New year, new career? 8 Steps to leverage your LinkedIn profile in 2022

One of the plus sides of this pandemic is that it’s given us all a lot of time for introspection. We’ve been forced to take a long hard look at our lives and decide what works for us and what really doesn’t. One crucial aspect of this introspection has been to look at our careers and how we spend our time doing what we do for a living. Just look at how much career change we’ve seen all around us over the past two and a bit years: many people have handed in their resignations, started new businesses (sometimes because they’ve had no other option), made 360 degree changes in their industries, or moved cities or countries for promotions and new jobs.

If you’ve been wanting to make a career change, a useful way to market yourself and find new opportunities is to leverage the power of social media through the LinkedIn platform. But if you haven’t used it for a while, your LinkedIn profile may be a bit dusty, which means it won’t be performing as it should. ?So where do you start? We’ve listed eight steps below to help you revamp it, along with a few other tricks and tips that will allow you to attract just the right job offers and the best recruiters – like bees to a honeypot.

1.??????Update your profile. Is your profile picture 10 years old? Find a recent professional photo and update it, plus ensure that your Experience, list of Skills and About section accurately represent all that you can offer a potential employer. Don’t forget about the Banner right at the top of your page – change this to something that represents you and your experience (there are many handy designs tools available these days that can help you do this).

2.??????Write a unique headline. The headline on your LinkedIn profile is one of the first things people will notice about it. While the default headline is your current role and company, you can elevate it by making it more personalised (within the 120 character limit, of course). For example, list your job title and then the functions you’re responsible for within that role – and try and coincide these with the top skills a recruiter may be looking for within your career space.

3.??????Show you’re open for work. LinkedIn has a handy way of showing you’re available for new jobs. Simply enable the “Open to job opportunities” setting in your account (it’s under your profile settings in the dashboard) and add job preferences, such as the types of job, workplaces, locations and start date you’re looking for. This means you’ll show up in relevant searches that recruiters or potential employers are making to find people with your skills and criteria.

4.??????Only show this to recruiters. Most people look for another job while they’re still employed in their current role. If you don’t want your current boss to know you’re on the hunt for something new, you can choose to only let recruiters know you’re open to new opportunities within your profile. To do this, select “Share with recruiters only” under “Choose who sees you’re open” once you’re in the job preferences section mentioned above.

5.??????Use the Featured tab. This is a great opportunity to give a little flavour of what you’re about – have you penned opinion pieces, been featured in the news recently or attended an industry event? Keep these details current and varied, as they’re a great way to show your personality and what makes you YOU.

6.??????Ask for Recommendations. Just like when someone is buying a product, they’re more likely to do so if others recommend it. In the same way, if a potential employer is looking at your profile, it will make more of an impact if past colleagues, bosses or partners recommend your skills and experience. You can do this easily by from the Recommendations section of your profile by clicking “Ask to be recommended”, and then selecting the connection you’d like to ask.

7.??????Get connecting! Social media rewards active users by showing them to more people. If you never post, engage or even visit the platform, don’t be surprised if nobody ever approaches you through it. Once you’re happy with your core profile, start updating your connections, connecting with more people you know or may have worked with, commenting on other people’s posts, and following topics or well-known people that you’re interested in. Remember: don’t use the platform to hard sell yourself – also use it to encourage others, support, mentor, provide advice and generally stay up to date with what’s going in in your industry.

8.??????Be proactive. If you’re looking for a job or career move, you may already have companies in mind already that you want to work for. Make a list of these companies, find them using the Advanced Search function and then follow them to keep up with their company news or any job openings there. You can also find people who are associated with the company within your network, and then reach out to them to help put you in touch with the right people.

With these eight steps, you’ll be well positioned to attract the role of your dreams by getting your profile in front of the right recruiter or potential employer. Here’s to a revamped career in 2022, where you do more of what you love – and less of what you don’t.