10 simple steps to improve your LINKEDIN profile

No matter what stage of the job-search ?? process you're in, you'll always need a LinkedIn profile that stands out.

With more than 822+ million users worldwide, LinkedIn is easily the largest professional network on the planet. If you're serious about your career and professional advancement, you need a LinkedIn profile that's optimized and up to date. Your LinkedIn profile is your chance to get your name and face in front of hundreds (or even thousands) of professionals in your industry. If you're looking for a job, that's essential.

However, it's not enough to just have a LinkedIn page. You need a great LinkedIn profile that draws attention, says the right things, and helps you really connect with the people who can help you expand your career. Here are 10 simple tips to help make your LinkedIn profile stand out:

1. Choose the right profile picture ??

Your profile picture is your calling card on LinkedIn – it’s how people are introduced to you and (visual beings that we are) it governs their impressions from the beginning.?Make sure the picture is recent and looks like you, make sure that your face takes up around 60% of it (long-distance shots don’t stand out), use a high-resolution image, avoid distracting backgrounds, wear what you would like to wear to work, and smile with your eyes!!

2. Create an eye-catching headline

There’s no rule that says the description at the top of your profile page has to be just a job title. The default settings will fill this in with your current position and that's okay for starters — but it can be whatever you want. Think of it as a small billboard advertisement for you and what you do. Instead of just listing your job title, mention your speciality and how you benefit your company or customers. Don't forget to keep your target audience in mind. Are you speaking to industry peers, customers, or headhunters? Write for your target audience. For example:

Advertising Sales Rep helping clients create winning branding strategies. Over 300 successful clients.

Just like that you've told them your job, what you bring to the table, and provided a little credibility easily and effectively.

3. Add a background photo ??

Did you know that you can add a background photo/cover photo on LinkedIn just like on Twitter and Facebook? It's simple to do and it makes your LinkedIn profile stand out, so pick a theme that speaks to your profession or personality. Your background photo is the second visual element at the top of your profile page. It grabs people’s attention, sets the context and shows a little more about what matters to you. More than anything, the right background photo helps your page stand out, engage attention and stay memorable.

4. Craft an interesting summary

Your LinkedIn summary gives you the opportunity to tell your story. Your summary can be a longer form of your headline; here you have 2,000 characters to work with so you can dive in a little deeper. Don't just focus on your past experience but on what you do well and what you can bring to a prospective employer. Keep in mind that keywords are crucial here — use words that you want to be strongly connected to in your field. Be creative and paint a picture of who you really are as a professional.

5. Customize your LinkedIn page URL

Your LinkedIn URL is the web address for your profile. The default URL will have your name and some gibberish numbers on it. Why not make it something more relevant? Along the right side of your profile, you will see the option to edit your public LinkedIn URL.?Use that option to make your URL more concise and neat — again, it only takes a couple of minutes and it can make your URL much more memorable. For example:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/anushakovi/

6. Highlight your experience

You can do better than simply cutting and pasting your resume onto your LinkedIn profile. You don't have the same two-page rule here. Be sure to include any jobs that you deem relevant to where you want your career to go, and use two to four interesting and impressive bullet points for each job you include.

Also, use good action words to show not just what you did, but what you accomplished in each position. The key is to demonstrate the impact you've made, the change you've enacted,?the initiatives you've led, and the results you've delivered.?

7. Request recommendations

Endorsements give people viewing your profile a quick, visual sense of what you’re valued for. Recommendations take things a step further. They are personal testimonials written to illustrate the experience of working with you. There’s a handy drop-down menu in the Recommendations section of your profile that makes it easy to reach out to specific contacts and request recommendations. Take the time to think about whom you would most value a recommendation from – and personalise your request. It’s worth the extra effort.

8. Spread the endorsement love

Endorsements from other members substantiate your skills and increase your credibility. How do you get endorsed on LinkedIn? For starters, go through your network and identify connections whom you feel genuinely deserve an endorsement from you – that’s often the trigger for people to return the favour. Don’t be afraid to reach out with a polite message asking for endorsement for a few key skills as well. Remember though – relevance matters. Reach out to people whose endorsement you’d really value.

9. List your relevant skills

It’s one of the quickest of quick wins on LinkedIn – scroll through the list of skills and identify those that are relevant to you. Doing so helps to substantiate the description in your Headline and Summary, and provides a platform for others to endorse you. However, the key here is staying relevant. A long list of skills that aren’t really core to who you are and what you do, can start to feel unwieldy. Take time for a spring clean of your skills to list every now and then.

10. Take a skills assessment ??

A skills assessment is an online test that enables you to demonstrate the level of your skills, and display a Verified Skills badge on your profile. Data shows that candidates with verified skills are around 30% more likely to be hired?for the roles they apply for – and displaying proof of your abilities strengthens your personal brand more generally as well. Displaying the results of your skills assessments is entirely voluntary, and you can retake the tests as often as you like before showing that you’ve passed.