How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Shine

How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Shine How to Make your LinkedIn Profile Shine     Let’s face it,  in the world of job search,  if you are not on LinkedIn, you don’t exist.  LinkedIn  offers the broadest array of resources to move your job search,  and your career,  forward.  Having a strong LinkedIn profile is a critical success factor in job search success and your profile needs to speak to your target  job  market.   How LinkedIn Helps You   LinkedIn can assist you in looking for open job positions, moving into a more senior position, or changing careers altogether.   Discover and find  companies that hire people like you.  You can search LinkedIn using your own skills and interests as the keywords.     Find work at specific companies. You can become instantly notified and updated when a job opening comes up at one of your target companies.     Develop human resources, recruiting and hiring manager contacts.     The advanced search features will save you time and deliver the best information to you.     Your LinkedIn Profile     Of course, the Holy Grail of LinkedIn is to  log in  and see an e-mail from a recruiter who found you on LinkedIn and has a position they want you to interview for.  However,  that’s not going to happen if your profile is not feeding the algorithm beast.     And, just what does the LinkedIn algorithm want to eat??A  good profile includes the following.     A summary packed with key words and key phrases that your future position type calls out in their job descriptions.   A headline packed with skills words that are relevant to the future position hiring team.   Under each job, your bullets should be in stack rank order, starting with the most important ones to the reader.   Repeat skill words under each job. Don’t assume since you mentioned “cross-team collaboration” once that you’re done. The algorithm values the repetition.   Some  LinkedIn  profile basic  components  include:     Name; make sure the  URL is customized to your name     Professional photo;  help them picture you working with them     Great headline; use a grabber that makes a recruiter want to read more about you   Current or desired industry; be clear up front about the industry you want and locations   Contact information  that is found in  multiple places in your profile; make it easy for them to get a hold of you     LinkedIn  vs.  Résumé   There is one school of thought that says  keep  your LinkedIn profile brief  and another that says it should  match your  résumé.  I  suggest making  your LinkedIn  profile  your digital  résumé.  Most recruiters expect  to get what they are looking for from your LinkedIn profile with a resume to back it up. They will want to  go  to LinkedIn for the information  and just print or look at your resume. Most importantly, if you put  just  a shortened version  of your resume into LinkedIn, youre missing the opportunity to  include  all those bullet points  full of information  from your resume.     Finally, in addition to your skills and work experience, don’t forget to include  publications  you have issued,  honors and awards  received, volunteer  work conducted, and  any  connections and groups that you belong to.  You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression; ensure your digital impression is a strong one.     Join Dana  Manciagli’s  Job Search Master Class ®  now  and get the most comprehensive  online  job search system available!