The new year can bring many new opportunities and openings. As a professional the chances are that at some point your LinkedIn profile is going to be looked at as part of the diligence process.
Is it communicating the best of you?
Here are 5 actions you should take this month to ensure your profile is ready for those opportunities;
- HEADLINE – Often this, along with your headshot are the only parts of your profile someone see’s in an initial list from a search. So rather than have just your job title ensure that you have captured what it is you do and the impact you have. You have 120 characters (or the first 68 get seen on the mobile app) use them wisely.
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PHOTO – You now have two opportunities to post a photo as part of your profile. The headshot, which should be professional and, if possible and acceptable, reflect your personal brand in some way. The second is the header image. This is larger and partly obscured by your profile but can be a little more personal. Just recently two clients have used photos of themselves enjoying their leisure pursuits and had very positive feedback. - SUMMARY – This is prime real estate when it comes to your profile. You have the opportunity to write up to 2,000 characters so lots of space to tell a story and reflect your personal brand more deeply as well as get in some the key words people might be searching for you on.
- CONTACT – It still astounds me how many people do not have their full contact details available, at least to their first tier connections. I have had to message several people in my network in the last month to ask them for phone numbers, even e-mails!!
5. MULTIMEDIA – LinkedIn is becoming much more interactive and visual. Sadly some of the updates we are now seeing in our streams are, in my opinion, not items that belong on a professional network. However in your summary and experience areas you can now embed slidedecks via Slideshare or videos and really start to make your profile 3D.
There are anywhere between 20 and 40 major areas that you can edit your LinkedIn profile to build it out. These 5 should be the first you look at because they will give you the most return on the time you invest in them.
What else do you recommend should be done to your profile?