We all know how powerful LinkedIn can be from a professional branding perspective, along with securing your next role…so here our top 5 tips from our Recruiters over at Talent Matters that we believe will ensure you optimise your LinkedIn profile:
- Turn on your ‘Open to’, found on your LinkedIn profile page, under your profile picture:
- Select ‘Finding a new job’, then you can enter multiple job titles. ‘Head of Marketing’, Marketing Manager” etc. Don’t just enter one title, think of other titles that may be relevant too
- You can also select whether you want a role on-site or hybrid, as well as add location
- Importantly, in the ‘Visibility’ section, this is where you select your preference of ‘Recruiters only’ or ‘All LinkedIn members’
Most of the time, you may be looking for a role whilst employed, so you don’t want the green banner on, so select ‘Recruiters only’, this way your current company won’t be aware and only Recruiters with a LinkedIn licence can see this information.
Below is a screenshot of the ‘back-end’ of LinkedIn, how Recruiters run searches and see ‘Open to work’.
If we type in ‘Head of Marketing’ in Sydney, there are over 1,600 profiles, but if we focus on ‘Open to work’ you can see 445 profiles – hence a Recruiter will generally search the profiles of ‘Open to work’ first
To edit this go to your profile page, select the pencil tool and ‘Edit info’ will appear. Whilst it can be confusing which industry to select, you need to reflect on what will suit you best.
For example, if you are in Marketing but within the Apparel sector, and you want to continue your career in Apparel, then select ‘Apparel and Fashion’…however if you aren’t tied to staying within a specific industry and want to stay broad, you’d select ‘Marketing Services’
Remember if you change career paths in future, to update your ‘Industry’…we’ve seen countless times that someone has previously been in a prior industry i.e. Financial Services and now moved into Health, Wellness and Fitness
Note – the reason this is important is that Recruiters often will run specific searches on candidates with their role titles and their industry, so it allows us to find you faster!
- Keep your profile up to date at all times, even if you aren’t actively job hunting.
89% of our candidates in the last 12 months were headhunted, and not necessarily seeking new opportunities, however we approached them for a career opportunity.
Having your profile updated as you change roles, gain new skills, complete continuing education or relocate, is the best way to ensure that you are being contacted for all of the relevant opportunities.
- Request recommendations from your 1st degree connections.
These are personal testimonials written to illustrate the experience of working with you.
Take the time to think about who you would most value a recommendation from, such as colleagues, leaders or clients and personalise your request.
They can add credibility, personality, context to your profile and help you build trust with potential clients or employers.
- Use relevant keywords such as skills and duties throughout your profile as this will improve your visibility and searchability for Recruiters or others with an interest in locating people in your field.
For example, if you are a Digital Marketer, you can use words like “email marketing”, “CRM”, “digital strategy”, “lead generation” etc.
By carefully selecting and incorporating industry relevant keywords, you are effectively signalling your expertise, experience and qualifications to those who are seeking professionals like yourself.
In addition, it allows you to stand out from the crowd, ensuring that your profile remains prominent and accessible to relevant parties.
Make the time today to update your profile so you stand out, sell your skills, validate your accomplishments and you never know it might also help you find your next perfect role!