Tips to craft an eye catching LinkedIn profile
Many people take a “just-the-facts” approach to constructing their LinkedIn profile headline, listing only their company or job titles. But make no mistake: that profile headline is your personal advertisement. That is why you should approach it as if it were a mission statement summarising who you are and why people should connect with you. Here are five techniques to help you create an eye-catching LinkedIn profile to get you started.
Add a profile and cover photo
LinkedIn profile images do not have to be completely professional. You can select to upload a semi-professional photograph depending on the industry you’re in and the job responsibilities you’re looking for. According to LinkedIn, profiles with good images receive 21x the number of profile views and 9x the number of connection requests. Don’t skip this step!
Emphasize your abilities
This section, unlike a resume, has a character limit. Profile visitors have a short attention span. Since this area has a word restriction of 2000 words per experience, big, chunky paragraphs are discouraged. It is strongly advised to add a 3-4 line description of the role. Aside from that, 8-10 bullet points highlighting accomplishments can be included. Ensure to provide the appropriate metrics and outcomes.Here is a formula you could use: Action Verb + Core Task + Quantifiable Outcome + When
Make Your Own LinkedIn Profile URL
LinkedIn generates a random string of numbers to associate with your profile when you establish an account. That’s not particularly memorable, is it? When it comes to job hunting, your LinkedIn profile url will be something you use a lot. It will be included on your resume. If your profile link is a random string of digits instead of your name, it will look bad on your resume/cover letter and will be nearly impossible to find.
Employ a Professional LinkedIn Cover Picture
Most people understand the importance of having a nice LinkedIn profile picture, but nearly no one uses their LinkedIn cover photo. Your cover photo is an excellent opportunity to showcase some of your personality and accomplishments. It’s also larger than your profile photo, so it’s more likely to catch people’s attention and help you tell your narrative.
Participate Actively
Although optimizing your LinkedIn profile for keywords and searches is essential, the simplest method to increase your exposure on LinkedIn is to engage with the community. If you simply rely on searches and keywords, your presence will be restricted, and competition will be fierce. Recruiters and employers spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, you’re much more likely to capture their notice if you appear as a remark or post in their feed rather than crossing your fingers and hoping you appear in a search result.
Don’t be afraid to discuss your passions, mission, or anything else that is important to you. Give it a shot, who knows, maybe your profile will appear on a list like this in the future!
