Have you ever wondered why you are receiving irrelevant Linkedin connection requests or those annoying in-mail messages about roles that you are overqualified for? The wrong people are finding you and that can be incredibly frustrating.
The most common explanation could be that your Linkedin profile is not optimized properly! By having a mysterious profile that is not fully optimized, you are limiting yourself and the power of the Linkedin network.
At a bare minimum, you should offer some clues to prospective visitors about your skill set, industry knowledge, and career aspirations so that the right people find you. Those people can offer opportunities that will open new doors that you wouldn’t have gotten before.
After 9+ years of recruiting at New York’s largest recruiting firms, I can confidently say that those who get the most visibility on their Linkedin profile, receive the most opportunities. We are going to share with you our Top 5 tips to instantly optimize your Linkedin profile so that the best opportunities find you.
Cherrypicker’s Top 5 Linkedin profile optimization tips:
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Add a profile picture of you smiling and dressed appropriately.
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The first impression is everything. Your face is the first thing people see in the search results and when they visit your page.
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Smile in your profile picture – everyone wants to connect with someone who looks friendly and confident.
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If you are in an industry that requires you to wear a suit all the time, wear the suit in the picture. If you are in the startup world, business casual is appropriate.
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Make sure the picture is clear and not a pixelated selfie. Have a friend take it for you or get a professional headshot taken – it’s worth the investment.
2. Avoid using vague job titles, clearly describe what you do below the job title.
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Associate Vice President II means nothing except to your HR department. Use a common term or job function combined with seniority level in the job title – such as AVP of Accounting or Senior Accountant.
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Below the job title, make sure you include a short description of 1-3 bullet points that include which in-demand software tools you use (e.g. Deltek, Quickbooks, Yardi, Salesforce, SAP etc), industry expertise, and key responsibilities. Think of it as a mini-resume or career snapshot.
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Remove all jobs or internships you held during college unless that is your only relevant career experience.
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Include both months and years of employment. A gap in employment will show up on a background check anyway – it’s better to be truthful upfront if anyone asks. By excluding the months is an immediate red flag for hiring managers and leaves the door open to many more questions. You can indicate if the company dissolved or was acquired otherwise leave blank and be prepared to talk about what happened.
3. Utilize the headline space – this is precious real estate to tell everyone what you are great at.
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Be creative but also be clear about what you do to provide value for others. For example, here is the one I use: “Accounting & Finance Recruiting Expert | HR Tech Startup Founder at Cherrypicker”
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This short blurb will appear next to your smiling picture, company name, and job title on the search results.
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Instead of just repeating your job title and company name, “Senior Accountant at XYZ Marketing Company,” change it to “Experienced Accountant within the Marketing industry.”
4. Join groups within your niche or interests.
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Hiring managers can message you for free if you belong to the same group as them. This creates more opportunities for you to be found.
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Join groups with the most members in your relevant niche, this will help you expand your network and be seen.
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Sharing similar interests or belonging to the same groups creates talking points for commonality during an initial introduction when people are looking to expand their network.
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Engage with posts that interest you and support your connections by liking/sharing their posts. I have personally made so many connections because I liked someone’s post.
5. Research job postings that you would want to get inspiration for keywords in your niche so that you attract those opportunities.
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Remember to include keywords relevant to your current skillset, everything is fair game as a talking point.
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Emsi Data has a really cool resume optimizer tool that I have used to gain knowledge of what keywords I should include with a certain job title. Be sure to include those keywords in your job responsibility descriptions and bio on your profile.
We will be regularly posting about different topics related to passive job-seeking with hopes to remove some of the frustration in the job search process. In the meantime, we invite you to Sign Up to join Cherrypicker, gain control of your passive job search and search confidentially for your next step-up opportunity.
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