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Create a great 100% Profile
Creating a LinkedIn Profile is easy, however to maximise its effectiveness, there are few things to bear in mind:
1. Use the information from your CV and cut and paste to get going quickly. Then go back and review / edit each section appropriately.
2. Try to complete every section as 100% completion of your profile, according to figures provided by LinkedIn, means that you are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities.
3. Use a Word document as the template for all the copy within your profile. This way, it is easier to track changes, count characters and ensure the spelling is correct using spell check. It also ensures that you have a copy if anything untoward should happen during your input process.
4. Ensure the text within your profile is keyword rich i.e. think of which words a potential employer might use to search and ensure these words are frequently included in all sections of your profile - however, don't make the copy hard to read by overdoing this.
Below you will find some tips on each section of creating a LinkedIn Profile:
Name - Use only your first name, (or the name most people know you by) and your last name (inc. maiden name too). Do not put any other information in this section especially a recent trend of putting an email address here.
Headline - A headline is NOT a job title. Think of it as a description of who you are professionally e.g. 'Experienced IT professional with specialisation in the MultiValue arena". (NB: There is a 125 characters limitation on this field including spaces).
Picture - A simple close-up headshot. This should portray you as professional and approachable (try to smile) rather than a casual Facebook type picture. A picture is important for 2 reasons. Firstly it allows people to recognise you and the secondly as a picture helps towards 100% completion.
Employment - Ensure you add all employers even if some have only a 1 line description because:
Education - This information is important for the same reasons as employment in that it: * Assists old friends finding and connecting with you * Contributes to 100% completion
Public url - The default on this is a series of numbers. Change this to your name or something which describes you e.g. http://www.linkedin.com/in/ukdeveloper or http://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe
Websites - This is an opportunity not to miss. The maximum number you can list is 3. You could use a personal website or even your current employer's website.
Twitter - If you use Twitter for more than talking about beer and sandwiches then this is a good idea to put this in.
Summary - Remember to make this keyword rich as this is one of the searchable areas. Also you can include how to get in touch with you e.g. an email address.
Interests - Ensure these are sensible and interesting hobbies and avoid controversial subjects.
Contact details - State clearly who you wish to hear from and how they can get in touch with you (email, telephone number etc). This should be in your summary and your contact settings and possibly in your headline (if there's space).
Recommendations
- This is storage for professional references. Don't just do swapsies or collect references for the sake of it as they then become meaningless. For
100% completion you should aim to display at least 3 on your profile. If possible go for:
- 1 from work colleague,
- 1 from boss,
- 1 from customer/supplier.
Think of Testimonials as "open-style references" which can help when getting to reference stage for jobs. Also it helps you keep track of where your
referees go so keeping the references available. Another reason for having testimonials is that it makes your profile visible on their Profile too.