With the Great Resignation ongoing – earlier this year research by PWC found that almost a fifth of UK workers planned to seek a new job in the following 12 months – it has never been more important to have your online resumé polished to perfection. Here are my top tips for building your audience and standing out from the crowd – plus insight from a selection of LinkedIn luminaries. Go tweak that profile.
First impressions last
Choose your headshot wisely - make sure you have the best version of yourself as a photo. Shallow as it may be, people often make a decision about whether to engage with you based on that snap. Lose the glass of wine, the pets and the heavy filters. Consider doing a professional shoot.
Don’t forget video
Make use of LinkedIn’s video function, which is only available on the app. Many people either don’t bother or don’t know about it, but hearing someone’s voice can add warmth to their profile and allow their personality to come to life.
Tweak your job title
“You have 100 characters in the job title field and most job titles are nowhere near that, which means you can add relevant keywords,” says Mark Williams, a LinkedIn trainer. The platform’s searches are keyword-based and the job title is by far the most keyword-sensitive field in your profile. “So instead of ‘project manager’ put ‘project manager, specialising in keyword, keyword, keyword.’’’
Don’t undersell your career history
Add all jobs into the Experience section, even where you work only part time. For example, I only do a small amount of university lecturing but as I am paid to this as a job, it adds credibility to my offering. Do include volunteer work too. It’s all relevant.
Think like a professional writer
When you’re updating your profile, write like you speak, says Amelia Sordell, founder of personal brand platform Klowt. “You’re not writing a thank you card to your Grandma, so don’t write like you are. The opening sentences of a post are the most important. People can only see the first few lines of a post before deciding whether or not to bother reading on so make them count. What’s the punchiest thing you can say? People buy simplicity, not complexity so get to the point fast.”
Tick, tick, tick
Maximise your About section, by breaking down what you do/ offer into paragraphs headed up with green ticks. It makes it easier for busy people to navigate your profile.
Keep it real (to a point)
Aside from your perfectly polished headshot, don’t overproduce your images or content, advises Amelia Sordell. “People like real. And if that means you’ve screenshotted a WhatsApp from your client or recorded a sweaty TikTok from your phone then roll with it.”
Endorse as a matter of course
Make sure you gather testimonials from people you have worked with, so it’s not just you telling people you’re brilliant, it’s others too. Return the favour to colleagues.
Look around you
Don’t spend all your time on LinkedIn finessing your own profile, instead take a good look around. “Learn from other people,” says Amelia Sordell. “Study the big personal brands, the middleweight personal brands and those who are up and coming. You can learn a lot about creating content from consuming other people’s.”
Consistency is key
Like all social media platforms, you’ve got to be in it (often) to win it, says Anthony James, the founder of Influencer Active who has over 4m followers on Linkedin. “You need consistency with your posting – just one or two posts a week really does not cut it. You need consistency with engagement, so meaningfully engaging with others’ posts and adding to the discussion. And consistency with managing, fostering and nurturing your network.”
