5 Ways to Step Up Your LinkedIn Game
LinkedIn’s network is getting bigger and stronger with 722 million members from around the world as of 2020 and 3 people are hired through LinkedIn every minute (https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/). Which means, people are looking at your LinkedIn profile whether you know it or not. So, what does your LinkedIn profile look like? Who are you connected to? What kind of content are you looking at and liking or sharing?
If you’re looking to get noticed on LinkedIn whether it’s for a job opportunity, sales, or simply networking, here are 5 ways you can ensure you won’t be overlooked.
Your profile picture:
This one is so simple and yet so many people overlook it. Yes, it seems minor, however, this has become an important element to attract people to your profile page. Here are a couple of quick tips.
- Get a professional headshot done.
- If you can’t get a professional headshot, have someone take your photo with a plain background.
- Get the lighting just right
- Make sure the photo is clear and not grainy or pixelated
When employers or potential business partners research your company, they definitely look at the profiles of employees. If yours is incomplete, what does that say about you?
- No time?
- Don’t care?
- Don’t think it’s important?
- Not into Social Media?
I’m not judging here, but people will draw their own conclusions. If it’s complete, they’ll know you care, if it’s not, who knows what they’ll think!
Your headline:
Most people have their job title as their headline, which is fine, but you have an opportunity to spice it up a bit. What sets you apart? What makes you different from anyone else? When you come up with the answer, make that your headline!
Your Summary:
Your summary should be short, sweet, and in first person (approximately 2-3 short paragraphs). Here you want to talk about your career passions, qualifications, skills and the industry you are in. Use bullet points and numbers when appropriate and steer clear from buzzwords like “driven, strategic, expert, creative, etc.”
Your Experience:
Your profile should look like your resume but write like you talk. What do you enjoy doing? What are you really good at? Where have you had the best results? Be sure to use bullet points and numbers in this section as well. Add your projects, volunteer work, languages you speak, or anything else that sets you apart. Ask people to write recommendations for you too. Let them help you get noticed – endorsements are great.
Your activity:
Our world is evolving, and social networks are becoming more and more important in our professional lives. Reaching the right people has become easier yet we many don’t take advantage of it like they should. When you want to get noticed on LinkedIn by the right people, you have to meet them where they are. This means, following the same groups, reading the same articles, commenting on their posts, and posting your own original content that they would be interested in.
It is a lot to take in and it will absolutely take some effort on your end, but you don’t want to be left behind or overlooked just because you thought this would be just a fad that would eventually go away. It wont! You might get noticed for a new job or someone in your network can bring a great opportunity to your company through you. You might get asked to speak or help mentor young professionals. These are all wins for you and the odds of them go up significantly with a solid LinkedIn profile.
Seems like it’s worth it! What do you think?
If you need help working on your LinkedIn profile, give us a call! We would be more than happy to help.