03 Sep How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile For Recruiters
Your LinkedIn profile is your resume that over 740 million users have instant access to. It’s incredibly important to According to Kinsta.com “With more than 55 million companies listed on the site and 14 million open jobs, 87% of recruiters regularly use LinkedIn.” For someone that is open to new opportunities, or just may want to see what is out there, taking the step to optimize your LinkedIn profile is an ideal way to ensure that you are looking your best should an opportunity arise.
Particularly, with the rise in remote work, this past year LinkedIn reported and increase six times over in the number of job postings that were added in the U.S. from March to December of 2020 – with over 300k remote positions. Regardless of your preference- working remotely or in an office or co-working setting- having a clean and updated LinkedIn profile will help you connect to the right people within your industry (or even if you’re looking to move industries!) It’s our job as a recruitment firm to find exceptional creative talent, so we’re diving into what you should have within your LinkedIn profile to make it as optimized as possible.
Start From the Top:
Headshot: Your headshot is the first visual people will see about you, therefor you’ll want your headshot to be professional looking. Whether you have the resources to take professional headshots, or you do it yourself, you’ll want to make sure you have a neutral professional looking background, look directly into the camera and wear clothing similar to what you’d wear to an interview.
Banner Image: The banner is another first impression visual that can help share more about you, your ethics and your goals in a creative way. You’ll want to replace the standard “geometric blue” that comes with your headshot with imagery that is meaningful to you or gives context to your professional expertise.
Grab Attention With Your Text:
Headline
Rather than start off by listing your current title and company (which are listed below in your Experience section), use more general descriptors of your expertise, discipline focus, something you care about, a career key-skill (i.e. Digital Marketing Expert. Loyalty Marketing. Keynote Speaker).
Your Career is Unique and Useful. Tell your story:
Utilize the space in the About section to give a high-level overview of your expertise. Any clients, industries, leadership philosophies that you’ve worked with should be highlighted here. Additionally, share a bit of yourself- what accolades are you especially proud of? What have others said about you, your work and ethic? Instead of just copying your professional summary from your resume (although that IS a good place to start), you’ll want to take some time to paint a thoughtful and full picture of your career arc.
Some other helpful questions to address in this section are: why do you love your work? What are you “known for” among your colleagues and clients? If you are searching for additional examples and information, this article is a great place to start: Summaries That We Love.
The Body of your Profile: Your Experience, Education, Volunteering, and Recommendations
Experience: This section you’ll refer to your master resume. You’ll want to pull data-driven, impact statements from your resume (some things to include: successful campaigns, programs, projects, teams built/managed). You don’t want to just list all of your examples from resume. Be thoughtful about which examples you include as you think about the type of position/industry you are targeting. Additionally in this section, you may also want to include any links to work that is displayed online- such as your portfolio or published pieces. For more information on creating an amazing digital portfolio and why you should have one if you are in the creative field- we’ve included this helpful blog.
Education: In this section, you’ll list your relevant educational experience, with appropriate context (such as: completed degree); any pertinent certifications (with dates completed); as well as executive learning programs.
Volunteering: Don’t skimp on this section. Just because it is at the bottom of your LinkedIn doesn’t mean it is any less important—especially if you are applying to a nonprofit or socially conscious business. They want to see that you are well rounded and walk the talk. You’ll use this section to further show what you care about as a complete human (because your humanness encapsulates more than your Monday-Friday, 9-5 self). People are ultimately viewing your profile and hiring a full person, not robots.
Bonus Tips:
See that skill section? Don’t leave it blank! List at least five relevant skills, as doing so increases the chance that your profile will be discovered and someone will message you by more than 31 times what you would get if you didn’t.
Additionally, proofreading is never overrated. Ask a trusted mentor, colleague or friend to read over your entire profile and send you any editorial notes. Another set of eyes can catch things that you may not have and moreover, that person may add qualities and traits that you wouldn’t have one your own!
Now that you’ve got the tools to optimize your LinkedIn Profile, don’t forget to turn on the button that says “open to opportunities”. This is key as it will share with recruiters and hiring managers that you are open to informational conversations, interviews and new positions. If you’re ready to jump into searching for a job, we recommend that you head over to our job board to view our open positions! From all of us at Scion Creative- we wish you the best of luck!
