And remember, it is important for you to choose the right recommenders. Choose people with whom you have worked closely and who know your strengths and weaknesses well.

4. Automate Your Group Posts

Joining groups will help you collaborate with like-minded people in your industry. It is advisable to be active in selected groups that are in line with your career aspirations. This will help you build strong networks and enable more recruiters to notice you.

Make use of third party applications like Hootsuite and Buffers that can automatically share all useful posts on your behalf. You can also schedule multiple posts to be published. You can also get access to a common dashboard where you can monitor all your shared posts on different social media platforms and track their performance.

5. Reorder Your First 12 Endorsements

An endorsement is given for each skill that you include in your profile. LinkedIn classifies your skills based on the number of endorsements that you have acquired. It displays your 12 most recent endorsements.

You can get endorsements from a colleague who understands your capabilities and can add value to your profile. They can also be obtained from a boss whom you have worked with for a while. If you feel the endorsement from your boss or a senior colleague has more value than an endorsement from your team member, then it is essential that you reorder your endorsements so that you have the right ones at the top.

Here’s a quick and easy thumbnail on how you can reorder endorsements: Click on “Edit Skills” and then Click on “Manage Endorsements.” Choose the skill you want to reorder and deselect the 12 endorsements that you want to be displayed first. Save it and then repeat the above three steps again and this time select those 12 endorsements and save it again.

You’re now a LinkedIn expert. Go get that great job!

By: Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor
Source: Ezayo
Photo Credit: The Job Network