A complete LinkedIn profile is 40 times more likely to receive job opportunities from recruiters - yet only 51% of users have one! Grab this opportunity to shine and create a perfect profile with this guide.
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The combination of all your active social media accounts forms what is known as your Social Resume. Of all these accounts though, when it comes to job search, one reigns supreme - LinkedIn.
Why LinkedIn is the #1 platform for both jobseekers and recruiters
Size
With 600+ million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network.
Views
Users that include skills in their profiles receive on average 13 times more profile views.
Contacts
68% of LinkedIn members use the platform to reconnect with past business colleagues & associates.
Jobs
97% of recruiters use it to check out applicants and every 10 seconds, a hire is made through LinkedIn.
However, to gain the maximum benefit from the platform you need to become an 'All Star' user by having what's known as a complete LinkedIn profile.
So what is a 'complete' LinkedIn profile?
The act of creating a profile will start you as a Beginner. After that, you will progress through a number of stages until you complete your profile.
To become an 'All Star' member with a 100% profile you will need to add:
LinkedIn will actually measure the “completeness” of your profile as you work and offer suggestions on how to make it stronger.
To help you perfect it though, here are some tips and tricks that will make you an All Star user.
How to create an All Star LinkedIn Profile
By elevating your LinkedIn profile to the All Star status you will not only get more views but the chance of others wanting to connect with you will dramtically increase.
Here are your 11 steps to make this happen.
Step 1.
Customise your LinkedIn profile’s URL
Before you start on your detail, it is a good idea to customize your URL which you can easily do by going to your profile at the top of your homepage and selecting edit.
If you don’t customise your public profile URL it will just have a load of confusing numbers at the end such as
linkedin.com/in/47urug8ggdju.
Claim your name and make it look clean and professional.
For example, linkedin.com/in/harrysmith
Your custom URL can have 5-30 letters or numbers but you can’t use spaces, symbols, or special characters.
One potential problem is that custom names are issued on a first come, first served basis.
So, if your surname is more common, then you might need to opt for your name followed by an appropriate word.
As, apparently, there are so many Mark Daniel’s in this world, I went for
https://www.linkedin.com/in/resumewriter/
Ok, so now you have secured your URL it is time to work on your actual profile, starting with your Professional Headline.
Step 2.
Edit your professional headline
This is the text under your name in your profile.
Your headline is created when you add your positions to your profile.
Most people just leave their headline as their current position.
For example, Operator, XYZ PTY LTD.
However, you can re-write it to either promote an area of expertise or to let your personality shine through.
Tell your audience what you are, what you can offer and what they should do next.
For example, Multi Skilled Operator, 10 years LTI free, looking for opportunities, read my profile.
Step 3.
Add your photo to your LinkedIn profile
A good profile photo increases the credibility of your profile and helps you stand out from the crowd. In fact, research shows that members with a profile photo can get up to 21 times more profile views that members without a photo.
Ensure that the photo is recent and looks like you and aim for a friendly and approachable expression. Keep it professional though and don’t veer towards something you would put on Facebook or Tinder.
Yes, you want to grow your connections – but you want the right ones.
While you are there you should also add a background image or photo that will grab people’s attention and show a little more about what matters to you.
More than anything, the right background photo helps your page stand out, engage attention and stay memorable.
But again, make sure it is for the right reasons and you stay ‘on brand’ with your company and or personal values.
Step 4.
Include the right contact details
Don’t forget to add your email address (or blog, or Twitter handle, or anywhere else you’d like to be found) to the contact information section of your resume.
This may sound silly, but you would be surprised how many people leave this off!
Regarding email addresses, don’t use your work one as it is generally seen as bad form. Also, you may forget to update it and move on and then people won’t be able to contact you.
Further, if your personal email is a little on the humorous side, it is best to set up a new one specifically for job search purposes.
Step 5.
Spend time crafting your LinkedIn profile summary
So many people either skip this or don’t take it seriously which is a real shame because they are missing out on a great opportunity to sell themselves to recruiters and connect with others.
You should aim for the same content you have in your resume profile but write it in the first person and make it more personal.
Take the key elements and remember, you want people to connect with you and this profile is you, as a person, reaching out to others.
Think about who you want as connections and write with this in mind.
Keep it professional but keep it warm also.
Make a few drafts and show it to people who you know and trust to get feedback.
Once you are happy with this, it is time to detail your experience.
Step 6.
Detail your experience
If you already have a great resume, then this will be an easy section to complete.
If not, then I would suggest you create one first and then come back to completing your LinkedIn profile.
Here’s a post that will help you do that.
Best Resume and CV format for 2024
Wondering what style of resume works in 2024? Here’s what you need to know and why it is so important to choose the best resume format.
Here are the key areas to concentrate on.
Include achievements
Recruiters spend countless hours screening LinkedIn for high performers and when they find them, they connect with them.
Don't just give a list of your duties, highlight times you've been promoted or hand picked for projects and provide details of your major accomplishments.
Avoid boring generic phrases
By this I mean phrases such as 'hard working', 'results focused,' 'excellent communicator,' and 'detail orientated.'
Such words are used so often they almost become meaningless. Instead, opt for more creative versions or if you do use these, back them up with facts or stats to give them context and validity.
Use action verbs
Speaking as a recruiter, duties sections where bullet points continually start with ‘handled’, ‘produced’ and ‘organised’ over and over again in a resume, can really make you switch off.
However, if you use the right verbs, your resume will come to life and help you stand out from the crowd.
Here’s a guide to help you write a more engaging resume and LinkedIn profile to keep recruiters interested.
Add key words
In addition to mixing up your bullet points with verbs, you should also consider whether the information you provide will match what recruiters will be searching for.
You can achieve this by looking through several job descriptions for positions that you would like to apply for. Assess which words and phrases commonly appear and then check to see that both your resume and LinkedIn profile contains them too.
Mirroring the content from job descriptions will help position you as a great potential fit for roles in the eyes of recruiters and hiring managers.
Be creative
Your LinkedIn profile gives you the ability to include information, pictures and videos and you can also add team members who will be automatically notified.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity because it is a great way to highlight your best work and endorse others.
Step 7.
Provide your education, training & qualifications
Ensuring that you include these on your LinkedIn profile will underpin your other sections by validating the skills and knowledge you have.
However, there are also two other important reasons why you should provide a comprehensive breakdown.
Networking
When you browse jobs on LinkedIn one of the insights provided is how many people work at specific companies that went to the same school or university as you.
This can provide you with a great opportunity to contact those within organisations that you would like to work for.
Screening
In the early stages of searching for talent, recruiters will have set criteria to work from in order to screen for positions.
These can be key words and phrases, location, industries, past companies and of course qualifications.
Sometimes people choose to leave off a degree if it is no longer relevant to their current career path fearing that it will not align with where they are now. For example, you may have graduated in Fine Arts but you now work in finance.
Don’t do this though because if a recruiter’s criteria includes a bachelor or master’s degree and you leave yours off, you won’t be selected.
Step 8.
Highlight your skills
Don't skip this section becuase if you don't include the skills you have on your resume, then you might fail to show up in a search by recruiters, especially those using Talent Solutions.
You can set up to 50 skills on your LinkedIn profile but that doesn't mean you should use them all.
Instead, just concentrate on a combination of hard and soft skills that will be relevant to your career now and the path you intend to follow going forwards.
Your hard skills include specific things such as project management, account handling, or procurement for example whilst your soft skills relate to your personality and behaviour through qualities such as communication, leadership, teamwork.
Your connections will be then be able to endorse your skills and previous employers can also reference them in recommendations that they give on your profile.
Skills with the most endorsements are listed first and those without endorsements are displayed according to the date added.
Step 9.
Don’t forget accomplishments
This section allows you to showcase other important areas of your life such as publications, courses, projects, and languages.
Any one of these may make the difference between being contacted by a recruiter or being invisible to them.
Step 10.
Grow your network
Now your profile has been established its time to reach out to others to build your network.
A complete All Star LinkedIn profile must have 50 connections. That may seem a lot if you are starting from scratch, but it is a lot easier to achieve than you may think.
The quickest and easiest way to get started is to is to synch your profile with your email address book. This enables LinkedIn to suggest people you could connect with.
This is great for reminding you about people who could be part of your network that didn’t immediately come to mind.
All you need to do is work through the list of potential connections and decide who you would like in your network. No connection requests are sent without your permission so you don’t have to worry about inappropriate invitations being sent automatically on your behalf.
You then need to get into the habit of following up meetings and conversations with LinkedIn connection requests to continually grow your network.
Step 11.
Ask for recommendations
There’s just one thing left to do now that will really boost your LinkedIn profile – ask for people to recommend you.
These will validate your skills, prove your expertise and demonstrate how well you work with others.
You will find a button specifically for this on your LinkedIn profile.
