9 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

9 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile Photo Credit: linkedin.com 1. Your Photo. Your picture should be up to date, professional-looking, and should include only you in the shot no cropping you out of a group shot where you have somebodys unattached hand on your shoulder. Your photo should also preferably not have a distracting background and should be somewhat cropped in on your face so youre easily recognizable and front and center. If possible, avoid selfies. 2. Your Summary. Your summary is an absolute necessity to your LinkedIn profile but it shouldnt be too long or too short. While you may be able to use up to 2,000 characters, keep it shorter and use the space to really let other users get to know you in your voice and your tone. Discuss your major accomplishments, your background, and what your goals are, and make it personal; your description could make the difference between someone wanting to hire you and a potential employer choosing someone else. Make yourself stand out. 3. Your Headline. Though only 120 characters long, they are super important to your profile as they relay the most basic thing about yourself you want others to know. Be sure to include the most important keywords and how you are branding yourself as this is the first thing connections and possible recruiters will see on your LinkedIn profile. When coming up with your headline, try to keep in mind what your goals are for your career and write your headline based on what you want to do and be next while also highlighting your current experiences and or employment. 4. Your Groups. Similar to Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups are numerous and diverse, but important to join. Theyre great ways to network, find out about employment opportunities, get advice from others in your field or looking to get into your field, and increase your visibility. There are over 1.8 million LinkedIn groups you can consider joining, so try to find ones that are most relevant to you and your future and start interacting with other members in the groups you never know where those connections may lead. 5. Your Publications. Though you may not include links to your publications on your resume, on LinkedIn its super easy to add them to your profile and they are much more likely to be clicked on through the site. Be sure to add links to your published works to your LinkedIn profile or if there is no link, still include the name and date of the publication and perhaps a short sentence about what your work was about. You can also add links and info for interviews, videos, photographs, etc. Photo Credit: mashable.com 6. Your Connections.  Unlike Facebook, you dont have to know someone on LinkedIn to ask to connect with them (though people often follow the same rule on Facebook). Find someone whos interested in the same field as you? Consider connecting with them. Discover somebody who works at your dream company? Send them a request to connect. Having a lot of connections means you have the ability to more broadly network and reach out to people you otherwise wouldnt have even known about. Sometimes its about who you know, or who the people you know know. 7. Your Honors and Awards. This is where you get to highlight your awesomeness (#HumbleBrag). Anything from college and onward is okay to include here. Were you on the Deans List? Add it to this action. Were you the first Latina to receive a specific scholarship? List that accomplishment here. Anything you think is worth a potential employer knowing about that sets you apart and shows youre a go-getter, that you take initiative, that you work hard, and that youre an impressive person should be shortly listed in this section. If you rock at something, people should know about it. 8. Your Skills and Endorsements. This section of your LinkedIn profile is one of the most crucial as it allows other LinkedIn users and connections to affirm what skills you possess. By getting endorsements, it gives you credibility as others are willing to back up the skills you claim to have which gives future employers a bit more reliability as far as knowing what theyll get if they hire you. If youre having trouble getting people to endorse you, consider reaching out to a former boss and asking them to endorse a skill they know you have or endorse a friends skill and theyll probably endorse you back. 9. Your Recommendations. While the skills and endorsements are important, actual recommendations arguably carry more weight. Through LinkedIn, you can ask for a recommendation from a colleague, former boss, professor, or other connection who will write good things about you, which will look good to anyone looking at your LinkedIn profile or considering you for a job. So if you havent already executed these nine steps to improve your LinkedIn profile, theres no time like the present to do so. The sooner you improve and optimize your profile, the better your chances of being noticed by recruiters and gaining more connections and contacts, which is always a good thing.