A Perfect Profile On LinkedIn Begins With These 15 Tips

Why should you use LinkedIn?

Nearly 90% of recruiters look for candidates on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is currently the best platform for developing our professional network and finding quality jobs. The majority of quality jobs now ask for a link to our LinkedIn profile as well when we apply for a job. Your LinkedIn profile will help you promote your personal brand and increase your chances of being ahead of others competing for the same job.

So when to start?

People tell me?they are aware that they need to work harder on their LinkedIn profiles, but they do not realize the urgency because they are just finishing their studies in a year or two, and they will start investing after graduation. They are making a mistake by not leveraging the power of LinkedIn. Do not wait until graduation to start building your profile. As with everything in life, building a professional LinkedIn profile takes effort and time. You never know, maybe you will get an opportunity of a lifetime through Linkedin.

You will lose the opportunity to be contacted for an interview if your LinkedIn profile is unattractive; don’t take that chance and start working on it now.

So let’s get started, 15 tips for building the perfect LinkedIn profile from scratch.

1. What do I want to convey through my profile-

As Jeff Bezos noted, branding is what others say about you when you aren’t there. The first thing you need to think about when building a profile is what do you want to convey when others are watching? What is your branding? What sets you apart from others? When a recruiter looks at my profile, what do I want him to think of me?

2. Keywords are important -

LinkedIn works like a search engine (SEO), so add keywords that are relevant to your role in both sections- “about” and in the “headline”. Which will help you increase exposure from relevant “headhunters” (recruiters).

3. Treat yourself as a “talent” -

This is true both for building the LinkedIn profile, and for the interview phase. Recruiters today are looking for “talents” and the war on those people is only rising. Highlight your uniqueness, emphasize through your profile the experience and impact you have made in the past, and why it is worthwhile for companies to recruit you.

4. Add valuable skills and experience-

To be considered a talent, you must be able to lead the company forward. This will require you to work hard and smart. Work on projects, add professional experience and learn more courses that will increase your professional knowledge. As much as I dislike working for free, there are also ways to gain professional experience by volunteering in the role you aspire to (web developer, media manager, etc.). For skills, there are many places where you can study for free or at a very low price. A year ago, LinkedIn learning opened free study paths for top jobs, including project management, data analysis, and sales. These certificate programs can be added to your LinkedIn profile.

5.?Join groups on LinkedIn-

Additionally to being able to network and learn from other people, groups will allow you to gain exposure. Not just anyone, people who are in your field or in the field you wish to join.

6.?Connect with others-

Post relevant comments on posts, share your opinion and contribute a little from your background and professional experience to discussions in dedicated groups. Though it is important to express your opinion, don’t engage in arguments with others or pass judgment.

7.?Share your thoughts and insights-

As per LinkedIn’s algorithm, one post a day is recommended. However, I understand not everyone can handle it. Write about your profession on a regular basis, especially if you want to be considered a “talent” in your field. Some ideas for posts that take 2 minutes each:

? Share a post from LinkedIn that piques your interest and is either related to your field of business or a common problem in your industry. It is recommended to write a few words about it.

? Add an inspirational quote

? Tell your followers about a recent achievement — the completion of a course, a project you worked on, an insight you recently gained …

- Do not forget to add visuals (photos, videos ..)

- Add tags and hashtags — you’ll reach a wider audience this way.

8.?Add a profile picture and professional background-

Selfies and photos with people are not professional. Your background profile should be neutral, have good lighting, direct your gaze at the camera and smile. The background image should also convey professionalism and be relevant to your field of practice. It is possible to create a background image of your business or Job place (I, for example, used a picture of my business ‘ The Lazy Investor’) or design a background in Canva (you can just choose one of the dozens of great designs).

9.?Add a Featured section to your profile-

You can select three things to highlight for this section, which is kind of like a portfolio. You may upload your resume, a project you worked on, an article, or anything else you worked on and would like to stand out. I chose to publish my most popular article on LinkedIn, an article on medium.com, and a case study on Monday.com about the role of CSM (a role that I would like to be a part of in high-tech).

10.?Headline?-

Profiles are an extremely important part of your online presence, but unfortunately most users do not take advantage of it enough! It is possible to write up to 120 characters in the description (which is quite a lot), so use it wisely to advertise and market yourself. You can write about your current position (for example: project manager at company X), skills and keywords related to the industry and the field in which you would like to integrate. A recruiter’s first impression of a candidate is based on search results, which include relevant keywords.

A good example:

Digital Marketing Manager at X | PPC | Google Analytics | Data Analysis | Maximizing Profits | B2B business

A little tip: Look at how other people in your chosen field present themselves, it’s always a good idea to be inspired by them as well

11.?Start from 150+ Connections-

Sending (and confirming) to anyone is not advisable. Send to people in your field or from the industry you would like to join.

12. Add images and marketing text to the Experience section -

In this section add your work experience over the years. Include 3–5 points that describe your responsibilities and what you did in the job. You should not only list your duties and job description, but also your accomplishments. I ran an email marketing campaign that increased subscriptions to the company’s newsletter by 15%.

13. Show that you are open to work-

You can demonstrate your openness to job offers by choosing the “open to work” option. You have two choices here: 1. 1. Add your profile picture, so that it will be visible to everyone. 2. Add this part of your profile, so that only recruiters can see it. I personally prefer the second option because it is more like “hard to get” because it is hidden from everyone on LinkedIn, but there is no legality in this.

14.?Edit the URL on your profile-

Our URL when we open an account is quite stenciled and full of numbers. In addition to your name, a lot of irrelevant numbers will be added. By deleting the unnecessary numbers, you can make it look cleaner and tidier. Where is it? On the top right, click “Edit Public Profile & URL”.

15.?Add Skills & Endorsements?-

It is possible to upload up to 50 skills, three of which will appear in your top skills. Add skills that demonstrate your knowledge of various tools (Excel for example), skills relevant to the industry / field, interpersonal skills (team management, storytelling …), additional languages. When it comes to recommendations, you may want to ask the people you work with to write a few words about you that highlight your experience, skills, and benefits of working with you. In return, you can also write them a recommendation.