What is the most common mistake made by professionals while developing their LinkedIn profile? It is the assumption that a LinkedIn profile is an online Resume. Let me burst your bubble!
With my over 3 decades of experience, having guided over 10,000 candidates and personally coached 3000+ job aspirants, I know that a powerful LinkedIn profile helps you in your job search. Your LinkedIn profile is not your Resume. It is branding platform which you can use to develop a network and build your online presence. And importantly, during these covid times, companies will have their internal recruiting teams aggressively source potential candidates through LinkedIn and it remains one of the most preferred platforms for them to search for talent (as per US news, 90 percent recruiters use LinkedIn to source talent).
To make best use of one of the most critical time of your professional career, am giving you 5 tips to improve your LinkedIn profile:
1] The HEADLINE:
It is one of the most important elements of a LinkedIn profile. It is visible just below your name when a reader is viewing multiple profiles. It’s like the title of a book which plays an important role in the sales of the book.
Most professionals lose out on this opportunity to attract the reader’s attention by using commonly used headlines like their designation or number of years of experience. Or at times, it is mentioned that they are seeking job opportunities which is not at all advisable. Because somewhere by way of perception, it gives an impression that an individual is desperate and has been trying to search for long. And let us remember, managing perceptions is an important part of a job seeker’s strategy.
You need to keep your target audience in mind and then accordingly write a headline. When you use a combination of what you can do for the target reader and your area of expertise it communicates the value that you get to the table.
2] Summary:
Here again the most common mistake is that it is simply a statement of facts like years of experience, domain skills and some achievements.
Remember, this is one of the most read parts of a professional’s profile. So you need to really craft out content which brings out the human element in you. What is your individual unique strength, what is your passion and how have you delivered outstanding results with measurable outcomes.
Again keeping the target audience in mind, communicate what you can do for them. Also important to include what people think or say about you. A third party endorsement is always more credible. In terms of the description, my personal preference is to write it as the first person.
3] Core skills:
These you need to select thoughtfully because these are elements which build your brand presence. You need to include those core skills which you can demonstrate with achievements. These will also be endorsed by your network as they see you delivering value and that too contributes to your brand presence.
4] Recommendations:
These are important because they tell the reader what people think of you. So get your recommendations across different aspects of your personality from ex bosses, clients, colleagues and teams. Depending upon who can recommend you for what aspect, request accordingly for recommendation pertaining to those skills.
5] Dynamic display tools:
Presentation, videos, certificates, media coverage. Select appropriate ones which backup your skills and expertise. These contribute to make your profile holistic.
Keep these 5 critical points in mind and once your LinkedIn profile is ready, make active use of your profile, by networking, putting up interesting posts, articles and adding value to fellow professionals and you will see your brand presence soar.
P.S:- As a value add, am offering you FREE my E BOOK on Networking through LinkedIn. In case you would like to receive it, please send a DM on my LinkedIn profile (35,000 + followers), Instagram (69,000 followers), Facebook (1,77,000 followers).
In case it interests you to avail of our professional writing service which includes resume writing and LinkedIn profile writing, you can send me a DM on my LinkedIn profile (35,000 + followers), Instagram (69,000 followers), Facebook (1,77,000 followers) and our team will be happy to reach out to you.
Best wishes!!
Sarabjeet Sachar
Founder & CEO, Aspiration,
Experienced Career Coach