You have probably noticed that very lucrative jobs are being advertised on LinkedIn these days.
It can be tempting to hit the “Apply Now” button and potentially be in the running for a job with better conditions, more interesting challenges, better perks and more responsibility.
However, if your LinkedIn profile looks boring and neglected, then doing so is unlikely to get attention of recruiters.
The good news is, you can significantly increase your chances of getting a job through LinkedIn if you invest some time to breath life back into your profile.
If you have time to do a comprehensive revamp of your profile, that’s great.
But if you’re short on time, you can still add a healthy dose of professionalism to your profile in less time than it takes you to grab a coffee.
1. Get A Recommendation.
I suggest you get into a regular habit of asking for, and giving, recommendations. Start with requesting one today.
You can approach your past bosses, colleagues or clients and make a polite request to tell the world more about how you’ve added value to their life.
A word of warning, however – avoid the trap of reciprocal recommendations. A good recruiter will check out the profiles of people who have recommended you and if they find a pattern of “I’ll give you one if you give me one”, your chances of getting an invitation for a job interview will be significantly diminished.
2. Include Keywords.
Every day, thousands of recruiters scour LinkedIn for people with your job title and skills.
If you’re not coming up in search results, you’re missing out on job opportunities.
To make sure your profile gets noticed by LinkedIn’s search algorithm, rewrite it so that it contains relevant keywords throughout your main job description, summary, job titles and descriptions in your job history as well as endorsements/skills section.
For example, if you’re a Marketing Director at a bank the obvious keywords to include would be “marketing director”, “banking” and possibly “finance”.
However, recruiters might also be looking for you by using desired skills as a criteria and your job title won’t always necessarily reflect those skills.
That’s why, if you were the marketing director above, you could also also consider adding keywords like “drive sales”, “leadership”, “strategy development management”, “budgeting” and “digital marketing” in your profile.
3. Stir Up A Group.
If you’re like most people, you have joined a few LinkedIn Groups on the same day that you joined LinkedIn to make your profile look better – and you haven’t been back there since.
That’s OK. I suggest you leave all the groups you joined back then and start all over. You probably joined them for all the wrong (image-related) reasons, anyway.
When joining a group this time, ask yourself whether you have anything valuable to contribute to it. Make it your priority to go into a group with the aim of leaving it a better place than you found it. Then find a topic you care about and contribute to the discussion. Challenge people’s points of view, but do it tactfully – there’ no room for aggression or defensiveness on LinkedIn.
4. Rewrite Your Summary.
When you’re writing your profile you try to showcase your skills – because that’s what you think recruiters care about, right?
That’s true, but it’s also true that one of the key factors which recruiters use to make hiring decisions is culture fit.
In other words, potential employers want to know if your personality will suit their team and whether your motivations are in line with philosophy of the company as a whole.
It means you must ensure that your summary communicate a healthy dose of your personality. Unlike a resume, it shouldn’t sound dry and mechanical.
5. Publish A LinkedIn Article (BONUS).
OK, this is a bonus because it should take you longer than 15 minutes.
However, I’m including it here because it will add huge amounts of authority and credibility to your personal brand.
LinkedIn recently opened its publishing platform to every one of its members. It which means you can now publish blog posts directly on your profile.
If you’re a manager at a law firm, for example, you could write an article which discusses the intricacies of moving from in-house to private practice and provides solutions to common problems. A recruiter who is taking a closer look at your profile is likely to notice it and take a closer look to find out more about how you think.
