Having a LinkedIn profile is a great way to be found when you are looking for a career change. Recruiters actively search through LinkedIn to find ideal candidates. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile or your profile is out of date, the chance of being contacted greatly diminishes.
We have put together a profile checklist which we hope you find useful
LinkedIn Profile Basics
Name
- Is the name you have on your profile correct? A lot of people include their job title in their profile name. This is unadvisable.
Profile Picture
- Can you clearly see your face?
- Is the image in a professional setting? A great photo on a night out is not appropriate.
- Does the photo have filters applied? Photos with filters applied are generally not a good idea!
- Is the photo of a high enough resolution so that it isn’t pixilated?
LinkedIn Profile Headline
- What is your role? If several job titles appear it might make your role unclear and may not appear in LinkedIn search results.
- You may want to include your current company.
- If you are currently a student or are unemployed, describe your ideal role. Be realistic here though - make sure the job you want is achievable with your experience and qualifications.
Profile Summary
- Consider the profile summary in the same way you would an executive summary on your CV
- Use optimised search terms
- Explain your career
- Use bullet points and short paragraphs
- Include your achievements
Education
- Include your highest qualification
- Include your professional qualifications
Experience
- In the description for each job, include:
- three achievements
- your main responsibilities
- any awards received
- Use a standardised job title if your actual job title is more creative. An example being “PHP Guru” should be written as “PHP developer”
Skills and Endorsements
- Identify 10 skills which you possess
- Try to get 5-10 professional endorsements for your skills
Interests
- Include companies that you aspire to work for