What to put on your LinkedIn profile section-by-section…

Trying to stand out from half a billion other accounts on LinkedIn sounds like a daunting task! It’s actually easier than you might think to improve your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn is the most powerful tool you have right now and should be your ‘go-to’ social media platform to connect, engage, and network.

In these incredibly challenging times, we are still trying to forecast the extent of the damage the coronavirus will have on our economy. For some industries, it’s not as easy as flicking a switch and turning the economy back on.

Some industries have already announced it could take them at least 12 to 18 months to recover fully from the effects of COVID-19.  The travel industry for example.  The damage is already beginning to appear and the inevitable redundancies have started.

So, it’s never been more important to utilize all routes to the job market including networking on LinkedIn.  You also need to research your current sector and industry to understand the impact and the need for you to review your transferable skills and start researching other options and opportunities.

LinkedIn Survey

So, the other evening I was coaching one of my clients and she asked me to review her LinkedIn profile. Once I’d talked her through the main sections to update and customize, she asked me to send her some good examples of Headlines and About Sections.

Rather than make up some examples, I decided to explore other accounts in her profession and ethically plagiarise!! I ended up reviewing 200 people’s accounts. Oh, those winter nights just fly by in my house!!

I focused on 4 main aspects of their accounts. Firstly, did they have a professional photo, secondly, had they customized their URL, thirdly, had they updated their Headline and lastly had they written a good quality About section. I was shocked at the number of incomplete profiles and how easy the main sections on LinkedIn are to customize.

Headline

Your LinkedIn headline is the most seen component of your LinkedIn profile. It appears everywhere your name does and gives recruiters, hiring managers, or your prospects a quick overview of who you are and why they should click your profile.

[bctt tweet=”Your headline appears everywhere your name does, LinkedIn search results, and any posts you comment on or like. It’s super important! #LinkedInTips #CareerSuccess #HRProfessionals ” username=”InterviewCoachD”]

Your headline appears everywhere your name is, including on LinkedIn search results and any content you comment on or share. So, it’s really important you make sure you’re happy with how it looks across LinkedIn and that it sends the right message to recruiters, hiring managers, or your prospects.

Headline examples:

  • Health and Safety Consultant | NEBOSH Qualified with experience in the Oil and Gas industry
  • IT Programme Manager with experience of managing multiple projects | Prince2® Qualified | Corporate Banking Experience
  • HR Business Partner Generalist | Extensive and in-depth experience of complex disciplines and Employee Relations | FinTech industry
  • Management Accountant CIMA | Engineering sector experience | Excellent at analysing, interpreting and presenting complex numerical data

 

55% of the accounts we reviewed had not changed their Headline. If you don’t manually change or edit your Headline, it will default to your current or last job title and the company name. Job Titles are often vague and don’t demonstrate your value.

Professional Photo

According to LinkedIn, profiles with photos are 14 times more likely to be viewed than those without a profile picture. So, having a photo is really important. Recruiters like to know who they are corresponding with so make sure your headshot is clear, professional, and only you in the photo.

20% of the accounts we reviewed on LinkedIn didn’t have a photo. As I was clicking through the profiles, I found myself often skipping the profiles with no photos and not even clicking to view.

Take the time to browse through your phone for any photos that are suitable and professional. A decent selfie is acceptable these days.

Everyone loves Freebies!! 

7 LinkedIn Hacks to Boost your chances of securing a job! 

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If you go blank or feel underprepared, we’ll share all the techniques you need to be successful. 

Customize your URL – it’s a web address to you and me!

How to customize your URL

 

If you are wondering what the heck is a URL, I’ll enlighten you! It stands for Uniform Resource Locator and no you don’t really need to know the acronym. To you and me, it’s a unique web address and yes, you do need to customize.

It’s really easy to change however, with 600 million-plus accounts on LinkedIn, claiming your name might be tricky.  It’s easy to do and here are the instructions below.

Customizing Your Public Profile URL:

 

1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Click View profile.
3. Click Edit public profile & URL on the right rail.
4. Under Edit your custom URL in the right rail, click the Edit icon next to your public profile URL.
5. Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box.
6. Click Save.

By the way, there are 399 other people on LinkedIn called Dawn Moss.  Feel free to connect, but be sure to let me know your reasons for connecting and mention this blog.

75% of LinkedIn accounts reviewed had not customized their URL. If you want to include your LinkedIn account details in your CV or business card, you’ll definitely want to customize the web address.

By the way, there are 399 other people on LinkedIn called Dawn Moss.  Feel free to connect, but be sure to let me know your reasons for connecting and mention this blog.

About section

Okay, this section does take a little more quality time to write up properly and will probably take you more than 5 minutes.
What is the About section on LinkedIn? This section on LinkedIn is a text field summary that sits beneath your name and profile picture. It’s your professional ‘pitch’ to employers to show what you offer, using no more than 2,000 characters (about 250 words).

The best LinkedIn About sections present your most relevant qualifications, knowledge, and skills, and most importantly how you’ve applied your experience, skills, and knowledge to good effect for the business. A common mistake is providing a summary that’s not tangible enough and doesn’t give evidence of the impact of your work.

You could also include your career goals and aspirations however, be mindful if this doesn’t fit with the job or company you’ve applied, it’s likely to put some off contacting you. Of course, you need to be authentic and remain focused on your ideal job.

You can deviate from your ideal or dream job however, we’d still recommend you stick to a pathway that’s leading in the right direction.

During the lockdown, you have a perfect reason for not sticking to the path and doing what you have to do to survive. Recruiters will understand you’ve had to compromise and generate some sort of income.

Now is not the time to be too proud to take any job, it’s a time to be proud to do a job that’s supporting our country to operate.

43% of LinkedIn accounts reviewed did not have an About Section and 20% were either poorly written with spelling mistakes, vague or generic information, or just one or two sentences. So, in total 63% of About sections were not being fully utilized. A wasted opportunity to make a really great first impression.

LinkedIn is your most powerful tool during the lockdown and beyond. Start updating your profile today and get networking with people in your sector and industry. It will be too late if you wait until lockdown finishes. Particularly, as it looks like the exit strategy will be very gradual and will be done in phases.

 

Further information on our services can be found here: CV and LinkedIn Services