There are many powerful statistics from a variety of sources highlighting the need to be on LinkedIn if you have a professional career. According to Jobscan, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find and source candidates. Two people join LinkedIn each second. These are impressive statistics. You need to optimize your LinkedIn profile.
As an Executive, Career, and Personal Brand Coach, I emphasize the importance to my clients, and during my presentations across the world, of not only having a profile but being active on it.
It’s a platform to raise your credibility, authority, and personal brand. Here are the top 10 ways to boost your presence:
- Complete Your Profile to The Optimum
It’s page-less. The only limit is the number of characters per section. Below are the number of characters permitted per section.
Banner/Hero image: 1584 x 396 pixels (4:1 proportion)
Profile photo: any size between 400 x 400 and 20,000 x 20,000 pixels will work
Name: First Name: 20 characters, Last Name: 40 characters
Headline: 120 character limit (try editing on a mobile app for extra characters!)
Summary / About: 2,600 character limit (used to be 2,000)
Summary / About: cut-off desktop: 270-320 characters (before clicking ‘See more’)
Summary / About: cut-off mobile: 20-25 characters
Position title: 100 character limit
Position description: 200 character minimum (2000 max)
Rich media: 6 per experience entry, 4 visible
Recommendations: 3,000 character limit
Recommendations visible: 2 (ordered by date)
Skills: 50 max
Endorsements: 99 (count) visible, unlimited
Top skills (most visible): 3
Don’t miss a section, it’s there for you, so use it. Try to max out the number of characters.
- Connect Prudently
Yes, it is tempting to swiftly connect with as many people as you can, but that’s not professional or acceptable. You are seeking quality, not quantity, connections. Think of a strategy that is going to build a community where you can interact and that is meaningful to your career goals and aspirations. Maybe you can connect with ex-employees, customers, or vendors? Connect with key influencers at the target companies where you would like to be employed.
- First Impressions – Your Picture
Profiles without pictures raise eyebrows. Why is this person in hiding? It is necessary to have a professional picture today. Not only does it remove doubt; it drives credibility and a sense of collaboration. Ensure that it is just you in the picture, not your spouse, kids, pets, or the trophy from a recent fishing trip. With today’s smartphones, hiring a professional photographer isn’t necessary, but it is advisable. Dress in the attire applicable to your career.
There are impressive metrics as to why you need a professional picture. As soon as a picture is uploaded to a profile, Google provides a 400% increase in algorithm visits. You want Google to help you as much as possible, and this is free!
- Keywords
You need to populate your LinkedIn profile with functional, skill, and industry-specific keywords or buzzwords. Fill this section up by using the 50 allowed. When completing this section, play a game with yourself. Imagine someone was searching for you on LinkedIn. What buzzwords would they type in to narrow down the search for you? A profile with limited keywords generates limited results.
- Use Metrics to The Maximum
Numbers tell stories and speak volumes about you. If you worked for a publicly-traded company, more options open, but be careful about how freely you share facts and figures. Private companies do limit how you can broadcast metrics. The profile should clearly portray the size of the employer and your scope and highlight as many tangible results as possible. You can convert monetary accomplishments into percentiles to get around your employer’s restrictions.
- Request Recommendations
When screening potential candidates, hiring authorities often look for red flags. It’s an approach to decrease the candidate pool after uncovering a list of talent. One of the vetting activities is to review your recommendations. If you have none, your chances decrease of advancing as a candidate; having only a few is also questionable. The ideal number of recommendations per position is five. Yes, very daunting, but achievable and this will bring deep value to your reputation. Preferably, try to obtain recommendations from your boss, a peer in a lateral position, employee, vendor/supplier, and finally, a customer/client.
- Captivating Headline
We read and scroll down from the top. The first text one views must be captivating and resonating. Your 120-character headline under your name must grab attention swiftly! This is your chance to entice a longer stay on the profile to digest more information. Be bold and striking in this messaging.
- Post, Share and Comment
Don’t be a dormant bystander, thinking your profile, once completed, will attract the attention of employers or executive recruiters. It might, but you want to elevate your chances of being viewed and read. LinkedIn provides you the opportunity to market yourself as an expert, broadcasting to a global audience of over 650 million.
Create your own posts on a topic you believe can bring value to LinkedIn connections while boosting your value in the marketplace. Share, share, and share. There is so much content available to you today. Share blogs, articles, news that is pertinent to you and make comments. Don’t be shy, show your true self online. Be bold, be intriguing, be frequent. Make people want to connect and speak with you.
- Join a Group
So many ignore the benefits of joining and being active in groups. There are millions of groups to join based on function, industry, and geography. Join groups relevant to you where you believe you can make a contribution (giving) and gain visibility and credibility (receiving). When you join a group, introduce yourself. Create a generic introduction using MS Word, then cut, paste, and customize accordingly. Be vocal in the group, make comments on posts, share, and create your own content. Group interaction and constant activity generally generate notable traction with leads into employers where you want to work.
- Upload Presentations, Your Resume, and Other Multimedia Content
You can showcase who you are even further with the ability to upload PowerPoint presentations and multiple media, including videos. Use this facility — it’s a powerful way to increase your visibility and integrity.
LinkedIn is an evolving platform. It is always changing, always offering new capabilities. To keep up to date on what is happening on LinkedIn, review https://blog.linkedin.com/
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