I’ve talked a little bit about LinkedIn before, and the power of the profile picture, but is there more you can be adding to your profile to make you truly stand out? Below are a few things which can highly increase your chances of getting noticed.
Add a photo: One of the things I love most about LinkedIn is that is makes recruiting or looking for a job a bit more personal. Putting a face to a name subconsciously makes us feel more connected to a person, instead of seeing a bunch of text in front of us (a resume) and trying to conjure up an image. According to a recent LinkedIn study, people with profile pictures are 14 times more likely to get noticed and get profile views. For more specific information about your profile picture, check out my article, “The Importance of Your LinkedIn Profile Picture”.
Join as many pertinent groups (to you) as possible: Joining groups on LinkedIn expands your network, but it also gives you insight as to what is going on in industries or companies relating to you. Even alumni networks make a huge deal, often including job postings to try to get fellow alumni to join a company. Similarly, being aware of industry news and rends gives you something to talk about during interviews and networking events. It will help you gain a more common ground and break the ice with people, and will also portray you as a knowledgeable resource for information on your industry and job.
Update you profile and create posts as often as possible: Continually updating your profile with new skills or tasks at work keeps you on people’s radar. Similarly with creating a post, every time you edit your profile, it shows as an update on your connections’ news feed, in turn keeping you on their mind for networking purposes. If you can create a post or share an article every so often as well, that’s even better because it shows that you keep up to date on topics and trends within your field. You want to be as present as possible on LinkedIn, commenting on others’ posts and updates, keeping you relevant on everyone’s newsfeed.
Add in your volunteer work: Recent LinkedIn studies have shown that 42% of hiring managers view volunteer work as being the same as work experience. Volunteer work shows that you care about others, are passionate about that aspect of your life, and are keeping busy. If you are unemployed, but volunteering a lot, it shows that you are being proactive with your time and not hanging out on the couch all day. This accounts for any employment gaps, and gives you brownie points for paying it forward!
Make your profile detailed: Often on resumes, we can’t include everything, but on LinkedIn, we can add a lot more aspects. Little side jobs, volunteer work, extra education and training that maybe doesn’t fit on your resume is okay for LinkedIn. The more little detailed like groups you join, and minor add-ins give recruiters and hiring managers more insight as to who you are. Along with your picture, this gives them a more clear image of who they are looking at as a candidate; how you might be in the work place.