9 Ways to Jazz Up Your LinkedIn Profile

So you are looking for a new job? Why don’t you give yourself a shoutout on LinkedIn?

With over 1.5 million users in Thailand, LinkedIn is an extremely useful self-promotion package for any serious candidate. As a resource for networking, job seeking, and career exploration, LinkedIn stands on top for candidate sourcing in Southeast Asia. If you aren’t actively using LinkedIn to promote your personal brand, think again! The key to a starry profile is completeness. Think of LinkedIn as a friendly, brief version of your resume with added functionality. Here are our 9 easy ways for you to improve and uncover your LinkedIn profile.

Think of what recruiters might be looking for as they browse through LinkedIn looking for candidates. The first thing they will see when a profile appears on LinkedIn search, is your profile photo, work title, latest educational institution and location. Take advantage of this to offer your future employers and recruiters quick but valuable information by making sure that all the information is up to date and accurate.

1- Add A Smiling Professional Photo

Human brains are made to respond to visuals. We just process information better that way. Your LinkedIn profile photo makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others. So, how should you approach taking a photo that is going to make you stand out?

  • Wear appropriate clothes for your target job. You want to appear professional right?
  • Pick a neutral color background: white, beige, light grey will make you stand out more
  • Check the lighting: make sure your face is being exposed to the right amount of light and avoid backlighting. You don’t want shadows covering you.
  • Correct your posture: stand up straight. It makes you and will make you appear more confident
  • Don’t forget to smile. Smiling always makes you appear more approachable.
  • Crop the photo from the shoulders up. Don’t waste valuable space showing anything else

2 – Optimize Your Headline

Headlines appear underneath your name. This is your hook, make it memorable. You have only 120 characters including spaces so pick keywords that contain the value you can bring to others. Insert your job title and employer: CEO at LinkedIn or Mechanical Engineer at Amazing Engineering Co.,Ltd. While adding humor makes you human and approachable, avoid bragging, it can make you seem arrogant.

3 – Elevator Pitch Your Summary

Ask yourself what you are trying to achieve on LinkedIn then use the 5WH: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How, to show your identity and objective. This 2,000-character space is for you to sell yourself. Be authentic in explaining your motivations and why you do what you do. List out your specialties to demonstrate extensive expertise. Share your personal interests, volunteer experiences, and stories to make you relatable and likable. You can also invite readers to connect with you. If you are looking for a job, state it within the very first sentence and make sure that you provide your contact information on your profile.

4 – Recruiter Calling

Let recruiters know you are open for career opportunities by turning on the built-in signal on LinkedIn. Click on ‘Career Interests’ underneath your summary then LinkedIn will give you an option to switch on and off the toggle. If you choose ‘Yes,’ your profile will appear in recruiter searches. You changes are saved automatically. You can also add a personalised note to target recruiters.

5 – Personalize Your URL

Customize your LinkedIn URL by using your full name (e.g. www.linkedin.com/Jane-Doe) or something equally simple. This can be used on your business card or linked to other networking websites, such as Twitter. You personalized URL will also be more search friendly. SEO is good for visibility. It expands your potential for being found.

6 – Enhance Your Profile with Work Samples

Adding photos, articles, and presentations that you have published will not only capture the recruiters’ and potential employees’ attention, but also prove your proficiency. LinkedIn allows you to upload lots of file types from GIF to PowerPoint presentation as long as they are less than 300 MB in size. If you are a journalist, you may want to attach clips and photos, meanwhile if you are a sales manager you can embed your best presentations and stats.

7 – Privacy

It is understandable if you want to keep your information private. However, we recommend you leave your doors open by setting your profile public. LinkedIn provides a few options for privacy. You can choose to share from your profile photo to other information with no one, your connections, your network, and all LinkedIn members. There is a fair argument that job-hunters should leave theirs public.

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
  2. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.
  3. Click the Privacy tab at the top of the page.

From there you can choose to edit section by section.

8 – Quality Connections

Having quality connections will help you reach out to the right people for your future job. Make sure to connect with your present colleagues to gain credibility. Connecting with past colleagues and your alumni from University, school etc. may also help you gain some important contacts. Don’t forget to personalize the note when you request to connect with someone who may not know you well or know you at all. Be careful about how many people you accept onto your network though; think quality over quantity.

9 – Give Recommendations

Think of recommendations as a sort of substitute for referees on your resume; if you regard one of your colleagues or clients particularly highly, write a short paragraph about your experience with them. This will appear on your colleagues’ profiles and will really enhance the professionalism of your profile. You will eventually find that if you start recommending others, they will return the favor.

Remember that LinkedIn is not Facebook, so Keep it professional. Don’t post your night out adventures or anything personal. Do post your videos, presentations, tips and original written works. Time to dust off your LinkedIn profile

Smart Search Recruitment is Bangkok’s leading executive recruitment consultancy. We serve multinational and local companies, sourcing high-caliber candidates and placing them in mid and senior-level roles. For recruitment service inquiries contact us. We are committed to meet our client’s needs by delivering an exceptional level of service. We have insightful HR resources updated everyday. Please keep in touch with us via our social media.

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