Having a complete and interesting profile on LinkedIn improves your chances of getting noticed by companies and recruiters. Maybe you are aware of this already but did you know that organizing your resume online doesn’t have to be a boring and tiring task? It doesn’t even have to take long. If you want to boost your LinkedIn page but are out of ideas, we can help you do that in half an hour. Faster than a Zumba class.
Nídia Panizza is our B2C Marketing & Communication Specialist. She explains that taking care of the information you put on LinkedIn makes all the difference because “this is the first step to start strengthening your personal marketing and achieving the goal of finding your dream job.” Let’s take a look at seven effective steps you can take right now to make your LinkedIn profile better:
1 – Update profile picture with a professional look:
We tend to engage with pictures of people more than pictures of things online. Having no picture on your profile hurts your chances of getting others’ attention and also gives the impression you didn’t put in enough effort. If you still don’t have a face on LinkedIn take a moment right now to fix it. Add a good photo of yourself and choose a nice background photo. Pay attention to LinkedIn’s requirements for uploaded pics. Your photo must be 130 X 130 px and the background photo must be 1.584 x 396 px.
To choose a good professional photo for your resume, follow these simples but important recommendations from LinkedIn:
- Your photo has to look like you: don’t use an image from 10 years ago. Choose a photo that is up to date with what you look like now in terms of hair, glasses, and so on.
- Show up in the photo: Make sure others can see your face in the image. The most professional cut is from the shoulder up.
- Your photo is yours alone: don’t use group images even if you cut other people out of the frame.
- Ask someone to take the photo: selfies work, but they limit your potential. Cellphone front cameras usually have lower resolution than rear ones. Also, if someone else snaps the pic, you will be free to pose.
- What do you mean by pose? You don’t need to do much, but you want to look natural and confident. LinkedIn says images of smiling people attract more attention, however, you should look natural. It’s worth taking a look in the mirror and testing your posture first.
- Choose an appropriate outfit: The best outfit for your profile picture is the one you wear at work.
- Mind the resolution: the profile picture on LinkedIn must be 400 x 400 px, pay attention to the ideal size so that the image is not cut or distorted.
2 – Use a nice background photo
Your background photo is the second most important visual element at the top of your profile page. It grabs people’s attention, sets the context, and shows a little more about what matters to you. The right background photo helps your page stand out, engage attention and stay memorable. Your background photo must be 1.584 x 396 px.
3 – Add all your skill
LinkedIn is a social network aimed at professional contacts. Therefore, you don’t want to leave out the main part of your resume: your skills! Tell the world what you do best and keep the list always up to date. The tech world is always changing, remember to check and edit your skills from time to time. Focus on what is most important to your career right now.
4 – Conect with collegues
Communicating with others is what makes any social network interesting, isn’t it? Don’t treat your LinkedIn profile as a static mural. Try to interact with other professionals, ask questions, talk about ideas, show interest. A nice way of keeping your profile interesting is getting in touch with colleagues from your current work or from other companies you’ve worked for. Good conversations usually generate opportunities.
5 – Give and ask for recommendations
LinkedIn has a specific function so that users can recommend other people’s work and suggests you be generous with it. “Analyze your network and identify the connections that you believe really deserve your endorsement.” Tactfully, you can also ask colleagues to help strengthen your profile by recommending you.
6 – Follow relevant people, companies, and influencers
Who are the people you admire in your market? Which companies are leading your industry? And who is bringing the most innovative ideas? Follow them all! Show your followers that you are knowledgeable and aware of the trends.
7 – Share relevant content
Social networks enable us to exchange interesting information. Sharing relevant content regularly certainly requires extra effort, but it’s well worth it. Here are some LinkedIn guidelines on what to post so that your profile generates engagement:
- Share from your feed: If you don’t want to create original content, share what you found most interesting in your feed. If you are following relevant people and companies this task gets a lot easier.
- Comment on other people’s posts: Interacting with other users makes the whole experience richer. In addition, you can turn your comments into posts on your profile, making the conversation even better.
- Post articles: LinkedIn has a function dedicated to articles called Publications and their content is listed in Google searches which is great if you want to get noticed.
- Share your company material: Your company’s marketing material strengthens your profile. Share case studies, white papers, and other branded content.
Do you need extra help?
You can revamp your LinkedIn profile in less time than a Zumba class, but if you are still not sure how to do it or just need extra help, just go for a Profile Review within the private session from the Premium Academy.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to impress potential employers so put out your best profile. We are here to assist you.
You can learn more about individual consulting sessions here.
Learn more about Premium Academy.
Learn more about how to talk about your experience.
How to write a killer VanHack profile and get noticed by recruiters.
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