Why Are LinkedIn Skills Important?

The Significance of LinkedIn Skills: A Closer Look

LinkedIn skills play a pivotal role in shaping the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile. There are two compelling reasons why LinkedIn skills are essential, and they go beyond what meets the eye.

Reason #1: Showcasing Your Expertise

The most apparent reason for highlighting your skills on LinkedIn is to showcase your expertise to profile viewers, which often include recruiters, hiring managers, and potential prospects. This is likely the reason you've sought out this article in the first place.

Imagine this scenario: an employer is searching for a candidate with strong Project Management experience. If your profile prominently lists "Project Management" as one of your skills, it's a clear qualification they can instantly acknowledge.

Reason #2: The LinkedIn Search Algorithm

Now, here's where it gets intriguing. LinkedIn utilizes skills to determine how profiles appear in search results, the frequency of appearances, and their rankings within those results.

Think about the times you've conducted a search on LinkedIn. Upon hitting the "search" button, LinkedIn displays a list of profiles. Have you ever wondered how it decides the order in which profiles are presented - the first, second, third, and so on?

This is where LinkedIn's search algorithm comes into play. It evaluates the search parameters and matches them with profiles that most closely align with the criteria you specified. Recruiters, on the other hand, employ an even more advanced tool called LinkedIn Recruiter, enabling them to search for individuals with precise qualifications, skills, and other criteria.

Much like how we tend to consider the top results on Google or YouTube as the most relevant, the same principle applies on LinkedIn.

So, where do your LinkedIn skills fit into this equation?

LinkedIn employs the skills section to rank profiles in search results. To illustrate, envision this scenario:

A recruiter conducts a search for someone with "x" experience. There are three candidates in the pool of potential results, and their profiles are virtually identical, except for their skills section.

• Person 1 boasts 20 endorsements for "x."
• Person 2 has 10 endorsements for "x."
• Person 3 showcases 5 endorsements for "x."

In this case, LinkedIn will display Person 1's profile first, followed by Person 2's and then Person 3's.

While this simplifies the complex algorithmic workings happening behind the scenes, it underscores a crucial point: the more relevant skills you list on your profile and the more endorsements you garner for these skills, the more frequently your profile will appear in searches. This translates to more profile views and increased opportunities coming your way.