LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site where millions of professionals connect. This platform provides the largest opportunity to market yourself and expand your personal network. Your LinkedIn profile provides a visible, online resume that your contacts, including potential employers, can view. This is perhaps the most obvious job hunting site for the professionals. A precise LinkedIn profile can improve your visibility, develop your overall Web presence and fortify your professional trademark. Think it as your online resume which contains all of the information from your resume plus a strong dash of individuality. Using LinkedIn tactically can help provide you an circumference greater than your competition.Here are 11 exquisite LinkedIn tips for job seekers out there to improve your professional experiences:
1. Complete Your Profile & Make It Splendid
Give enough time to create your LinekdIn profile completely. The more your profile is ready, the more it will be viewed by the recruiters. So completeness is important from this point of view. Simply think of what a recruiter wants to see in your profile? Definitely he/she wants to know about what you’re are good at, what are your skills all about, where you’ve worked and what people think of you. So don’t be lazy to put all these information in your profile. Besides LinkedIn will measure the completeness of your profile and offer suggestion to the recruiters.
2. Keyword Strategy
The functionality of LinkedIn’s search system works in a way that makes it easy to find people by their name, skills and any other words that appear in their profile. So organizing your profile with some keywords related to your qualification, skill, education, interest will make it easier for the recruiters to find you. Ask yourself, “What words would someone search for to find me?” Then from the answers make a list of terms associated with your skills and experiences. You may not be acquainted with the term Search engine optimization. But here’s a useful mini lesson for you. Put all those terms along with their synonym’s in your profile. By doing this you will enable your profile to be found by the recruiter searching with any associated key words.
3. Choose the Profile Photo Carefully
Take a look around at what the people in your target company, industry sector, or business level are wearing. Find a similar photo of yours which is clear, friendly, appropriately professional and then upload it. According to social media expert Nicole Williams “A photo can go a long way to convey passion, energy, charisma, empathy, and other soft skills that are hard to write about.”
4. Write a Good Headline
Use the space of headline carefully as your showcase, value propositions. It doesn’t have to be your job title or position. Instead you can use that space to keep you apart from your other competitors. The more specific you can be about what sets you apart from the competition, the better.
5. Use Job Descriptions Wisely
Use a word cloud tool like Wordle to find out what words are the recruiters looking for in your expected job field. Then put those words spread through your profile specially in the summary and experience sector.
6. Show Your Achievements
Put all your achievement regardless of big or small in your profile. Recruiters wants the highly skilled person as their employee and they always look for them through their achievements. For this make sure to include all your experiences, achievements in your summary and it will surely increase your chances to be get contacted by the recruiters. Add your company websites, projects you’ve worked on, articles you’ve drafted, or anything else that can provide a more multimedia look at your work. Adding profile features like volunteer experience, language etc. will also boost your profile.
7. Request One LinkedIn Recommendation a Month
Get at least a recommendation per month will help you LinkedIN. When someone says ‘You did a great job’, be brave enough to request them to recommend you on LinkedIn. Getting a recommendation like ‘”X”s worked fabulously on that project. His/her work helped us to get our work done before the time schedule in less cost’ will surely strengthen up your profile. LinkedIn expert Nicole Williams said ‘’ Approach different people and suggest particular skills or experiences you would like them to highlight.”
8. Update Your Status and Connection
You can update your status in LinkedIn like Facebook and update professionally and strategically. Your entire network will see your updates, both in their news feeds and in the weekly LinkedIn network update emails they receive. Share you recent articles or work. Connection with the people is also important. You really should have at least 50-100 people with whom you’re connected as a starting point. Having 50 or fewer connections on LinkedIn may tell the recruiter that either you are afraid to connect with people or you are scared to join the social networks.
9. Be Visible
Don’t forget to mention your email and website address, Facebook and Twitter ID, blog links and all available contact information about you in the information section of your resume. Surprisingly, many people leave them blank. Don’t do that.
10. Add LinkedIn Badges to Your Websites
A LinkedIn badge is a small illustration that is linked to your LinkedIn profile. You can use it in your email signatures, website, other social networking sites or any online profiles you maintain. To do this click on Profile and then Edit Profile. Now click on Edit. You’ll see Profile Badges in the right side of the navigation column. Beneath that, click the link and create a profile badge.
11. Show Your Passion
Make sure your LinkedIn profile shows your passion and eagerness. Join and participate in groups related to your field of expertise. Use your status to broadcast things you’re doing associated to your field. Share motivating articles or information. Join with the leaders in your industry. Keep in mind that at the end of the day recruiters will always look for people who love what they do.