LinkedIn is a place to find people and to be found. More than 25 million people sign in each month! That’s quite an audience to tap in to. If someone goes to LinkedIn and does a search, will they find your profile? And if someone does find and read your profile, what will they get out of it?
Since LinkedIn is a forward facing marketing document, it gives you the opportunity to use your background and experience to tell your story while focusing on the value that information has for future positions.
Let’s look at the top profile block.
1. LinkedIn Picture: Headshots are displayed up close with the new changes LinkedIn has incorporated. LinkedIn puts a small white border around your picture so add a bigger picture to get the most from your headshot. A professional headshot is best, avoid a “desk” shot or picture with multiple people.
2. Title/Professional Headline: This is the first impression of who you are – your branding message. People who are showing up higher in LinkedIn have phrases in their name field and professional headline telling people who they were. You have 120 characters to communicate your brand.
Jobseekers: you can put your certifications in the professional headline like PMP. EXAMPLE: Jane Jobseeker, project management professional (PMP).
Clients in transition: in the current job section do NOT put consultant if you are currently unemployed. Instead, consider a statement like: Passionate about project management, OR Project management expert OR Expertise in project management.
Other EXAMPLES: Wanted for future HR assistant position…..OR CTO ready…..OR Purchasing professional looking for next career opportunity.
Remember the focus of the professional headline – what’s in it for the reader? If you set yourself up as a “solution” you may get better results. EXAMPLE: I help companies achieve their sales goals by XXX
If you are changing industries: Consider letting your readers know how your current career has set you up for the next step.
EXAMPLE: Having experience in the industry for the past 20 years has prepared me for XXX. OR Accomplishments I have achieved as XXX have positioned me for career opportunities in XX
3. Create a vanity URL: Don’t know what this is? In the bottom left corner of your profile you will see the LinkedIn symbol followed by a URL. It may currently show up as www.linkedin.com/in/john29385hk . What is preferable and easier to use is creating a URL link that is customized to you. You can put your LinkedIn URL in the resume, email signature, and on business cards or V cards.
EXAMPLE: www.linkedin.com/in/johnjones
4. Contact Info: In the bottom right hand corner of the top section of your LinkedIn Profile there is a “contact info” tab. If you want people to contact you now that they have found you, make it easy. Be sure to populate it with your email address, phone number if you wish, twitter handle and personal website (which could be your online resume) or blog link. Who can see this information is up to you. You can set your security so that only “1sts” can access this contact information. Also, you can add contact information in your Summary and Additional Information sections if you prefer.
After recommending just these tips recently to a client, it was only a few hours before he started getting more visitors to his profile. There are many other sections of the LinkedIn profile that I did not address here, and they are important too. If you would like to know more about how you can get noticed on LinkedIn, call or email me and we can set up a consultation.
Ravi says
Hi Laurie,
How long the resume should be. I initially had a 10 page resume or very long linked in profile to cover my 18 years of experience. However In one of my interview, the interviewer clearly said, why should I spend more time in understanding you, if you I know what I expect from you…So I shorten my cv and linkedin profile and made sure I have not missed anything, which I did.
Laurie Berenson says
I recommend one page for young professionals and two pages for more senior professionals. In rare cases, three pages may be warranted.