How to Make your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out to Recruiters

Many job seekers understand the benefits of using LinkedIn to showcase their professional skills, experience, and education. However, it's common for users to neglect their profiles, making their online presence a poor representation of a candidate's skills and experiences. It's easy to lump LinkedIn with traditional social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but the truth is, recruiting and hiring managers are actively using LinkedIn to find candidates and make placements. A 2020 Forbes report revealed that 95% of recruiters are using LinkedIn to look for job candidates. If your LinkedIn profile fails to impress, you could miss out on some great opportunities. It’s never too late to take steps to improve your LinkedIn profile to help you stand out to recruiters.

Use a Professional Profile Picture

For recruiters, your profile picture is often a first impression of your professionalism and personality. While you don't need a picture taken by a professional photographer, you need one that portrays you in a professional light. LinkedIn members with a profile photo gain, on average, 21 times more profile views, and up to 9 times more connection requests than members that don't.When preparing to post your profile picture, follow these tips for the best photo.

• Dress professionally. Business attire in your photograph will highlight your professionalism and can show your personality in an appropriate fashion.. If you're unsure what that looks like in your job field, browse profiles of individuals in the similar roles to ones you're hoping to get.
• Lighting is important. A dimly lit photo looks outdated and is easy to overlook because it fails to give an approachable representation of you. Ensure you have good lighting when taking a picture, whether indoor or outdoor.
• Smile: A warm smile makes everyone more approachable!
• Consider a new background. Behind every LinkedIn photo, is a default blue background on your profile. However, the background can be changed and can help you stand out and show your personality. The desktop size is 1584 x 336 pixels, but 1,000 X 120 pixels can help avoid getting your image cropped on mobile views.
• Use a current photo. Use a recent photo that represents you the same as you do looking face to face.

Spotlight Your Skills

Profiles with five or more relevant skills get viewed an average of 27 times more by recruiters. If you're unsure about the areas you excel in, ask friends, family members, and colleagues for advice. LinkedIn's Skills Assessment tool can also help you boost your skills section. This tool helps you demonstrate your knowledge of the skills you've added to your profile, by completing assessments related to those skills. The LinkedIn search engine works like typical search engines in that it relies on keywords and search terms to give you relevant listings on the platform. However, not all sections are created equal when it comes to using keywords on LinkedIn. A little-known secret about the platform: words on your "Skills Section" serve as search terms and keywords. It won't matter if you included them anywhere else on your profile if they don't appear in the skills section.

Make Sure Your Profile is Complete

A profile that is incomplete makes your interest in finding a new position appear half-hearted. Yet, an unfinished profile is a common mistake on the platform. Consider your LinkedIn profile as your current resume. You wouldn't leave sections blank if you were expected to walk into a job interview. By completing all sections of your profile, it's easier for recruiters to find you with search terms that make your relevant experience stand out from the crowd. Even if a recruiter considers your partially filled-out profile, they're more likely to move on to the next candidate than reach out to you to ask for more information you could have already supplied.

Tap Into Your Network

While LinkedIn isn't a social platform for typical socializing, it does allow you to make business connections. LinkedIn connections help you develop a network that gives you information about positions you might not find on your own. Networking with other professionals in your field makes your name recognizable in your industry. Interactions and connections can lead to referrals or secondary relationships that can help you advance your career.

Pay Close Attention to Your Headline and Summary

On the LinkedIn search results page, users can see your profile picture and your headline. Consider how you can make them both stand out. By default, LinkedIn lists your current job title as your headline. This means your headline could be exactly the same as most of your competitors. When you consider your headline an opportunity to market yourself to the world, be sure to make it eye-catching to a recruiter or hiring manager. Your title can include roles you want to hold and the industry you want to work in, as well as skills that you want to showcase to recruiters. While your summary doesn't show on the SERP, it offers vital information about your professional experience. It's recommended that the "Summary" section include several paragraphs that include information about your history, education, and experience. Use bullets to highlight your skills and other experiences you want to showcase.

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For many job seekers, LinkedIn is an important part of getting your name out to recruiters in your industry. The platform can act as your way into new employment opportunities. Alongside your updated LinkedIn profile, there are other ways to gain the attention of hiring managers in top-performing companies, such as working with a recruiting agency. Career Group Companies is one of the nation’s leading recruiting firms. We help top talent find their perfect career matches with leading companies across all industries. Get in touch with our recruitment team to learn more and start your journey.