For a determined job seeker, LinkedIn is an option that makes their life less miserable. Through LinkedIn job seekers can easily connect to millions of genuine recruiters from high profile and growing companies. Best used, LinkedIn can land you a job that can change your life forever.

There’s no harm in not paying attention to your LinkedIn profile, however, a little focus can get you great opportunities on landing a job that you long for. LinkedIn has a high level of competition and the recruiters only prefer the ones that have the best display of their skills and experience. Therefore, here are the best 25 LinkedIn profile tips that will set you on the right path.

1) Dedicate Time and Effort for Your LinkedIn Profile

You cannot create anything, even a LinkedIn profile, without putting time and effort on it. However, the value depends on how much time and effort is being put on it. It is not sufficient to register yourself online and filling only the basic information about yourself. A complete LinkedIn profile develops confidence and trust within recruiters. So, you have to go out completely!

Fill out every section that a LinkedIn profile has and make sure that your profile completeness is 100%. Thanks to many benefits of LinkedIn, it even offers a rating meter that displays the percentage of profile completed. Once you dedicate some time to your profile, you will also discover plenty of other features and benefits of having a complete LinkedIn profile.

2) Do Not Waste Your Headline

The first thing that a recruiter comes across on a LinkedIn profile is the headline. It is one of the most important things for a LinkedIn profile, it determines whether the recruiter wants to see the rest of the profile or not. If your headline does not deliver the value it needs to, recruiters will simply pass and it will not matter whether the rest of the profile is better or not.

Your headline can also have a negative impact. Writing a too common headline or being too desperate can also cause the recruiters to look away. Your headline should be informative, subtle and well manufactured to deliver the value it needs. It should not give away the entire details, but just enough to attract them to see the rest of your profile.

3) Make Full Use of the Summary

If recruiters have come as far as to read your summary, you better not waste their time. They are giving their time only because they see profit within your potential and how you can be a valuable asset to their organization. If you fill the summary section with how great you are and what have you been doing in your life up until this point, there is no chance they are hiring you.

Professional companies look only for value. So your summary should contain your personal and background info only in brief. Use the rest of the characters to showcase your qualifications, achievements, experience and skills. Having a good summary can convince any recruiter instantly.

4) Have an Appealing Profile Picture

Having a good profile picture on your LinkedIn profile is a huge plus. Why? Because a genuine profile picture shows that you are a confident and trustworthy employee. Many company recruiters straightforwardly ignore profiles with no or fake profile pictures. Hence, having an appealing LinkedIn profile picture is a must.

5) Add Multimedia to Your Summary

LinkedIn does not limit your options in any way; instead it allows you to showcase your best. That is why your LinkedIn summary has the option of including pictures, videos, slideshows and presentations. Sure, words are important, but showing proof of what you can actually do is the best way to convince someone to give you a job. Make sure your summary has the right amount of words including the right amount of multimedia.

6) Get Yourself a Custom URL

No one will recognize you with the binary kind of URL that LinkedIn creates for your profile when you first register. But the best thing about that URL is that you can change it and keep anything that you like. Simply go to “Edit Profile” window and click the “Edit” button next to the Public Profile URL and change the URL to whatever address you wish to have. It is a very simple but effective way of promoting yourself, moreover, you can use this URL to advertise your LinkedIn profile on other various job offering platforms.

7) Use the First Person Only

It is not really advisable to use first person language while writing Resumes, but for a LinkedIn profile, it is the best option. On LinkedIn, you are technically presenting a resume but in the form of a social media profile where everyone can see and share it. Think of it as actually presenting yourself in front of a crowd, you cannot speak in third person language while speaking to others, similarly, it is best to use the first person language on your LinkedIn profile to get the best outcome.

8) Fill a Current Job Entry

While writing all your past job experiences on your profile, make sure to maintain a current job entry, even though you currently do not have a job. This is mainly to get noticed by the recruiters as they search through their preferred applicants. Not having a current job entry will only make it difficult for them to notice what kind of profession you are interested in.

Also, make sure you have a current job entry of the profession you are looking to work for. For example, if your current job entry is kept as “Software Tester” and you are hoping to land a job as a “Developer”, recruiters will probably have a hard time trusting whether you are the right person or not. On the other hand, if left blank, recruiters may have to look for your past relevant experiences and achievements to decide whether you are the applicant they are looking for, however, the chances of happening so are limited.

9) Avoid Over-Commonly Used Words

Company recruiters spend most of their time reading profiles and resumes from all kinds of applicants. Out of these many applications, if you want your application to stand out, then simply avoid using the words that are commonly used by everyone.

Surveys point out that words like responsible, effective, creative, analytical, strategic, patient, expert, organizational, driven and innovative are the most commonly used words on a LinkedIn profile. If everyone is using the same words, then how is it possible to differentiate one application from another? Try coming up with some new and effective words to impress the recruiters.

10) Add Your Extra-Curricular Activities and Achievements Too

Yes, LinkedIn profile is meant to find career focused jobs and future opportunities. However, there is no harm in mentioning your extra-curricular activities and achievements too. In fact, showing that your life is not just limited to you job and that you are involved in extracurricular activities is a great sign of healthy mind.

Companies these days do everything they can to keep their employees stress relieved and in healthy mental conditions so that they can produce best results for the company. Mentioning your extra-curricular activities and achievements will only add to your benefits as recruiters constantly look for employees with a healthy mind and body.

11) Also Include Your Past Projects, Volunteer Experiences

Adding your past work experiences are a must, however, along with them also include any projects that you have done in the past or any volunteering programs that you participate in. It is completely fine to mention your unique interests and past experiences, which will ultimately help you stand out of the crowd.

12) Update All the Languages You Know

Language plays an important role in communication between the recruiter and the employee. There are many company recruiters out there who do not understand English completely and it would ease things greatly if you happen to know the language that they know. So without hesitating, update all the languages you know on your LinkedIn profile.

13) Plan Your Recommendations

You earn recommendations when you deliver. Do not hesitate to ask for recommendations for the projects you have done in the past. Recommendations on your LinkedIn profile go a long way in building trust and confidence. They open up more opportunities for future clients who want to work with you. On the other hand, you may also receive recommendations which are not that strong and may only cause trouble. For those cases, it is okay to choose not to display them on your profile. It all comes under carefully planning your recommendations.

14) Keep Updating Your Status

Just like any other social media, where you can update your current status, LinkedIn too offers a place for you to share your current status. Use that option sincerely and regularly. Do not share what you ate for breakfast, but instead update what your last successful milestone was. Doing so, your status will be visible to your entire network of LinkedIn connections on their profile as well as in the weekly email updates from LinkedIn.

15) Search and Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups

Having a group makes things much easier. Also, you are more likely to land a job quickly after classifying your professional interests. LinkedIn groups offer just that, a perfect group environment for like-minded people to discuss and share information. Joining a LinkedIn group is an extremely handy option for any job seeker looking for quick opportunities.

16) Do Not Add Anyone or Everyone

Having thousands of connections with no relevant job opportunities is just a big joke. Do not add anyone or everyone that sends you an invitation to connect. Go through the profile and see if the person or organization trying to connect is relevant to your job profession and if it will create opportunities for you in the future. Also, if you try to connect to too many unknown people, there is a high chance that you will be rejected many times, which will ultimately cause LinkedIn to delete your account.

17) Maintain At Least 50 Connections

While it is not advisable to accept all the invitations you get, it is also not advisable to have too less connects either. Having too less connections will only lead the recruiters to think that you are not confident yet or that you are not too open to social connectivity and online presence. All of these are bad for your profile; therefore, maintain at least 50 or more connections on your LinkedIn profile so that recruiters do see potential in your profile.

18) Keep Your Job Search Covered

It is not really polite to let your current employer know that you are not satisfied with your current job and looking for better opportunities. That is why LinkedIn offers you a setting feature that allows you to keep your job search covered. Activating privacy settings is easy, simply sign in to your LinkedIn profile and change it in the “settings” option from the drop down menu where your name appears.

19) Refrain Yourself from Going Overboard

LinkedIn offers too many features that it is overwhelming and without proper control, it is sometimes possible to go overboard by filling too much content. Before reaching that point, take a minute to think from a different person’s perspective or even better, get it reviewed from a different person altogether. This way, you will know what are your plus and minus points, which you can alter accordingly.

20) Allow People to Find You

Your LinkedIn profile is great, but it has no point unless people can actually find and reach out to you. Make sure to add your email address, contact information and other social media addresses where it is much easier and comfortable for you to discuss terms with. It is surprising to see that many people miss out on these and are left alone on many good opportunities.

21) Keep Writing on Your LinkedIn

One of the latest LinkedIn features is that you can write and publish your work within the website. Keep writing about your profession, share your personal thoughts on industrial development or simply share your recent successes. It is a great way to get noticed and also shows off your writing and communication skills to the recruiters.

22) Keep Updating Your Skills

Recruiters are sure to go through the skills you updated on your LinkedIn profile in order to determine whether you match their requirement criteria or not. As you keep on working and gaining skills through your jobs, do not forget to update the skills that you have acquired recently and delete the ones that are outdated or not in use. Keeping your skills up to date can ease your job hunt greatly.

23) Have an Organized Profile

Much like a resume, your LinkedIn profile too is a means of getting approved by a recruiter. Therefore, keep your profile neat and organized so that it is easy for them to look for what they are really searching. Highlight your achievement sections, add bullets to your experiences and organize your skills in an orderly fashion so that recruiters have no difficulty finding content that they actually want to see.

24) Have Patience and Wait for Response

Sure LinkedIn is fast and connects you to millions of recruiters online, but you cannot expect to find a job just in a day or in a week for that matter (unless you are extremely lucky). After carefully completing your profile, have patience and wait for recruiters to find you. It may not happen in an instant, but it won’t take you long to find opportunities that you have been long waiting for. Till that time, make sure to be patient and wait for responses.

25) Be Enthusiastic About Your Profession

Recruiters love enthusiastic employers and hence it is extremely necessary to show your enthusiasm on your LinkedIn profile. Upload status related to your current job interests, share articles and news, participate in groups and announce the things that you are currently doing in your field, just make sure you share your enthusiasm right.

Bonus Tip:

Learn how to change case in your Bio Section. Make sure the first letter of ‘Each Word Of Your Name Is Capitalized’. There is a huge difference between ajoy kumar singha and Ajoy Kumar Singha. Spell your name as it is in your official documents. Replace your keyboard if the Shift key isn’t working. 🙂

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