LinkedIn is
easy to use as it gives instructions and advices on how to proceed on building
a full profile. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that it gives instructions on
how to build a good LinkedIn profile. Here’s some pointers on how to get there.
The first
and foremost thing is to fill out your (relevant) job experience
- Where have you worked
- How long have you worked (notice
that at LinkedIn it’s really easy to get caught from a lie!)
- What were your key responsibilities and
other task that you did
- Think about the relevance. Is it
important for your future employer or in a best case a headhunter to know if
you’ve worked for a week in a library when you were 15 if you now are searching
for a Project Managers position?
- If you don’t have relevant job
experience for the position you are now trying to get highlight other parts (to
follow).
Summary of
yourself
- It getting more common to have a
summary at top of your CV and at LinkedIn it’s the same thing. It’s the first
thing that people read from your profile, so tell there who you are and what
are you looking for.
- Don’t be afraid to benchmark and
steal bits that you find interesting in other profiles (of course not from word
to word)
- Remember to be yourself – you don’t
have to be a copywriter to tell what is it that you are looking and doing at the
moment
- Tip: use a word file to write your
LinkedIn summary & employment history. It’s easier to spot spelling
mistakes that way
- Add the most important keywords to
your LinkedIn profile title and your summary. Add those same top keywords to
Skills and Expertise and other sections like Interests – that’s how you get
found!
Connecting
- Professional first degree connections
are the top priority if you want to get noticed
- Choose them well and don’t accept
people that you don’t know and look like people that would not matter to you.
At LinkedIn there’s people who send you connection invites for just to grow
their connection rate and people who add connections and then send free
LinkedIn spam messages about their cause.
- Don’t be afraid to ask people to connect
with you.
- Ask people from recruiting companies
to connect and connect with your friends/colleagues/past colleagues/peers
- Follow the companies you are
interested in. That’s how you’ll get the jobs that they promote in their own
site to your home feed.
- Be brave when asking for recommendations
and ask them from your colleagues, peers on a same project, business partners,
but remember were you really that good that they would recommend you – or is it
just going to put them in a awkward position.
Profile photo
- There should be absolutely no debate
as to whether to include a photo on your profile.
- If there’s no face to look at on
your profile you’re at a huge disadvantage.
- Make sure your picture looks good. I
mean, not a photo of you at a black tie event or on vacation. Ask your friend
or a photographer to take a good photo of yourself in a shirt or blouse and
jacket.
Skills,
Expertise and Interests
- If you don’t have that much work
experience yet focus on these parts on your profile.
- Add your language skills
- Add the certifications you’ve added
up (not the “2010 Pro Freshman at beer drinking”)
- Write about the positions of
responsibility you’ve had
Contact information
- Write your name in the name slot and
nothing else. If you are known everywhere by your nickname then you can put it
after your real first name.
- Nothing says, “I’m a LinkedIn rookie”
with a profile url like this: http://linkedin.com/pub/firstname-lastname435564-hjfjrigjhot.
Clean it up by deleting the extra numbers and letters. Tip: You should also
include this link in your email signature, business cards and any other
material that you hand out to potential employers.
- Personalize your website under
contact info or add an internet portfolio / your professional Twitter account
or blog. If you have a reference list that you can use, you can add it after
your summary or to the exact employment position as a attached document
Join groups
- That are relevant: the industry
where you are looking for a work (for example: TEKrekry), local groups (for
example your schools recruitment groups) and groups that share your interests.
Good luck!
//Aini Leppäkorpi
Recruiter
Studentwork
