In simple words, LinkedIn optimization is making your LinkedIn profile so strong that when a recruiter searches for job applicants related to your target profile, your profile appears in the ivy-league of top applicants. And if you think just signing up on LinkedIn and putting a profile picture is enough to get found on LinkedIn… think again!
You won’t get found on LinkedIn if your profile sections are empty or incomplete.
Read on to learn the top ways of optimizing your profile on LinkedIn:
1. Optimizing the Profile URL: As they say, “First things first”, start off with optimizing your LinkedIn profile URL. Click on the ‘Edit public profile & URL’ option given on the top right side of your profile. Click on the ‘Edit your custom URL’ option on the page you’re redirected to, then go on to customize your LinkedIn profile URL.
After www.linkedin.com/in/ write your name and see if you can get the URL of your name. For example: www.linkedin.com/in/enrique-iglesias. In case it’s already taken, then you can try to customize it further to optimize it. For example: www.linkedin.com/in/enrique-iglesias-123.
Another great way to do this would be to add your job title or location next to your name.
Example:
- www.linkedin.com/in/enrique-iglesias-singer-and-songwriter
- www.linkedin.com/in/enrique-iglesias-washington-usa
2. Optimizing the background picture: Next in line is the background picture. You should not take the background picture lightly as it plays a big part in optimizing the LinkedIn profile. Do not put any random picture with stars and animals as your background picture. It’s a strict no-no. Make sure your background picture has keywords related to your target profile.
For example: If you are a business development professional then include keywords like Strategic Planning, P&L Management, Organizational Leadership, etc. in your background picture. Such keywords in your background picture will help you get found on LinkedIn. To get a better understanding of how to make the background picture, look at the example given below.
3. Optimizing the profile picture: Next is the profile picture. As LinkedIn is a social platform for professionals, it is best to keep it professional. In other words, try to keep it simple. Do not put a profile picture of you in informal clothing. Instead, go for a portrait picture that shows your face.
4. Optimizing your profile headline section: An optimized LinkedIn profile headline is key to attracting recruiters.
In the headline section of your LinkedIn profile, write 5 to 6 skills which you’re adept at and which are most closely related to your target profile. Use a separator to write these skills.
For example: Product Ideation | Product Analysis | Requirement Gathering, and so on. Doing this will help a recruiter identify your core functional areas in one go.
5. Optimizing the Summary: The summary section is where you can provide the maximum information related to your professional skills and achievements. And if used wisely, this section will definitely help you get discovered on LinkedIn. In order to optimize this section, you’d need to make 5 sub-sections within this section, namely:
- About
- Career Highlights
- Key Certifications
- Areas of Expertise
- Technical Skills.
In the About sub-section, write 3 to 4 one-liner points with the first line describing the total number of years of experience which you have and the rest of the lines explaining all the job duties and responsibilities you’re adept at carrying out.
In the Career Highlights sub-section, write 2 to 3 one-liner points about any major projects which you executed or any major awards which you got for the same.
Then in the Key Certifications sub-section, write all the certifications you have successfully completed.
Next in line is the areas of expertise sub-section. In this subsection, write your core skills such as ‘Business Analysis & Strategy’, ‘Stakeholder Management’, etc. While you do this, make sure that you don’t unnecessarily stuff this space with irrelevant soft skills such as ‘Good Communication’ or ‘Team Work’.
Then comes the final sub-section, which is the Technical Skills sub-section. In this sub – section write all the technical skills that you’re proficient in. For example: MS Visio, MS Project, Python, etc.
6. Optimizing the Experience Section: In order to optimize your experience section, after filling up all the boxes of the experience section, make 3 subsections within the description section. These sub-sections would be 1) Achievements, 2) Functions, and 3)Deliverables.
In the Achievements sub-section write 2 to 3 quantifiable points containing numbers around your achievements. This could be the number of dealers, teams or departments you liaised with, etc.
In the Functions sub-section, write the broad level skills which you used while working in a particular organization. For example: Process Re-engineering & Modelling, Enterprise Business Solutions, User Engagement, etc.
In the Deliverables sub-section, write 2 to 3 non-quantifiable points which don’t have numbers but convey some of the major works which you did.
7. Optimizing the Skills Section: The skills section surely plays a major role when recruiters are searching for the ideal candidate. In the skills section, ensure you include all your Key Skills and Technical Skills which you’ve mentioned in the summary section above.
8. Optimizing the Endorsements Section: People often go about endorsing someone else in exchange of an endorsement. Do not endorse someone else as a favor of them endorsing you until 3 months. LinkedIn is smart enough to detect this exchange of planned endorsements and your endorsements won’t bring as much impact as you’d want them to.
9. Optimizing your Connections: To do this, expand your connections on LinkedIn and make sure that you engage with them consistently. Doing this will broaden your professional network and incredibly come to your aid when you’re on the lookout for a new job.
10. Optimizing the Interests Section: Do not forget to optimize your interests’ section. The interest section will help recruiters identify your interests outside of your chosen field. Moreover, your LinkedIn feed will be optimized according to the interests you put in this section. Our advice? use this section wisely!
Conclusion:
According to Jobscan, 87% of recruiters find candidates for jobs on LinkedIn. So, use the above given tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile and get the job of your choice.
Apart from the above-mentioned sections, don’t forget to optimize other important sections such as Education, Licenses & Certifications, Volunteer Experience, Publications, Patents, Courses, Projects, Honors & Awards, Test Scores, Languages and Organizations.
Click on the ‘Add profile section’ option given at the top of your profile and from the drop-down menu, select each of the given sections to optimize them.
This brings us to the end of this article. Follow the guidelines we have laid out in this article to optimize each section of your LinkedIn Profile!
Author: Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder, Hiration, Inc.
