Do you want to know the top 3 tips to make your LinkedIn profile POP? Start with attention spans. They’re short!
Thus, I’m not going to bore you with a ton of info or dialog. Where am I getting them from? Working with LinkedIn, my own trial and error, and a dash of common sense.
Why do they matter? They may be all you people see of your profile. If it’s not good enough, fast enough, they move on!
1. PICTURE THIS!
You may have heard that a picture is worth 1,000 words. On LinkedIn, “Members with a profile photo receive up to 21x more profile views and 9x more connection requests.”
You know the drill. Professional, not a crop out. Selfie if you must. Plain background. No sunglasses. Looking straight ahead, like you want to engage with us. From the shoulders up, so we can see your smiling face.
Think about it. How more likely are you to connect, engage or even click on a profile that has a bad or missing picture? I know it’s Halloween, but do you really want to be sp?ked?
2. POSITION YOURSELF CAREFULLY
OK, this one is big enough to have 3 parts itself. Here are the reasons why your current position matters: VIEWS, SEARCHES and RECRUITERS.
VIEWS
First off, without a current position, you reduce your VIEW chances on LinkedIn. LinkedIn says “adding a current position can lead to 8X more profile views. If you’re not yet employed, not to worry — adding in your education will get you 17x more messages from recruiters.”
Speaking of views, your current position is the first thing people see at the top-right of your profile – directly to the right of your name. (See #2 in the article picture.)
SEARCHES
If you don’t have a photo OR a current position, you go lower in SEARCHES as you are no longer an ALL-STAR. So ALWAYS have both, even if you are not working. (Learn more how #ONO Gets Jobs)
LinkedIn says 2 million people search by current position every week. Prove it yourself by searching people with any term. See where your term is in a person’s profile? Usually in the “Current:” position!
RECRUITERS
Finally, research proved this is one of the 6 things RECRUITERS search for in 6 seconds! I’ve had clients wanting to highlight past positions, but all the recruiters did was focus on the current one! Believe me, they will seek this out to learn what you’ve been doing lately.
To make it work for you: write great content, show your results, and add keyword skills! (Will have to do more on that for another post…)
3. HEADLINE STARTS OR STALLS
Then there’s the mother of them all. The headline! Think it’s not important? It goes with your EVERYWHERE on the platform. So choose wisely. It may be the only thing people see about you before deciding to engage or view your profile.
Did you know LinkedIn puts a default of your current title and company? BOR-ING! It may work if it says “CEO at LinkedIn”, but that’s about it.
To hone your headline, see how Headlines Get The Job: The 3 Ts of Tagline, Talents, and Targets.
You could argue that Talent should come before Tagline. As in, “Project Manager who gets projects done on time and under budget for SMBs”. That’s because in many place on the LinkedIn app, you see as few as the first 4-5 words of the headline. So you need to make them count, fast! Plus, if you get too cute, you risk losing people.
But it needs to stand out as well. That’s more the Tagline. Try different ones. See what seems to work.
ONE MORE TIP
I recently learned the hard way that the new algorithm does NOT like symbols in your name and probably the headline either. My post views went to near-0. I had them in both and decided to not take more chances!
DID THIS HELP?
I’d be grateful if you showed it by telling me directly or in this or my other career articles and posts: https://JaredJWiese.fyi.to/career-content
You can also find me on LinkedIn, of course: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredjwiese-profiles-that-pop/
Are you a #jobseeker looking for a job or a #recruiter trying to fill one? Check out http://box5318.temp.domains/~irabowma/projecthelpyougrow.
Thank you for this contribution to my blog Jared! I know firsthand how important a good profile on LinkedIn is, and how it can help.
It was my pleasure, Ira. Love what you are doing to help so many!
Amazing, and really helpful!
Hello dear All, please someone can help how to post My resume.
Great advice and suggestions. I was a bit worried since I’m unemployed and don’t have a current job, however, I have my education listed so I should be good. I am going to review my headline to see where I can make some improvements/changes.
Amazing ! very helpful.
Glad to hear it, Avisek!
I took Jared’s advice regarding the profile headline and changed mine so it pops!! I also added to my summary. I’m getting a lot of views but not many from legal professionals so hopefully this will help.
Looking better, Lauri. I DMed you #3freetips.
Please check my profile and guide me what changes I have to make and Mr Ira told me to tag my profile to him and Oleg I don’t know how to tag and how to post can you explain me sir
Masthanvali, to smart tag on LinkedIn, simply type the @ symbol, then start typing the person’s name you want to smart tag. You’ll see a dynamic list appear as you start to type. Once you see the name of your connection, you can click on it. Make sure there is no space between the @ symbol and the person’s name. So @Ira Bowman on LinkedIn will result in a smart tag for me, as an example.
Thank you Jared. I appreciate the feedback. I made some additional changes based on your message and tips. I have found a LinkedIn profile, just like a resume is definitely a work in progress and needs to evolve and change.
It sure is, Lauri! I feel like I change my at least once a week! It’s part of the fun 🙂
Thanks for the helpful tips. I will love to have you check my LinkedIn profile for corrections on my profile summary.
Do you mind if I smart tag you, same applies to Oleg
Smart tags only work on social media platforms. You can share the link to the blog on Facebook or LinkedIn and smart tag there if you like.