4 Questions To Ask Yourself When Building A LinkedIn Profile

By end of 2018, Jobscan indicated that at least 87% of recruiters using social media networks to search or vet job candidates used LinkedIn more than they used all the other platforms combined. An earlier Jobvite Recruiter Nation report also deduced that the same percentage found LinkedIn to be the most effective for finding vetted candidates, going up to 90% for recruiters under 45.

As of April 2020, up to 90% of the recruiters spanning over more than 20 million companies listed on LinkedIn use the site regularly, contributing to the roughly 14 million open jobs on the site according to Kinsta. Furthermore, Hubspot found LinkedIn to be 277% more effective at generating leads than both Twitter and Facebook, which partly explains the 79% of marketers who use the site as an excellent source of leads, with 43% having found a customer there before.

While creating your LinkedIn profile, asking yourself the following questions could help you use its structures to present yourself as a stellar candidate, and be more likely to secure the best opportunities.

Who Are You?

The answer here is usually embodied in the headline section. While this section may often appear as a job title in many profiles (e.g. Senior Financial analyst, Public Relations Executive), it is important to have a broader perspective on this.

A great profile headline encapsulates your personal brand in one statement, basically creating a snapshot of your primary skills in the context in which they come to life. It should also give brief insight into what type of person you are, i.e. a free thinker, driven, detail oriented, etc.

Additionally, if you are in the job market, be sure to consider adding key words that employers in your field will be looking for. Zero in on what you do while saying a little more about yourself, for example:

“Programmer passionate about developing high tech disability aids.”

“Experiential marketer enthusiastic about sports and music events.”

“Investment manager supporting agricultural processing and energy solutions.”

What Do You Do?

The summary of your profile is the public’s first impression, and where you have the chance to elaborate about yourself.

It gives you a chance to go into more detail about the actual activities you have been involved in and personal attributes that have enabled you to realize success in these areas. This is the space on your profile to flesh out your professional story.

Additionally, you may include a few bits about your philosophies/politics but preferably only to the extent that they depict you as effective at what you do.

An example may look like this:

“Managing software development projects, primarily setting achievable goals for team members to ensure timely completion of software writing, ascertaining project requirements and conveying team members’ needs in inter-department meetings, participating in design processes by offering guidance on productivity and confirming overall observance of appropriate procedures.”

It mentions a skill, a scenario where the skill was applied and points to personal qualities like communication and leadership that bring about success.

Where Have You Been?

This speaks largely to the experience section of your profile. It is the one area where you can provide broader information about what you’ve been involved in, going as far as sharing multimedia files relating to your past work (pictures, web links, publications, videos etc.).

Always remember that potential employers can use this information to know more about you through additional searches so pay close attention to the boundaries and avoid filler.

Past projects can portray you as seasoned but may also work against in you in some way.  Below are a few examples to consider before referencing past projects:

• Projects halted in their infancy (say failed to secure Series A funding) may indicate that you are only experienced at that level of a project and nothing beyond.
• A history of quick movement between various positions in different fields could paint you as someone good at surviving/adapting, but also as someone who never sees themselves in anything long-term.
• Projects where you are not explicitly credited in the results such as reports, artworks etc. may not instill confidence in potential employers about your capabilities.

Think critically about what each listing says about you. Ensure that they are recent projects or positions and that they are relevant to what your desired employer would be looking for.  Furthermore, ensure that they are/were successful or reputable endeavors.

Who Knows You?

The endorsements and recommendations section of your profile is there to help you shed more light on how talented others find you. Narrow down the areas in which you believe validation would increase your credibility, and then reach out to relevant contacts to request an endorsement in these areas.

Another effective way to gather recommendations is by sending endorsements to contacts you have worked with in the past.  Showing this support of them can lead to reciprocation and will increase your positive feedback of both skills and past works.

Think of this section as not a list of vouches but also a portal into a pool of people (customers, employers etc.) who are frequently in a position to recommend you for an opportunity, or enrich the narrative surrounding you as a worker.

Is your LinkedIn getting you in enough doors?

Despite the stiff competition in the field of social media as a whole, LinkedIn has continued to set itself apart and carve out a niche in professional career development and networking.

Let the talent specialists at ASB Resources help you polish your LinkedIn profile to make sure that you are attracting the right career opportunities. Schedule some time with one of our recruiters today!