Online Profiles: 10 Ways To Improve Yours
How to Use LinkedIn for Business and Personal Growth
Marie Raperto, The Hiring Hub
Online profiles play a very important role in your job search. Profiles can help recruiters find you and, if a hiring manager is interested in your resume, they will check you online. Of all the online sites, LinkedIn is probably the most important site. Take the time to review your profile and make the following changes:
Your headline. On LinkedIn, your headline defaults to your current role at your current company. The headline option gives you 120 characters to share more information about yourself. Since this is the first thing viewers will see about you, make sure it makes you stand out from the crowd.
Keep SEO in mind. If someone is searching, they would use keywords. Make sure your keywords are up-to-date and industry standard. You can incorporate the keywords in your summary paragraph, as a separate list or within your resume. Also, consider eliminating keywords from earlier positions if they are no longer viable. You could have done fashion in your first job and now are in healthcare.
Current responsibilities. Always make sure your current position is up-to-date with your title, location and duties. After your headline, it's where recruiters will look.
Update your groups. Most users don't sign up for groups or sign up for as many as possible. Take the time to look at the groups and sign up for new ones and clean out the old ones. If a group has not been helpful, it's time to find ones that will be.
Use LinkedIn. To get the most out of this site, you have to use it. Start posting, commenting and sharing. By doing this, you will make sure your profile is shared and you can reach many more people.
Recommendations & endorsement. Review these and see if they are relevant. Recommendations from years ago and endorsements of skills you no longer do, should be deleted. It may be time to ask for new ones.
Your LinkedIn URL. It surprises me that so many people have not done this. Just click on profile, then edit profile, click edit under your photo. Try to make your URL consistent with your email.
Start following. Using LinkedIn to keep up with people in your industry and people you want to know is important. It will show recruiters that you are following trends in the field.
Connect with your team. Keeping up with your co-workers is important. If you work in a large organization, following the movers and shakers is a good move.
Your photo. This photo needs to show your corporate image. On LinkedIn, your photo is part of your brand.
