Have you been trying to land a job, or do you need to change your career? If so, you must have been sending out several applications, but chances are you are not getting the desired response. A lot of things have changed in the last decade per job hunting. Recruiters now use professional networking platforms like LinkedIn to scout for talents and find new employees.

With nearly 800 million members across the globe, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. If leveraged and explored correctly, you can be sure to network with top managers and recruiters and land the job of your dream. One way to leverage LinkedIn is by optimising your LinkedIn Profile.

In this article, we provide helpful tips to help you optimise your LinkedIn profile. We  also present helpful strategies to help you gain more engagement on your LinkedIn profile.

Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile with these 6 Tips

Since we’ve established the power and importance of LinkedIn, it is safe to say you must put certain things in order to look professional and get attention from the kind of people you want and need. Lets get to it!

1. Use an Appropriate Headshot

Your headshot is the first thing people see when they visit your LinkedIn profile: it gives recruiters the first impression about you. As a rule, you want to use a picture that is professional and recent. However, “professional” doesn’t mean too serious; make sure you put on a smile and wear what you would normally wear to work.

2. Include Keywords in your Headline

A keyword is a term used to describe a word or phrase that a recruiter will likely search when looking to hire someone or purchase a service on LinkedIn. For example, a recruiter looking to hire a writer for his company’s sales page will likely search LinkedIn for “Sales page Copywriter” rather than “writer.”

So, let’s say you offer “sales page copywriting” services, you want to infuse this phrase in your LinkedIn headline. For example, you could write a headline along the lines of “Expert Sales Page Copywriter | Content Manager”. Not only will this give you an edge over other writers in the eyes of recruiters, but it will also make your LinkedIn profile rank high on the LinkedIn search index.

3. Make your Summary your Story

It’s surprising to see a ton of LinkedIn profiles without a summary. Considering that many recruiters have a ton of profiles and applications to go through, the LinkedIn summary is usually the first thing a recruiter skims through after visiting any LinkedIn profile. As such, you must make it worth a read.

Your summary should be about three to five paragraphs long, walking the reader through your story, explaining what you do, your skills, expertise, interests, passion, and industries you have been exposed to. You want to show your enthusiasm here and keep the reader engaged.

A LinkedIn summary is quite different from the summary on a curriculum vitae (CV) since it can be much longer. Learn more about mistakes to avoid when writing your CV.

4. Get Recommendations and Endorsements

Recommendations make you more credible to recruiters, so it is something you want to have in your profile. One good thing is that you don’t have to wait for your network to give you endorsements or recommendations: LinkedIn has made it easy for you to make requests for them.

All you have to do is reach out to connections you have worked with in the past (or presently working with) through LinkedIn Messaging. Request that they write a recommendation on your relevant skill set, personality, and work relationship with them.

5. Follow Influencers and Companies

At BTDT Hub, we always recommend that you follow top influencers in your industry. You also want to follow certain corporate leaders, not necessarily in your industry. Doing this increases your network, making you visible to other markets. Simply go to the LinkedIn search window and input the influencer’s name to add an influencer.

Following companies is also great. Not only will this allow you to keep track of job postings, but it also allows company recruiters to keep your profile under their scope. To add a company, go to the LinkedIn search window and input the company’s name.

6. Constantly Engage your Connections

If you do not mind being out there, then creating posts and articles is one way to keep your network engaged.

You can share stories and achievements; it makes them see you’re making efforts and would spur them into wanting to be in your LinkedIn space. The more you post useful and deliberate content, the more you get noticed. The benefits to gain from an optimised LinkedIn profile are almost endless.

BTDT Hub Can Help You Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile

While this article provides helpful tips and information about optimising your LinkedIn profile, we understand that you may not have the time or competence to do it yourself. Besides, there are several other tips for LinkedIn optimisation that we did not cover in this piece.

At BTDT Hub, we have a team of highly trained human resource professionals and advisors capable of optimising your LinkedIn profile, which in turn, will improve your personal brand and attract the best recruiters. Learn more about our LinkedIn optimisation services.