How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Land Your Dream Job or Business Opportunity.
Why LinkedIn Optimization?
LinkedIn is an employment-oriented platform. It is mainly used to find the right job, Create professional relationships and learn new skills.
It is currently the best job-finding platform.
An optimized LinkedIn account gives you access to build better networks with professionals, improve your career path and even help recruiters find you.
It also works as your global CV without any restrictions.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Optimize your LinkedIn Profile
An optimized LinkedIn profile gives you the opportunity to better your chances of connecting with like minds, capturing the attention of other professionals, and finding new growth opportunities.
Here are 3 steps for improving/optimizing your LinkedIn Account.
1. Spotlight your services.
Your LinkedIn profile is a great place to highlight certifications or training that sets you apart from the crowd.
2. Update your contact info.
Make sure your email is updated on your profile so you don’t miss out on opportunities. Updating your information increases the chances of getting connected.
3. Show Up, Reach out and Connect :
Make regular improvements, Update your profile with new information about your current job or job-seeking status, new skills you’ve obtained, or projects you’ve completed, this helps you remain credible and consistent. Be intentional by commenting on posts and articles…
With these tips, you stand a chance of getting better opportunities on LinkedIn, as well as connecting with like minds and professionals in your field.
Having an optimized LinkedIn profile is more important than having an optimized resume.
Yet, 86% of Linkedin users don’t have a key-word optimized profile.
Here’s the number one reason why you should focus on optimizing your LinkedIn profile rather than your resume.
Your resume is transactional while your Linkedin profile is everlasting.
Your resume will ONLY be seen once you apply to a position.
Unlike your LinkedIn profile where people can find you based on searching keywords.
Quick Reminder:
LinkedIn is the largest professional search engine in the world.
So recruiters and hiring managers spend hours everyday using the platform to find qualified talent.
If you want to have your inbox flooded with new opportunities, optimize your profile.
How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Land Your Dream Job or Business Opportunity
1. You profile picture speaks volumes. Make sure your picture is a close-up shot, and intrigues viewers to visit your profile. Avoid sunglasses, excessive jewelry or pictures of you doing something.
2. The background picture or the cover photo must tell the viewers something they need to know. Put a relevant image with five to six captivating words. A mission statement, slogan or vision statement should do.
3. Your title must have the key words of what you do or are capable of doing as an individual or as part of a company. When LinkedIn users search key words, you profile is most likely to appear first.
4. Write a good summary of yourself. Captivating ones include key career highlights and achievements, industry exposure, capability amd experiences.
5. Post regularly. Once a month or week for the start. Find something interesting to talk about. People are interested in useful ideas, what’s trending, proper explanation of key subjects of anything fascinating and so forth.
When you engage with your connections through reactions and comments, the particular status appears in your connections’ followers and friends’ newsfeed, which has the potential to attract them to your profile, and its important to ensure your profile has something your viewers need.
Recruitors and business people search LinkedIn often. If you put the key words correctly, your profile will be noticed straight away.
Follow the tips above to optimize your profile and review it.
BUILDING YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE
“Everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.” – Tom Peters
A. Building your personal brand on LinkedIn is non-negotiable.
You’re better off not being on LinkedIn at all than being there and not optimising your profile and consistently pushing your personal brand. Many haven’t enjoyed LinkedIn due to a few reasons like, failing to optimize their profiles and failing also to CONSISTENTLY push their personal brands. We have a chance to build a brand worthy of notice and it takes consistency and doing the unusual (what we’d call niche).
Simply Build (Optimize) Your Personal Brand by:
• Your profile – where you detail your experience, education, and skills. Just be sure to craft your profile in a way that positions you well for the work you want to do instead of just recapping what you’ve done in the past.
• Adding media to your profile
– like professional photographs of yourself, presentations, articles and videos where you can show your audience what you do instead of just telling them about it.
• Status updates – which allow you to share examples of your work and document your interests, one sound bite at time. This requires a lot of research into the niche you want to build for yourself and consistently pushing it regardless of the hurdles (no reactions on your posts, no engagement, etc.)
• Recommendations and endorsements from others. What your connections say about you provides highly credible evidence of your capabilities.
• LinkedIn’s publishing platform, which allows users to share article-length content relative to their work.
B. BUILD YOUR NETWORK
• As a professional, you want to make sure you are interacting and connecting with different types of people within the industry you find yourself:
° Grow your connections by connecting with people in your industry, past institutions, former institutions, etc. It’s very important to do this and you need to be deliberate about this.
• Follow different industry related pages, blogs and media outlets
• Join groups that discuss relevant industry topics. Also make sure to contribute to the discussions.
C. THOUGHT-LEADERSHIP
• More than 1 million members have published content on LinkedIn’s Pulse platform, demonstrating thought leadership in their industries and propelling their organizations forward.
Like I said early on, to be noticed in your industry is to do the unusual. Look out for areas in your profession/industry you’re good at and write on, as a way of contributing to knowledge sharing.
D. SEARCH FOR JOB And CANDIDATES
• LinkedIn has advanced search capabilities, including LinkedIn Jobs & LinkedIn Recruiter, that are extremely valuable for searching for jobs and recruiting.
• Via LinkedIn, employers/HR can search for candidates by past or current employers (such as competitors), job titles, years of experience, seniority level, company size, interests, locations, schools, references from trusted recommenders, and even specific language in profiles.
• Employers can also search for employees through connections, including first and second connections.
• You can activate job alerts and ‘open to work’ features.
SEE ALSO : 5 Proven Email Copywriting Tactics to Get Subscribers to Read Your Emails
Hope this article on How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Land Your Dream Job or Business Opportunity is helpful?