What Recruitment Teams See and Look for on a LinkedIn Profile

In this continuing series, our Manager of Human Resources, Jody Waddle, digs deeper into the recruitment process to provide more insight for individuals involved in their own job search process.

 

In my previous article on the 7 Steps to Help Manage Your Layoff Experience Successfully, I spoke of the substantive steps anyone can take when faced with the impending layoff boom that is occurring in many industries today. In this article, I dig deeper into how to essentially show off all you have done in the best light by using one of the most prolific social recruiting tools out there: LinkedIn.

Updating your LinkedIn profile is an incredibly important step to ensure you have the highest chance of demonstrating your value to potential employers, whether you are currently looking or not. Think of it as a method of personal branding. As Jill Avery and Rachel Greenwald mentioned in their recent Harvard Business Review article, diving into personal branding is “persuading others to recognize your value.” How do you establish yourself as an expert or senior professional in your field if you don’t show it publicly? In following these tips, your chances of being noticed by a recruiter may increase significantly.

Your Headline is a Key to Your Profile

If any person were to navigate to your LinkedIn profile, the first thing they would see is your image, followed by your headline. What this headline says about you is the first impression that a recruiter has of you and your experience, regardless of your full profile’s content. It speaks directly to what you do, your skills, and your accomplishments, all in one short mini-sentence.

What it should say

Although it may seem counterintuitive, your headline should not be your job title. Job titles are subjective to each company and can often cause confusion about your field of expertise. If you’ve been employed by larger organizations, they tend to have very specific job titles with siloed responsibilities. However, that may not fully reflect the skills you bring to the table.

Another possibility is to put multiple pieces of information together, especially if your field has some specialties you excel in. For example, on my profile, I could have Senior Human Resources Professional | Talent Management Leader | Employee Relations Expert to demonstrate other areas of expertise within my profession.

In addition to that, it can also be important to highlight your level of seniority. As you’ve gained experience over the years, embrace that seniority level by adding that you are a senior expert if it fits your field. Senior Writer, Senior Human Resources Professional, or Senior Architect entices visions of experience levels. Although not a requirement, it provides potential viewers with a snapshot of the experienced individual over one less seasoned in their career.

 

 
What it shouldn’t say

This brings me to a great point that in no way should your headline provide false or even slightly stretched information, as it will put your profile on red alert should the recruiter find the experience levels listed in your profile not to match a senior level.

A second tip that is more of a personal preference is if you’re searching for standard employment in a professional setting, skip the sunshine emojis. Not only do they not align with any job I am aware of, but they also take up valuable word space for you to be able to demonstrate what you do.

A picture is worth how many words?

This may seem obvious, but it’s important to update your photo to match the level of seriousness of your role. Many of us started out on LinkedIn taking selfies in our car, and then graduated to semi-professional standards. Either way, it should match the norms within your profession. Safety Officer? I expect a hi-vis vest and safety glasses, but an accountant may require a little more formal attire.

Word Count Matters

As a recruiter, I’ve seen thousands of profiles over the years, and I’m still surprised by the occasional blank description boxes under job experiences. Without this information, I cannot confidently push the individual’s information to a hiring manager.

There are 2600 characters in your “About” section. Fill it. No, really, fill it. Remember those objective statements from the ‘90s and the summaries of the early ‘10s we were told were outdated for our resumes? Mash those up and fill up this space and showcase your skills, abilities, and a little bit of personality.

In that same thread, each job listing on your profile has 2000 characters to help you demonstrate what you did in each role. You likely know what I’m going to say, but there’s more. LinkedIn’s formatting capabilities are less than stellar, so the trick here is to use a document creator to build visibly appealing bullet points (I’m a sucker for a good bulleted list). Bring that description right into whichever document tool you use, and utilize the simple bullet formatting. When you copy and paste it into the experience section for each job, the bullets are copied. Just note that you won’t be able to go too fancy.

With the experience section, much like your resume, it isn’t necessary to list every job you’ve ever done. I recently removed a school bus driver job I had when my children were little, as it has little relevance to my current roles (besides incredible patience and the ability to drive distracted by teenagers). While every job brought you to where you are today, not all of them carry the same relevance.

Additional Information

We’ve covered the sections about you and your experiences, but there are various other profile sections in your profile that are essential pieces to finish the job and entice a recruiter to reach out.

One that was recently brought to my attention as the occasional contributor to a blog is the Creator mode. This is an often underutilized system for those that are regularly active on the site, as being in Creator mode can help you showcase some of the activities you’ve participated in. Whether that’s writing a blog such as this, or articles on LinkedIn, Creator mode allows more individuals to follow you and gives you access to LinkedIn’s creator tools.

 

Being creative with the additional items on the profile can run the gamut from adding volunteer work to licenses to skills or education. While these tend to be the last to be viewed, they are equally as important, especially if your potential desired position requires licenses or specialized education.

At this point in the article, you know already that I’m going to recommend you fill it. Add your education, skills, and abilities to your profile, especially if there’s an official credential to link to. Post those publications or projects you’ve worked on and any team collaboration programs where you volunteered your time.

A final section to pay attention to is the recommendations section. This is the time to reach out to that coworker who swore they’d follow you wherever you worked. Or, ask that recent manager who was very pleased with a recent accomplishment if she would consider providing you with a written recommendation on LinkedIn.

 

Conclusion

In the end, to make sure you put your best foot forward to be noticed by recruiters when searching for a new job, it is essential to utilize the tools readily available at your fingertips. Ask for those recommendations, perk up your About Me section, add recent certifications or projects, and bring forward all the items at your disposal to increase your chances of being seen and noticed. Next thing you know, you’ll find a recruiter like me sending you an inMail asking to meet…

 

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