How to build promising LinkedIn profile?

Talked to my cousin recently who stuck at home without possibility to work remotely. Due to COVID-19 situation, this is quite popular now. She stated that needs a new job. What the first action to take? Setting up a new account in LinkedIn and building a profile will be the good start. I noticed that a significant majority of my connections don’t use LinkedIn to advance their career AT ALL. I have divided them into 3 categories:

1. Set up a LinkedIn account a long time ago, have 500+ connections but use them passively
2. Set up a LinkedIn account once but successfully managed to forget about it
3.  Never set up a LinkedIn account

Robbie Abed in his book “How to build relationships and get job offers using LinkedIn” provided step by step description how to use this powerful tool in developing our career and promoting personal brand.

The first advice is to “create and publish content” in the area of your expertise. “If you want to be noticed in LinkedIn, you have to be an interesting person. If you have nothing unique to share you are not an interesting person”. We should actively share the knowledge with the audience to make sure they all know who we are.

I have decided to summarize key indicators how to build the prominent LinkedIn profile:

1.      High quality picture

Unfortunately, want it or not but selfie doesn’t work. If you decided to add a picture, it should be of light background, awesome resolution and smiley face :) If you are working in the industry that doesn’t require official dress code, you can wear the casual outfit to reflect your personality. LinkedIn photos are displayed at the size of 200 x 200 pixels (500 x 500 max) in JPG, GIF or PNG files. Don’t add too large photos to keep good quality. One more thing, LinkedIn says that a great photo makes your profile 7x more visible in searches, so it worthy to invest your time and efforts here.

2.      Summary

Rule #1 – never leave this section empty! Initially, define why you are using LinkedIn. If you are the job seeker, business connections builder or simply develop your personal brand, you should describe your main goal.

This section may include the following statements:

• Value (What asset can we bring to the potential employer?)
• Why I do what I do? (Couple of sentences or a short story / anecdote why you decided to take this career and where you are approaching to)
• Peculiar facts (What are we stand for? Here we can put everything what’s not included in CV and may not be connected with our profession)
• How can I help you? ( It isn’t just about to tell what you can do but show the willingness to do it)
• Special skills (Indicate what you do and what you are outstanding with, providing terms that will show up in keyword searches)

3.      Professional Headline

These few sentences of bold text (120 characters at the most) are one of the most overlooked sections of your profile. If you want to be findable buy Recruiter / Hiring Manager (HM), it’s better to put the most “popular” title that can appear in the key search. You can leave your contacts details there as well. I encourage to set up a new email account to avoid blocking your main one with SPAM notifications. On the contrary, if you aren’t looking for new opportunities and want to be “hidden” from the Recruiters, you can add really “unique” headline which will be difficult to find. Additionally, you can mention that you are NOT looking for new positions and NOT open to relocate, etc. Last but not least, you can hide your profile from public views but this is not recommended. You may lose potential connections or life – changing propositions.

4.      Experience

LinkedIn states that 2 recent positions listed in this section are 12x more likely to be found in searches than others. Be aware to add the most relevant information here. Main advice is not just copy / paste info from CV or simply download it but to focus on a description of your achievements. Summarize what exactly you did and what was your key contribution in this position. Support it with real data / statistics if it’s not in contrary with DNA. Mention about promotions you received in the company. It is more impressive to read how you started off on the bottom rung on the ladder and raised to a senior position.

5.      Skills and Expertise

LinkedIn unable you to add 50 skills relevant in your professional area. Be mindful adding the most efficient ones to match you with the right opportunity by the Recruiters. Ask your connections to endorse those skills that they believe you are strong in. One of the best way to encourage endorsements is to endorse others :) Remember skills with the most endorsements appear first but you can re-arrange the order the way you want. If you don’t want to have those endorsement on your profile, you can hide them on default.

6.      Media Section

From 2013 LinkedIn built this section enabling to provide more information about your achievements. If you have your own professional blog, it is advisable to add it here. You can always customize your LinkedIn URL in your settings to be more memorable. Remember it must contain 5-30 letters or numbers without spaces, symbols or special characters. Note that your previous URL can be unavailable to use for another member for several months. It gives time to reclaim is previous user changed his mind.

7.      Education

Recently, more and more companies hire candidates without degrees, such as Google, Apple, IBM, Netflix, Hilton, Whole Foods, Starbucks, etc. Nevertheless, there is a bunch of them who still require it. So, it is advisable to fill in this section to increase your potentiality among Recruiters.

8.      Location / Relocation

If you are living in the small city but want to find a job in the nearest big one, it’s better to mention your targeted location in the profile. Do not forget to click the button “Open for relocation”, if you are up to. 

9.      Recommendations

Ask your colleagues you are working now, worked in the past or simply shared the same project together for a short recommendation. It will definitely make you noticeable in the eyes of the Recruiter / HM.

10.  Languages

Considering the fact we live in global economy, language comprehensiveness is significant. Mention all languages you know using international classification of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL).

• C2 – Fluent, Mastery
• C1 – Proficient, Advanced
• B2 – Upper Intermediate
• B1 – Intermediate
• A2 – Elementary
• A1 – Beginner

Please avoid using phrases like “Can write emails with a dictionary”, “Understand everything but cannot speak”, etc. :)

There are additional sections in LinkedIn that you would probably be likely to add:

 Publications, Projects, Organizations you belong to, Courses you’ve taken, Patents, Certifications, Volunteering, etc.

They are not obligatory to fill in but will definitely increase your personal brand and extend the search frame for Recruiters / HM.

Additional tips:

1.      Re-order sections

You can always re-arrange sections by dragging the arrow icon. If you are the fresh graduate of the prestigious university, for example and looking for traineeship, it’s better to put your Education first. Otherwise, I would recommend to leave Experience as primary.

2.      Ditch the buzzwords

Try to avoid using repetitive corporate robotic words like “self-motivated”, “team player”, “strategic planner”, “out – of –the-box thinker” etc .

 Here are the top 10 phrases overused by the job seekers in US:

extensive experience, innovative, motivated, result – oriented, dynamic, proven track records, team player, fast-paced, problem solver, entrepreneurial

Source: “How to build the ultimate LinkedIn profile in under an hour” by Andrew Macarthy

My personal viewpoint is to keep sound authentic. You can use all corporate words you prefer if they really help achieve your goal.

3.      Stick to the first person

 Phrases like “I have accomplished…”, “I have achieved..”, etc. will bring more light to Recruiter about your role in the company. Additionally, it doesn’t look like they are reading your Referral from someone else.

4.      Unicode

Some experts state it is not advisable to use Unicode like smiley faces, hearts, flowers in your LinkedIn profile. It doesn’t look professional. I think this is your profile and you are the owner of your personal brand. Moreover, some industries looking for creative employees (designers, art specialists, photographers, etc.), so it gives the exciting opportunity to differentiate yourself. Main point here to sound authentic and be noticeable among the connections.

LinkedIn is really a powerful tool to build your business networks. But it takes time, a lot of time. Keep consistent in your goal and you will seed results afterward :)

Inspired by:

 “How to build relationships and get job offers using LinkedIn” by Robbie Abed  

“How to build the ultimate LinkedIn profile in under an hour” by Andrew Macarthy