With over 930 million people on LinkedIn globally, including recruiters and prospective employers, and millions of jobs available, this is the place for anyone looking for new jobs, to learn new skills, or discover content and connections to support their career.
We've put together some helpful tips to help you stand out on LinkedIn, as well as information on the free resources and tools available to help you with your job search.
Refresh your profile
Remember: This is a digital representation of your professional self. It’s the first impression of you that recruiters or talent professionals will see, so make sure that your profile is complete, up-to-date, and accurately reflects who you are and your experiences.
Pick the Perfect Pictures
First impressions matter. Upload a high quality profile photo (at least 200 x 200 pixels) that represents who you are as a professional. Profiles without photos look inactive and unimpressive, but members with a profile photo have 21x more views, 9 x more connection requests, and 36 more messages than members that don’t.
Ensure your picture is recent and your face fills around 60 per cent of the frame so you stand out. Smile and look approachable, you are trying to sell yourself as someone good to work with.
Add a strong background photo too. It's an instant way to differentiate your profile and grab people's attention by adding a bit of personality.
Help people pronounce your name correctly
If you have a name that people may struggle to pronounce, then create an audio recording of it to sit on your profile so people can ensure they say it correctly. You can also listen to other members’ pronunciations by visiting their profiles if they have added a record.
Spotlight your expertise
Think of the summary section on your LinkedIn profile as your very own elevator pitch. Summarise your professional story and share what motivates you about your role or what you’re looking for in a new one. You can keep it to about four to five sentences or bullets.
Highlight your experience
The experience section of a resume should showcase your roles, responsibilities, strengths, accomplishments, and any education, side projects, and volunteer experience that demonstrates your capabilities. This will help recruiters gain a better understanding of your qualifications when viewing your profile.
Utilize the Featured section to exhibit your best work: This can be anything from posts you wrote or shared, pieces you posted on LinkedIn, or outside material such as pictures, documents, and links.
Highlight your skills: According to LinkedIn, members who have five or more skills listed on their profile get contacted 27 times more often by employers and other LinkedIn members. You can ask your connections to endorse your skills, and their name and photo will appear next to the skills on your profile. To demonstrate your skill proficiency, you can use the Skill Assessments feature. If you need to build skills, Microsoft and LinkedIn offer free access to nearly 1,000 hours of learning courses at opportunity.linkedin.com.
To make yourself available for work: Let recruiters and your contacts on LinkedIn know you're looking for job opportunities. Try out the green photo frame feature on your profile picture that indicates you're "Open to Work". If you identify the types of roles you're interested in and the area you prefer, it'll help your profile show up when recruiters search for potential candidates. Over 2.5 million LinkedIn members have used the frame, and those who have experienced 40% more messages from recruiters and 20% more messages from the LinkedIn community.
Find your next role
Once your profile reflects your current skills and experience, you can take the following steps to find the appropriate position for you:
Tap into your connections: Utilizing your existing connections can be a great way to begin your job search, and it can provide you with valuable advice and assistance. We have seen that having as few as 50 contacts can make a significant difference. Begin by including people from your daily life such as family, friends and coworkers. You never know if someone in your circle is linked to a firm that is currently hiring.
Ask for a referral: Reaching out to your network for a referral can increase your chances of getting a job. When you contact your contacts, make sure to explain how you know them and why you would be suitable for the position.
Set up job alerts: If you want to stay up to date with the latest jobs available in the UK, check out the Jobs page on LinkedIn. You can filter by job title, location, remote work, industry, or company to find the position that's perfect for you. Plus, you can set up job alerts to get notified as soon as a new role appears that matches your search criteria, so you can be one of the first to apply.
With the job market being highly competitive, it's essential to take an active approach to your job search. For further assistance, you can access free resources at opportunity.linkedin.com.
