If you’re looking for a new job right now you may have heard it’s a good idea to get on LinkedIn and network.
You’ve logged in. Now what?
Your Profile.
What does your LinkedIn Profile say about you? What? You haven’t logged onto LinkedIn for 9 years?! You’re not alone. And now it’s time to fix that so that you can make it easier to be found when it comes to job hunting.
Whether you like or not most recruiters are scouring LinkedIn to find candidates who fit the profile of their ideal candidate. Not having a clear profile is definitely hurting you so let’s get going. Because I work with people from all walks of life I’ve learned to be very specific when detailing instructions. Think of this as your LinkedIn Profile Recipe. Try it out and let me know how it works for you.
- Log in to your LinkedIn account, or create a new profile if you haven’t used the service before.
- In the upper right hand corner you’ll see a little down arrow next to the word “me,” click on it .
3. Now select the View Profile button.
4. Now you are on your personal profile page. The little pencil icons on the right hand side are there to let you know you can edit that section of your profile.
Edit Intro
- You’ve hit the pencil below the header (the second one in the photo above) and you are now in the Edit Intro section of your profile.
2. Upload or update your profile picture. Do this by selecting the pencil below the circle where the photo is. A note on your profile photo: This is not the platform to upload a picture of you looking like you’ve had 5 margaritas and are the life of the party. Unless you’re looking for a job where that’s the primary criteria. And if you are looking for that job, forget everything I’ve said and get off LinkedIn because you’re probably not going to find the job you want there. A good profile picture shows your face (or your company logo). It can show you in professional attire or more casual doing something that’s important to you — fitness instructors and wellness teachers tend to have professionals pictures of themselves cooking or working out and field engineers in the gas and power industries often have pictures of themselves in the field wearing a hard hat. Let this picture speak for you — and show us the best of who you are at work.
3. Fill in your first and last name in the areas provided. (We’ll discuss how to update your security settings if you don’t want to be searchable by your name, in the next article in this series.)
4. If you’re completing this on your mobile device you’ll have the option to record the pronunciation of your name. This does help recruiters if you have a hard to pronounce last name or if you’re picky about how people pronounce your name.
5. Think SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when you complete the headline. This can be your job title or the title of the job you’re looking for, and it could be several key words that describe your core skill sets that you believe are assets to hiring authorities.
6. Current position. If you’re looking for job you can put Open to Opportunities in this space.
7. If you want to include your education in your intro check the box next to “Show education in my intro.”
8. Include your Country or Region along with your Postal Code and select the appropriate location within this area. If you are open to relocation you’ll have the opportunity to share this or adjust as needed.
9. Select your desired industry from the drop down menu.
10. Click on the pencil icon on the bottom right (above save) in order to add your website, phone numbers, and any other contact information you want to make available.
11. When you are done, be sure to click the blue button with the word save on it.
Great Work!
You’ve got a basic profile set up and are nearly ready to start networking.
