Perhaps it’s a good thing that I don’t know a ton about LinkedIn. The site has always interested me, but I haven’t had a need or desire to look for a job in the 4 years that the site has grown in prominence, nor have I been involved enough in hiring to use it as a recruiting tool.
Two things have generated a need to know the site: I’m hiring and it’s turning into a much more prominent marketing tool that businesses can use beyond hiring fresh talent. As a result, I’m promising to learn the site and put more “in” stories to Soshable.
In the meantime, Liz Nutt from Accounting Degree sent us this excellent resource. We normally (never) reprint stories here, but this one is worth the credit with a little teaser to the full list…
- Find out who’s viewed your profile: See the statistics on your profile to learn more about your performance on LinkedIn, and know when it’s a good time to follow up with a contact.
- Update at least every 3 months: Make sure your profile reflects your changing roles.
- Be transparent: Let people learn about you, but still be appropriate.
- Rearrange your profile sections: Showcase what’s most important to you by putting it front and center.
- Include your entire job history: People may be trying to find you by searching for previous companies you’ve worked for.
- Optimize your job titles: Use descriptive keywords in your job titles to attract relevant search engine traffic.
- Customise your links: Instead of using generic links, create personal URLs with more meaning.
- Establish keywords: Consider what words you’d like people to use in order to find you, and make sure they are used liberally in your profile.
- Join groups: Associate the name of the group with your search profile.
- Don’t forget your headline: Make sure that your headline is filled in and accurately reflects your situation.