Create a Professional LinkedIn Profile That Attracts Employers

Most employers have adopted a new way of recruiting people and no longer rely on the traditional receiving applications for a job opening. This new recruiting method involves different digital platforms, such as LinkedIn.

Different people, including managers, human resource managers, and key decision-makers, use LinkedIn. Over 90 percent of them look out for suitable people to fill vital job openings in their organizations without using traditional job application processes.

Your profile on LinkedIn is usually the first thing job recruiters would look at when searching for the perfect candidate for a job. This makes optimizing your LinkedIn profile essential. Your LinkedIn profile plays a critical role in connecting with people, and an excellent profile will attract managers, HR managers, and recruiters in your field.

Your LinkedIn profile has to be professionally structured to showcase your skills, competencies, and all you can offer your target company or organization. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile can also help build a personal brand.

Why you need a LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms with high potential for job seekers, recruiters, and people aiming to build a reputable personal brand. It is presently the largest professional social network with many key industry players. Below are presented some reasons why you need a professional LinkedIn profile.

Most recruitments are via digital platforms

Recruiters no longer put up job ads and wait for candidates to apply before carrying out a screening process to choose the best. Although this hiring process gave job seekers equal opportunity, most recruiters do not find the process effective. They prefer to search for suitable candidates on LinkedIn.

Even when job seekers submit applications for jobs, employers check out their LinkedIn profiles to determine whether to employ the applicant or not. Most recruiters believe people with an unprofessional or outdated LinkedIn profile are unserious, so it is essential to update your LinkedIn profile and make it look professional.

Networking

Networking with people in your industry is vital if you want to be successful, and LinkedIn gives you a perfect opportunity to connect with people of similar professional interests. Without a professional profile, you may not have access to people with the same professional interests.

You can also get information about job opportunities, participate in events, and participate in your industry’s relevant discussions on LinkedIn. Being on LinkedIn also gives you a platform to correspond with managers and other recruiters.

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters

Your LinkedIn profile gives employers the first impression about you, and you want to leave a positive, lasting first impression.

Complete your profile

A complete LinkedIn profile increases the chances of a recruiter finding you on LinkedIn. Recruiters want to know details about you, what you have to offer, your work experience and all information about your professional life.

LinkedIn makes it easy to complete your profile by making suggestions on where to improve, so take advantage of LinkedIn suggestions to update and complete your LinkedIn profile.

Build your connections

Although having many connections is not a criterion to get job opportunities on LinkedIn, you need to build strong connections to increase your visibility. Having just a few connections would give recruiters the impression that you are not sociable, reducing your chances of getting job offers on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has features that allow you to find people from certain areas, import your email contacts and find people through ‘people you may know’ suggestions, so capitalize on them to build your connections.

Get testimonials and recommendations

You could ask your co-workers or former schoolmates to give testimonials about you or your manager to give a recommendation. Your profile recommendations will show potential recruiters what you have to offer and what they can gain by employing you to work in their organization.

Include certificates, completed courses, and education

Updating your profile to have your educational background can increase your profile views and chances of getting contacted by employers. You also need to include the courses you’ve taken outside school and professional certificates because they give recruiters evidence that you are qualified for a job.

Your additional certifications and course also show recruiters that you are open to learning and professional advancement, and employers usually prefer people with these qualities.

How to create a professional LinkedIn profile

Your LinkedIn profile has different sections, and each section requires specific information. The sections include a headline, career summary, and work experience.

Writing your LinkedIn profile headline

Your LinkedIn profile headline is what people see first on your profile. You can get creative with it and include personal highlights.

You can describe yourself in this section, so ensure you include your experiences, qualifications, and transferable skills. It is important to include keywords that your target recruiters would use to search for employees. Ensure you use descriptive words that tell exactly what you have to offer to allow the right employers to find you quickly. Giving a precise description of your qualification and adding specific roles also makes you look more professional.

Writing your career summary

A well-written career summary should tell people who you are, what you do, what you are exceptional at, your strengths, job qualifications, interests, and professional accomplishments. It’s a summary of your professional life and should duly reflect all recruiters want to know. This is most important for HR recruitment jobs.

Ensure the first 2 – 3 lines of your career summary are captivating because LinkedIn will only show the first 200 – 250 characters and require recruiters to click more to see the rest information. Include links to your past work if your job description calls for it.

Writing your work experience

Since you are a job seeker, your work experience matters a lot. You have the opportunity to enter different work experiences, so give an exhaustive list of relevant work experiences. Make sure to include each job title, the job descriptions, your responsibilities, and accomplishments. Including the right keywords that recruiters use to make a job search in this section is also important if you want employers to find you.

In Summary

A professional LinkedIn profile is a vital tool in landing your desired job. Ensure it is up-to-date and contains all the necessary professional information about you. You can get help on how to optimize a LinkedIn profile and stay active on LinkedIn if you want to attract employers to your profile.

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