LinkedIn is a social network for searching and establishing professional contacts, which helps find a job, hire employees and meet interesting people. Despite LinkedIn being blocked in Russia officially, professionals and companies widely use this instrument with VPN services.
You can set your page on LinkedIn according to your professional desires. For example, meet new friends from PR, find a job in IT or hire a good manager for the team. The profile must work for you, to be effective.
9 steps to create an effective profile on LinkedIn
1) Add a professional headshot
Leaving your profile picture blank is a huge missed opportunity. People on social media are more interested in pages with photos because the photo makes the first impression and attracts others. What is a good headshot for LinkedIn?
Criteria of a good photo:
- High quality (appropriate image size, not blurry)
- Recently taken (don’t add a photo from your school days, it should resemble you in present time)
- The face takes 60% of an image and looking forward (the full-body photo is not appropriate)
- Calm and friendly face (try to win new people over)
You can also add a background image that catches people’s attention and sets you apart from the rest. For example, you can put the New York skyline to reflect your love for big business cities.
2) Create a Personalized URL
You can share a link to your LinkedIn profile by email, at meetings, etc., and thus make long-term, useful connections. Therefore, the link must be neat and easily remembered. However, when you create a profile, the default URL has your name with some combination of numbers. Keep only your professional name.
To change your URL, do the following:
- Log into your account
- Along the right side of the page, click on “edit your public URL”
- Click edit
- Delete numbers and leave only name and surname
3) Create an eye-catching headline
The headline section is the first thing other users read about you. It has two goals:
- To showcase your professional experience and expertise. That is, the headline answers the questions, “who are you?” and “how can you be useful?”
- To attract attention. It answers the question, “why you?”
If you mention your speciality in the headline, it will be easier for a recruiter to find you on LinkedIn and offer a suitable position. You can also add the company name you work for and your professional achievements.
For example, the event manager at agency X has arranged 10+ successful events for an audience of 11,000 people and, as a result, attracted 5,000 new subscribers on the social media accounts.
Using a special function, you can specify whether you are open to searching for employees or a new job.
4) Fill in the Summary section
We advise everyone to fill in this section. Recruiters look through the LinkedIn profile only for a few seconds, and this is the section where you can tell who you are and which experience and career plan you have. The summary puts together your knowledge, experience and skills.
The summary consists of 1-2 paragraphs, so use a bullet list. Here’s what you can mention:
- Speciality and work experience
- Significant skills (both hard skills as Java programming and soft skills as the ability to create effective teams)
- Professional accomplishments (e.g., if thanks to you, the company has increased sales by 10%, mention it in your profile)
- Mission statement and further career perspectives
- The position you are applying for (if your goal is to find a job)
5) Write the Experience Section
This section is your online resume, so you should mention:
- Employment
- Positions
- Accomplishments
Do not include your entire work history: mention only those positions and experiences relevant to your further career development.
For example, if you want to develop in the UX/UI design, do not write that when you were 19 you worked as a camp counselor.
Next to each position, write down the results you achieved and why you were valuable to the company. Focus on your accomplishments, use active verbs and results in numbers.
For example, I set up targeted ads on Instagram and increased the follower count from 70 to 130.
Accomplishments can be made both with 2-3 sentences or using a bullet list. Also, do not forget to add keywords, so that recruiters can seek you out.
6) Fill in the Skills section
Here you can add your professional skills, for example, digital marketing, management, entrepreneurship, Python programming, etc. Your former or current colleagues must confirm your skills. Therefore, contact your friends and ask them for a recommendation.
You can also take online tests from LinkedIn skill assessments and get the confirmed skills sign, which will appear on your profile.
7) Request recommendations from your colleagues
The recommendations section is not the same as the skills. Your colleagues/teachers/business partners can write about your career successes and accomplishments in the recommendations. This section is core for recruiters, as they want to know that other people approve of your work.
To do this, ask people with who you’ve developed good working relationships and ask them to write recommendations. Do this for them as well.
8) Start making connections
In LinkedIn, having a lot of connections helps keep you visible to others, so you need to develop a wide and robust network. First, connect with people you know personally, and then search for new ones.
When you connect with individuals you haven’t met, send a note with your request explaining who you are and why you’d like to connect with them. Also, we recommend connecting with recruiters from the companies you are interested in, and this way, you will always receive information about open vacancies and apply immediately.
9) Keep your page active
To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to remain active. Check out what friends, companies and people are posting, add comments, engage in discussions, share interesting posts on your page and join groups (marketing, IT, etc.)
We also advise you to share your certificates on your profile after completing various courses (for example, on LinkedIn Learning). So, you will show your love for learning and self-improvement.
And last but not least, do not forget to update your LinkedIn Profile occasionally. Add new skills and accomplishments and remove irrelevant experience.
