A career coach has shared her methods for improving your LinkedIn profile to boost your chances of making a better impression on potential future employers. The Mirror says that, when it comes to careers, you can be hard pushed to find two things people hate more than CVs and networking.
LinkedIn is the internet's largest professional network but, unfortunately, many people do not know how to get the best out of it. However, career coach Rachel Schofield insists that even the simplest of well-designed profiles can make a real difference.
Talking to the Mirror, the expert explained how you can best utilise the platform, plus the major mistake she often comes across. First and foremost, Rachel explains why LinkedIn can be so useful. She says the platform, which you can link in your CV, is a great way to boost your 'online footprint'.
"You can put videos, so people can see you in action talking about stuff. You can put leadership pieces, showing that you are across what's going on in your industry and that you've got unusual ideas," Rachel said.
"Some people get scared of LinkedIn because they think it has to be all bells and whistles. At the very least just keep it up to date. Keep it ticking over so that when people find you they've got a lovely photo they can see of you and they've got everything up to date."
Your profile should be clean, tidy, and a good representation of who you are, she adds, and if you feel like you've got a lot of work to do, take it one step at a time. "If you set yourself the goal of making the most amazing LinkedIn profile with every single thing filled in that's going to blow everyone's minds, you will soon give up because it will get overwhelming," she added.
"If you think, right this week I'm going to work on that section, next week I'm going to do this and this, at least you've got something there that is who you are."
Alongside polishing up your LinkedIn, she recommends it could also be worth conducting a career MOT. She said: "Normally, if we're employed, we get to have a session with our line manager to talk about how the year's been, what's been good, what's been successful, what do you want to do more of, what have you not enjoyed, where do you see yourself going?
"But a lot of people I work with say, 'well I had a vague conversation with my boss, but it wasn't very helpful'. So I always say to people every year it's great to do your own career MOT.
"Just make some time and space to get under the bonnet of your work and find out what's running smoothly, what's making funny noises and making me uneasy, what's not heading me in the right direction, so that you can take ownership of your career and feel a little bit more in control of the direction it's going in."
Rachel Schofield's The Career Change Guide, published by Penguin Michael Joseph, is available now.
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