Jan 31 2023

How to optimise your LinkedIn profile for job search success

If you are searching for work and want to attract the right attention from the right people, then maximising your online presence is key.

The best way you can do that? LinkedIn.

Even if you are happy at your current job, it’s usually a good idea to stay in the loop of other opportunities, especially in such uncertain times. 

Invest a small amount of time on your LinkedIn profile with potentially big results. Optimising your LinkedIn profile will get you more search appearances, connection requests and makes it much easier to be found by recruiters offering great job opportunities.

So what are our top tips for a LinkedIn profile that’ll help you stand out from the crowd?

Achieve All-Star status with a completed profile

According to LinkedIn, profiles with an All-Star status are 40 times more likely to be found in searches. But what exactly is an All-Star status, and how do you reach it? 

All-Star status is how LinkedIn classifies profiles that are 100% complete. The LinkedIn algorithm prioritises users with complete profiles by ranking them higher in search results than users with incomplete profiles. 

This means it is absolutely worth investing a little bit of time tidying up your profile and making sure it is complete, to benefit you better in the long run. 

All it takes is 7 simple steps:

1. Add a profile picture

Adding a profile picture gives a big boost to the credibility of your profile, as people are more likely to accept connections when they can see who you are. The goal is a headshot where you appear approachable and authentic - body language is key! Group photos or couple photos are best avoided. 

2. Populate your Experience section

In theory, you could copy over your career history from your CV. This is perfectly fine, although if you can spare the time it's really worth crafting your Experience section into something that uniquely complements and supports your CV without being a carbon copy.

What you are aiming for here is a concise yet specific description of your role and your achievements. Write with your industry firmly in mind (or target industry, if you are making a career change). Utilise the keywords of your industry, focus on your most important achievements and be specific when demonstrating the results you’ve achieved.

You don’t have to populate every role in your Experience section with a description - being able to keep some roles brief and others more detailed can help you emphasise your most relevant experience and accomplishments. 

3. Add Skills to your profile

To achieve All-Star status, you’ll need to add at least 5 skills, though LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills in total. Adding your most relevant skills and receiving endorsements from them is an excellent way to signpost your strengths at a glance, and helps you rank better in LinkedIn’s algorithm.

4. Write a powerful and compelling About section

This is your introduction to future employers and other connections, your moment to shine a spotlight on who you are and what you do - with a bit of your personality in the mix! 

You have 2,600 characters to make an impact, approximately 400-600 words.  Unlike the formality of a CV, this is your opportunity to use a more conversational tone, so using pronouns like ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ gives your profile a more personal and natural feel. 

Be sure to include plenty of industry and job-related keywords to increase your chances of being found! 

If you’re not sure exactly what to say, try out these prompts to get your ideas flowing:

• Explain your role and keep it simple - what’s the problem and the solution you offer?
• What excites you the most about the work you do? What motivates you?
• Pinpoint your biggest success - do you have an impressive statistic you can show off?
• Put your past roles into context - connect the dots of your career journey. What led you to where you are now?

 

5. Two quick wins in one go - add your Industry and Location

You can easily update these at any time by clicking on the Edit icon in your Introduction section.

6.  Add your Education

Listing your qualifications makes it easier to connect with those you studied with (and for them to find you!) 

7. Expand your network by making connections 

For All-Star status, you’ll need at least 50 connections. If you’re short on connections, a great place to start is by checking out ‘People You May Know’, the feature that appears when you click on the My Network tab on LinkedIn.

As a recruitment firm, it’d be remiss not to suggest connecting with recruitment consultants! Search for a recruiter in your field and take a look at their LinkedIn activity. Find a recruiter who understands your industry and reach out to them about your career. 

All done? Here are a couple of extra tips we really recommend implementing to power your profile to the max!

Write an attention-grabbing headline

Your headline is automatically populated when you begin adding positions to your Experience. You can just leave this as it is. Or you can rewrite it!

You have 120 characters to make an impact - utilise them. This is your elevator pitch, so use keywords and phrases here that best represent you and the value you provide.

Populate your Features section 

This is one of LinkedIn’s newer features, rolled out in February 2020. Your Features section is a really great place to showcase samples of your work. You can add a website link, a video, a document, an article or one of your own LinkedIn posts.

Think of it as a highlight reel, a space where you can add some visual elements to your profile.

Lastly, be active on LinkedIn!

If someone comes across your profile and it’s hugely outdated, that will be a turn-off. Take a little bit of time to be active on LinkedIn on a consistent basis, and you’ll quickly find it’s one of the best ways to increase your visibility and searchability! Like, comment and share to be on top of people’s minds and win the favour of the LinkedIn algorithm.