If you are an unemployed job-seeker or someone looking to progress your career, registering a profile on LinkedIn can be a great way to get yourself noticed by recruiting agencies and companies looking to fill vacancies. You only get one chance to create a first impression, so it is important to present yourself in the right way. Following the tips in this guide will help you avoid the many pitfalls and put you on the road to success.
What is LinkedIn?
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals and businesses. It is reported to have more than 175 million registered members worldwide, and is by far the leader in business to business networking platforms. Users create a profile on the site that can be viewed by other users, who can then follow up with a connect request. LinkedIn has become one of the main resources for recruiters looking to fill vacancies and is also an effective way for job seekers to represent themselves directly to companies.
Your LinkedIn Profile
Your profile is your sales document. You want to sell yourself to recruiters and convince them that you are the right person to fill a vacancy. Your profile consists of your personal information and statement, your experience and qualifications, plus anything else that may enhance your prospects and help a potential employer to make a decision.
Pay attention to the title of your profile. You want your profile title to grab the attention of the reader and make them want to read further.” Fully Experienced and Qualified Technical Analyst Seeking Suitable Position,” will look much more attractive than “Unemployed Technical Analyst Seeks Work.” Don’t forget to check and double-check your profile for spelling mistakes and typos. Nothing can do you more harm than a simple spelling mistake or a badly worded profile.
LinkedIn has the functionality to break your profile down into sections or categories. A large chunk of text can be off-putting, so using this tool to segment your text into readable slices is recommended.
Make sure that you add a picture. Some experts believe that recruiters spend as much time studying a picture as they do looking at professional qualifications. A potential employer is likely to be put off if there is a blank box instead of a picture on your profile. Think about how you want to represent yourself and make sure that your picture gives the right impression.
Something that may help get you noticed is to alter the profile URL from the default string of numbers, to something that is personal to you. You can do this from within LinkedIn by using the settings menu drop-down under your name.
One last piece of advice concerning your profile is to keep it strictly business. Many people advise against linking your LinkedIn profile to your Facebook page although the facility is available. It is widely acknowledged that one short visit by a recruiter to a less than squeaky-clean Facebook page can easily lose you a potential position.
Profile Summary
Do not make the mistake of paying less attention to the profile summary, or even worse, ignore it completely, The summary is equally as important as the profile itself. The profile summary is crawled when a search is carried out. The results are based on summary keywords matching the search term. Make sure that you use keywords in your summary that demonstrate the type of vacancy you are seeking, and attract the right visitors to your profile.
Stay Up to Date with LinkedIn
A recent development has made it possible to be notified when someone visits and “likes” your profile in much the same way as on Facebook. It is recommended that you use your computer to upload information to LinkedIn to avoid making typos that are easily made on a mobile phone. There is a very useful LinkedIn mobile app for Iphone, Ipad and Android that will keep you up to date and allow you to browse job listings and company pages, This app will now notify you when someone has shown an interest in you, in much the same way as the web application.
When interviewed recently, Jeff Redfurn, LinkedIn mobile product manager said that, “mobile traffic now accounts for around 23% of visitor statistics.”
LinkedIn is a great place to promote your availability for employment or career progression. With statistics of over 47 million unique monthly visitors globally, it simply cannot be overlooked. If approached in the right way, a profile on LinkedIn could secure you that dream job.