If you missed our last article, Promote Yourself Online in 5 Easy Steps, don’t worry! We have prepared 7 new ways to achieve online success through the power of LinkedIn. It is important to keep your profile updated to grow your professional brand, develop your reputation and ultimately, be headhunted by a prospective employer.
1. Follow the LinkedIn Suggestions
When starting out, LinkedIn offers you some advice on strengthening your profile. This might include uploading a photo, making your profile public and customising your LinkedIn URL. You should also include a Headline that focuses your profile and shows employers what you are looking for.
2. Update your Summary
This is a great opportunity to really illustrate your experiences and skills. You can include some graphics to add some flair and make sure to highlight some notable achievements. Take a look at some other profiles to get an idea of what to include. There is no real structure to this, but you should try and limit the section to 2,000 words.
3. Include your Experience
Don’t simply mention your experience, EXPRESS it! This is your online CV, so include information that you couldn’t in the 2 page document. Make sure to highlight some achievements and add some graphics if you wish.
4. Recommendations
If possible, request recommendations from colleagues, team members, managers etc. This will give the reader an idea of you, personally. They don’t have to be work related, but having a mixture on your profile is always a good idea.
5. Show off your skills
You can have up to 50 skills listed on your profile, so make sure to choose those that add value to you and reflect your abilities. Include keywords if possible and have a mixture of hard and soft skills. Your profile is 13 times more likely to get viewed if you have skills included.
6. Volunteer Experiences & Causes
Like your CV, voluntary experience really speaks volumes about you. This is as valuable as paid experience as it shows additional skills outside of the workplace. It also acts as a talking point in an interview and can help boost your confidence.
7. Education & Certifications
This section helps you to highlight recent or old qualifications that you achieved over the years. Any training programmes or in-house certifications you completed can be included here too.
Bonus Tip: There are many other sections that can be included in your profile. Have a look through and see which relate best to you. Anything that will help to boost your online presence is valuable and should be included on your LinkedIn profile.