Updating Your LinkedIn Profile
The large majority of people don’t update their LinkedIn very often and don’t take advantage of all that the profile can do for you. It’s understandable, we’re all busy and being pulled in 100 different directions, but it’s still important and can help you in your future job searches in unexpected ways. LinkedIn actually published a great blog post on all of the ways to best utilize your profile, but it’s mostly geared towards those in sales. Worth the read if you have a few extra minutes. In this blog post, I’ll be focusing on the average person and the best ways to get noticed and why it’s important now, not just for your future self.
Building a network of like-minded professionals in your industry is invaluable. They can support you through transitions in your career, offer advice for situations you’ve not yet faced, provide resources that will make your job easier- the list goes on. However, they can also help if you unexpectedly find yourself looking for a new job by introducing you to the hiring manager at their company and providing job leads that haven’t yet been posted. If you haven’t yet, take the time to build your network, it is crucial.
Recent research shows that the faster you can get your resume or application in front of a hiring manager the better chance you have of getting that job. Using your LinkedIn network to help you do that is a perfect strategy.
When building your network or applying for jobs, you need to put your best self forward. So, let’s talk about how you do that.
Choose a picture that is professional and flattering. You can always hire someone to do this, or you can get a friend, colleague or family member to take it. Natural light is the best with a simple background. Stand near a window to get the best lighting and if you don’t have a simple background, use the portrait mode on your phone to blur it out.
Have a background photo. You don’t get many options for visuals on your profile, so don’t skip this one. It can tell others a lot about you, so keep it professional.
Make sure you’ve included all of your recent and relevant jobs. Go crazy when you’re adding what you’ve done in those jobs. The great thing about LinkedIn is that there is no page limit so everything you wanted to add to your resume but couldn’t fit can go here. You can always direct hiring managers to it when you interview with them or in your email correspondences.
List all of your relevant skills in the skills section. This is so quick and easy to do and shows others what you are good at without too much effort on your part…win!
Get endorsements and recommendations. It’s one thing to tell other’s how good you are at something, it’s a completely different thing to have someone else recommend or endorse you. It goes a long way to showcasing your expertise and paints a picture for hiring managers of what you are capable of.
Utilize your summary (bonus if you can tell a story about why you do what you love or how you’ve done something really well). This section often gets left blank or is only used to highlight skills, which only sells you short on showing others what you are capable of.
Take a skills assessment. This online assessment allows you to show how skilled you are in various areas. This is a major win to show future employers what you are good at because they can verify it so easily.
Take a few minutes once a month to update your profile with your current work projects and responsibilities. This will make it so much easier when you need to update your resume down the road.
As always, I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you are looking for more information, please visit my website- Higher & Hire. If I can be of assistance to you, please reach out to me here.
Many Thanks!
Valerie Palmer
