If you thought LinkedIn was just Instagram for corporate white blokes, think again. LinkedIn usage is on the rise, and so are all kinds of new roles and opportunities in emerging companies and sectors, whether you’re a digital slashie or corporate climber.
If you want to make 2021 the year of your personal brand and start getting noticed for your professional profile, here’s how to give your LinkedIn page a glow up.
Polish Your Headline And Current Position
A great headline can nail you that all-important first impression, so make sure you use your 220 characters wisely. Using keywords that relate to what you do can help you get found more easily and can mean more relevant people are shown your profile in the ‘people you may know’ section. Try playing around with the character limit to come up with a few short, snappy sentences that describe you best, until you land on ‘the one’.
Make Valuable Connections
If your connections list reads more like a who’s who of your high school frenemies, it’s time to upgrade your network. Spend some time connecting with colleagues past and present, as well as people you admire or respect in your industry. You never know when an old coworker might be able to hook you up with a new opportunity.
Update Your Experience Timeline
Making sure your experience is up to date and cohesive in terms of timeline helps paint a picture of your professional profile and give context to your career trajectory. Start by culling old or irrelevant jobs and adding in the roles you’ve had over the last five to 10 years. Then, give a little more information on each role, either in a few short sentences or in bullet point form, detailing what your role involved, your responsibilities, and an overview of your achievements and key skill developments during your time there.
Get (And Give) Recommendations And Endorsements
At the bottom of your profile you’ll find a recommendations section, where other LinkedIn users can leave provide recommendations if they know you or have worked with you, and endorse you for certain skills. You can directly request recommendations from your network, so it can really pay to spend a bit of time politely requesting that your contacts write a few words about why you’re great. A bit like reviews of things you want to buy, this kind of social proof helps build trust and legitimacy when recruiters and peers are viewing your profile.
Take A Clear Photograph
Having a warm and friendly photo on your LinkedIn page instantly adds personality to your profile. If you don’t have an ultra-professional picture to use, try taking one with your phone and adding a black and white filter.
Update Your Name Pronunciation
You can now upload a recording of the correct pronunciation of your name in your profile. Goodbye, awkwardly correcting people!
On the LinkedIn hype? Why not give your resumé a once over while you’re at it?
Image Credit: Joanna Nix-Walkup/Unsplash
Emma is a finance blogger at The Broke Generation and a reformed spendaholic. She shares hot tips on saving, property, tax, career and investing for millennials who want to break the spending cycle and get financially confident.