Making top connections is the first step to success. If you don’t appear professional, then you are not professional. Perception equals reality, simple. Well, if you are going to do any social selling, prospecting or business development on LinkedIn, then you’ll need to pay close attention to your profile. How well your profile reads and looks could make the difference between a lot of new and valuable connections and none.
The profile is without a shadow of a doubt the most important part of your LinkedIn account. It is what you use to connect with individuals in your network, and it’s through the profile that people find you on the platform since it contains your skills as well as experience.
Not only that, but the profile also plays a vital role in your visibility online and can help build a brand that shows your background to potential employers. That being said, here are some tips to help you enhance your LinkedIn profile.
Tips for a Professional Looking LinkedIn Profile
First and foremost, your profile should be detailed and complete. Your LinkedIn profile is your online resume. As such, it should contain all the information in your resume including your experience, skills, and qualifications.
You should also add a head shot photo. Ensure that the picture shows the professional you and it should not be too casual. If you are not about professional shots, there are numerous free tutorials online that can help you with that.
Also, ensure your profile is public so that most people can find you. You may also want to consider customizing your URL. If you name is available, use it. So, for example, if your name is Peter Jones, a URL in this form(www.linkedin.com/in/peterjones )would be ideal. The point of URL customization is to make it easy to share.
Summary Section Tips
The next part is the profile summary. This is an excellent section to highlight your experience. Include all languages, certifications and other skills that you may have. Do not forget the headline since it will be the first thing that a person sees when this visit your profile. Also, choose an industry since most employers use that field to search for potential employees. The more detailed and robust the profile, the higher the chances of getting noticed.
Experience Section Tips
This section is basically your online resume. So, include your area of occupation (present and past), the industry as well as education history. If you want to create a professional LinkedIn profile quickly, you can copy and paste all the relevant information from your resume. It is imperative that your LinkedIn profile matches your resume since most employers will cross-check. Here are some more tips from Fircroft on how to improve your acc.
Recommendations
It is also important to ask for LinkedIn recommendations. Recommendations from your coworkers and previous employers are quite crucial since to a recruiter; they are a reference in advance.
One of the best ways of getting recommendations is by simply giving them. People love being recommended, and so, if you attest to the qualifications of a person you have worked with in the past, they are likely to do the same thing.
However, never ask for references from people you do not know.
Showcase Your Skills
Skills and Endorsements is another section that can beef up your profile. It is simply a way potential employers can find you as well as how your connections can see your attributes at a glance. As a matter of fact, your LinkedIn profile is more likely to be viewed if you fill this section.
Making your LinkedIn profile professional does not have to a daunting task. If you follow these tips, 10 to 20 minutes should be enough.
