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LinkedIn Profile: Time to Refresh

Just like you need a thorough top-to-bottom house cleaning once a year for your home, you should have a yearly review of your LinkedIn profile. If you haven’t done this recently, now is a great time for this – there will be no “summer slowdown” on hiring this year.

Let’s do a refresher on the basics: 

  • Build out your profile. Follow all the steps for a 100% complete profile. If you’re actively looking for new opportunities, upgrade to Premium. No, we aren’t getting a kickback here — but LinkedIn isn’t a nonprofit, and upgrading to the paid account will give you much higher visibility. It’s a pay to play world.
  • The summary is your most important section. This is where you get to tell your story. Consider it your “elevator pitch” that showcases your overall experience and gives a stranger a little sense of your professional self, as well as a little bit of your personality. Use it wisely. A full sentence like, “I’m an experienced communications and marketing professional based in the Pacific Northwest, with 15+ years of  experience in nonprofits and government agencies, and am passionate about telling
  • Choose your headshot. Nothing too casual (skip the day at the beach pic) and nothing too grim-faced. The best way to judge what photo captures you, looking professional and approachable? Ask a friend.
  • Elaborate on your current role in the description. This is your most recent/current work, so really expand on what you do. Include any metrics you can, such as budget your responsible for, number of direct reports, revenue goals met, etc. Numbers talk. 
  • Add more keywords. It’s all about the search engine — can recruiters and employers find you when they are looking for specific skills? Don’t just use acronyms or abbreviations – if you are the VP of HR, include “Vice President” and “Human Resources.” Even if your company calls it “People Operations” or “Human Capital Management” or “Employee Experience” or “Talent Acquisition.” Give the search engines multiple paths to find you.

If you’ve done all that, what else is to be done?

  • Connect, connect, connect. The best thing you can do to keep current is to update your connections. You have undoubtedly connected with new professional faces since you last updated this. The most powerful force of LinkedIn is YOUR network. Think of recent co-workers, business partners, even neighbors and social connections. 
  • Engage, engage, engage. It’s not all about you. Time to scroll through your newsfeed and interact with others. “Like” their posts, comment on their shared articles, and congratulate them on new roles. You are feeding the ever-hungry algorithm, and it will boost your own profile. 
  • Special advice for developers: If you want to increase visibility, go to GitHub. Share some projects – there is no better way to show off your skills. For your LinkedIn profile, it isn’t enough to say “Java developer”. Expand on this, and talk about your projects and what you enjoy about your role.

A robust LinkedIn profile is a huge help for recruiters and talent consultants, and can really accelerate the process. There has never been a better time to be a qualified candidate seeking a new opportunity. LinkedIn is a tool that needs to be kept current and reflecting your best professional self to keep you ahead of the pack. 

Looking for a new role? Questions on how you can improve your profile to attract top employers? Give us a call and talk to one of our talent consultants today at 206.295.7141

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