Wouldn’t it be great if instead of applying for jobs, recruiters came to you with job offers instead?
Well it’s possible – but you have to make it easy for them to find you, and LinkedIn is the best platform to grab their attention.
Here are 9 surefire ways to attract and impress headhunters with your LinkedIn profile:
1. Upload a professional profile photo
Did you know that your LinkedIn account ranks higher in search results when you have a profile picture? Take advantage of this with a professional photo that’s sure to make a winning impression. Not any selfie will do, though.
Take a photo in natural, relaxed lighting against a plain coloured background. Dress professionally – something you would wear to an interview. Another thing to remember is to make sure your face fills at least 60% of the photo.
2. Make use of your background photo.
The first thing headhunters will notice after your profile picture is your background image, so don’t treat it like any wallpaper background.
Make use of this space by highlighting your value as a candidate. A good trick is to pick 3 keywords that explain what you do best. For example, “Marketer, Project Manager, Youth Career Speaker.” You can then use a photo that complements those keywords.
Humans are drawn to images so this is an excellent method to make your profile stand out. If you like, include your email address in the background photo as well so headhunters know where to reach you.
3. Think of a catchy headline
If you don’t customize your Headline, LinkedIn will display your current job title and employer as the only information in your headline.
If your title is generic (for example, Manager, Director at ACME business), the reader will have no notion of what distinguishes you from other candidates.
Your goal is to draw attention to yourself and the value you can provide. It’s not the profile page of the company you’re working for; it’s your page, therefore focus on your personal brand.
In your Headline, provide a quick overview of your industry and/or functional abilities. Remember the three example keywords you prepared for your background photo? Put them here so that hiring managers can find you easily when they search for those terms.
4. Write a comprehensive personal summary in third person
It’s easy to skip the overview section and head straight to filling out your experience, but doing so could cost you showing up on an employer’s search results. Just like your Headline, the Summary section is searchable so it’s a great opportunity to insert relevant keywords to your industry, skills, and experience.
The summary’s location near the top of your page helps frame your background for the quick reader. A recap of your previous successes with searchable keywords is a great place to start.
You can write about your entire career journey and not just your current position, especially if you’ve held fascinating positions and made remarkable accomplishments.
Consider writing this in third person with a conversational tone that recounts how you arrived at your work experience. It’s helpful to imagine how someone would introduce you to an audience when writing this section.
5. Include all of your experiences, including those not listed on your resume.
Unlike your resume, on LinkedIn, the more the better. Adding all the companies or organisations you’ve worked will help increase your chances of getting discovered by recruiters and people looking to network with you.
When it comes to the experience section, you don’t need to elaborate as much as you do on your resume. But like other sections on your LinkedIn profile, pay attention to what keywords you include here. Focus on the ones most relevant to your role and roles you want to explore in the future.
Besides that, make sure you’re providing enough information about your current job so that the reader understands what you do and what you’ve accomplished in your most recent role.
6. Ask for recommendations
Supervisors, coworkers, and past lecturers are excellent sources of genuine recommendations for job candidates. Find references who can vouch for your abilities and credentials. With these interesting testaments of your value, you will be able to stand out from the competition.
7. Make reaching out to you easy
You want to be immediately accessible to headhunters when you’re looking for work. Unless you create a new account for that purpose, your primary email address will be posted publicly on LinkedIn. Just make sure it’s an account you check on a regular basis or one that forwards to your primary email address.
We recommend creating an email address exclusively for job searching so you can be sure you don’t miss out on any amazing opportunities.
8. Maintain an active profile
An inactive profile will give recruiters the impression that you are unavailable. You want them to linger on your profile after they’ve seen it, rather than moving on to the next candidate.
Maintain an active LinkedIn profile by posting and communicating with people on a regular basis, preferably those in your field of expertise and interest. Create a presence by posting your thoughts, sharing articles, commenting, and liking others’ posts. It is also an easy way to build connections in the industry!
9. Drop your resume with recruiters at Hiredly X
Get immediately get noticed by our experienced headhunters at Hiredly X by submitting your resume to x.hiredly.com.
Let our headhunters know that you’re interested in exploring new options, and they’ll contact you when they find a match!