5 Ways to Boost Your Profile on LinkedIn

While you may make a striking impression in person, don’t forget your online persona is just as important. Does yours reflect the person you want a potential employer to see?

In today’s connected world, recruiters are relying more heavily on social recruiting when looking for candidates, and many say they’re finding better, more qualified candidates that way.

That means it’s time to take a look at your LinkedIn profile and make sure it truly conveys the person and image you want people to see. Here are five things you can do right now to:

Who Are You?

Take a look at the title in your profile. If it simply gives your current job title, you’re not really describing who you’re and what you’re capable of doing.

LinkedIn’s Krista Canfield, senior manager of corporate communications Mobile PR lead says your title should include some personality and character. Are you intuitive or aggressive?

Add an adjective to help describe the type of person that you are. And don’t be afraid to write what you want to be doing; whether it’s a job you’re looking for or something you aspire to.

Now, take a look at your photo. You do have one, right? If not, get one now. This should be a simple headshot of you. Not you and your spouse or your kid, or your college roommate. Don’t use a picture of yourself at the beach holding a frozen Pina Colada in your hand.

How Good is Your Summary?

Do you manage a team; are you responsible for sales, do you work independently? This is also a good place to state what you want. Are you looking for a career change, seeking out new clients? Be specific so people can seek you out.

Your summary should outline your industry experience as well as your skills. This should be easy for someone to read and be able to get a good sense of who you are at first glance. Rather than put your job title, explain what you do.

Experience

This is where you get to show all your accomplishments from each of your previous positions. Many people simply list the company and position they held as well as the time frame but Canfield points out, this is not intended to be an abbreviated resume with no real info.

Instead, spell out what you did in those positions. Did you hit specific goals, sales metrics, what great experiences did you come away with? What do you bring to a company?  Your profile is 12 times more likely to be viewed by a hiring manager if you have a robust, detailed list of work experience.

Don’t forget volunteer experience. According to LinkedIn, volunteer experience is work experience and it should be on your profile. So in addition to noting where you volunteer, spell out what you do.

Are you managing work flow, helping with the books, interacting with people, what kinds of things are you doing that might be valuable skills you’re learning, and can be applied to a future position? Work skills are work skills, whether or not you’re paid.

Joining Relevant Groups Will Help Bolster Your Network

Joining industry-related groups is a great way to convey your interests, as well as establish relationships with like-minded people you can network with.

The key in these groups is to share and give freely, don’t try to sell yourself or your product. Add value if you can by sharing stories or expertise, and then if you need something from someone else, you’ll likely get it in return.

Use Mobile

LinkedIn has a number of mobile app designed to help you not only search for, but apply to jobs wherever you are, whether that’s sitting in a coffee shop or traveling to the next interview. Forty-one percent of the site’s traffic now comes from mobile, according to LinkedIn’s Canfield, so you need to be prepared for when you find your dream job while waiting for a train. That means you need to have your profile ready for business so you can apply on your phone or tablet and not waste one precious moment jazzing it up.

Canfield says recruiters are using a mobile app of their own to search for you, so it’s perfectly fine to apply using an app, rather than waiting until you get home to log in from your computer. In fact, she points out that since they’re on the go, be short and succinct in what you send. A good well-crafted profile speaks for itself.