In a day and age where technology is rampant and options are in abundance for job seekers, agency recruiters and employers expand and source candidates through various methods.

One method we use constantly to source top talent is LinkedIn.

So the question is, do you want your next job to come to you? And if so, how are you making your online profile more attractive and visible to the recruiter’s eye?

LinkedIn is a place where you can showcase your skills and experiences, your successes and best assets. Combine this with your networking and job hunting efforts and you are on your way to achieving your personal goals, or at the very least, being more noticeable to potential opportunities.

In this post, we share a few tips that our recruiters have picked up, that will help you take a step forward in the LinkedIn community and will help us find talent like yourself.

Update your LinkedIn, silently

If you have LinkedIn already with connections, it’s a good idea to turn off the alert settings before going on a LinkedIn revival/clean-up. This will ensure that the old job title you’re updating from 2010 isn’t displayed to your connections as a new job you’ve recently got.

Click on yourself at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy. Select the privacy tab at the top of the page and under profile privacy, select ‘change’ next to sharing profile edits. Switch the toggle to disable notifying your network when you change your profile, make recommendations or follow companies.

Personalise your LinkedIn URL

You can customise your public URL to include a variation of your name or personal brand. This can be completed by viewing your profile, clicking ‘Edit public profile & URL’ on the top right, and then selecting the pencil icon to edit your profile URL (again on the top right). It can be something similar to www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. Type the last part into your new custom URL and click save.

Professional photo required

This should reflect your professional presence; it should be relevant (i.e. not from 10 years ago), be simple and clear (no distracting backgrounds or other objects) and could reflect yourself in the workplace. This doesn’t need to be taken at a photo shop or by a professional, a portrait photo taken with a mobile phone has great quality.

Brand your Profile with a Background Photo

This adds a personal touch to your profile; it shows your personality and highlights your brand, for example: company logo’s, inspiring photos, something that represents you or the industry you are in. Simply click on your profile and the banner at the top to change your picture.

Headline

Listed under your name, your headline should be catchy and add benefit to an employer. What is your Unique Value Proposition or your “so what”? How can you improve business? Are you seeking new opportunities or relocating overseas? Tip – don’t list your position title, this is too generic. You can also separate your phrases, for example: Speaker | Trainer | Author or Sales enthusiast, strategist, and all-round great talker.

Summary

This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and for recruiters/employers to gain a real insight into who you are as a person. When we search for candidates, keywords in your summary are picked up by the search engine so include words that reflect your industry, experience, skills and where your values or passion lies. This can be informal or formal and should reflect yourself as a person. Try to avoid the buzzwords!

Experience

In the experience section, list your position title, company you worked for and specific dates you worked with them. You can then provide a description of your experience, use details and specifics of figures and achievements. Again, see what relevant keywords are in your industry and use them – this can boost your visibility and credibility.

Tip on visual content: if you have projects, videos, presentations or images, this will help you to stand out, and make your LinkedIn pop.

Education & Accomplishments

Be specific with your work experience, education and volunteering efforts; the more detailed the better.

Featured Skills & Endorsements

A recruiter could look you up by what skills you possess, so listing relevant areas of expertise is essential in highlighting strengths you can bring to an employer. Connections can also endorse certain skills, and you can encourage them by endorsing their skills in return.

Tip: The skills you are best known for rise to the top of the list; so for skills that aren’t as highly endorsed, you can re-order them in the profile by editing and dragging them to the top of the list (use the lines to the right hand side to drag) –  these skills will then be shown more regularly to your connections and will therefore have more chance of being endorsed.

Be Active!

The groups you follow will be shown in your news feed, this is where you can share and participate in discussions in a specific industry or area of interest. Being actively involved in groups can see you gain information and connections and the activity will actually mean your profile is likely to be viewed higher than those who are inactive.

For more tips, click here to see LinkedIn’s infographic on building a powerful profile.

Happy Networking!