Tips on Creating a Good LinkedIn Profile

16 November 2021

Olivia Roberts

LinkedIn is becoming increasingly important for job seekers and current students, with 91% of recruiters regularly using LinkedIn to search for possible candidates. Having an up to date, complete LinkedIn profile can help you to be seen by employers as a potential candidate and can provide you with a large network of people with similar interests. With its near 800 million users, it can be difficult to make your profile stand-out, we have created some tips to help you boost your profile.

 

Add a Profile Photo and Headline.

Employers are more likely to review profiles that have a profile photo and a headline. A photo and a headline let employers know, when searching for possible candidates, a little more about you. Your LinkedIn profile photo should look professional and your headline should state your current course/role as this will help employers decide if you are what they are looking for in their company! A profile photo will also allow colleagues/peers to be able to find you and connect, expanding your network. A profile photo can also be useful to recruiters before job interviews with candidates. You can even add banners such as ‘Open to Work’ onto your profile picture, when recruiters are searching for candidates, they can choose to filter by profiles that have this ‘open to work’ banner.

Write your Personal Bio in the About Section.

A personal bio is used to share more about you, what you study/have studied, what you hope to achieve in the future, and why. Another feature that employers can use is to search key words that exist in candidates’ profiles, for example, if you are looking for a job in a specific area or for a specific role, be sure to use key words that you see in job descriptions of roles you are interested in to explain your current skills and ensure employers can find your profile! Your bio is also a place to describe your other hobbies and interests that you enjoy alongside your studies. If you have a part-time job during university, are part of a society, have a blog or anything similar then you should write about this and what the experience has taught you/what skills you have gained as a result.

Connect with People you Know and Professionals in Your Field.

LinkedIn allows you to connect with people, see their profile and send messages. Connecting with people you know will expand your network and make your profile visible to more people. You can also connect with professionals within the field you aim to go into, alternatively you can ‘follow’ them, by doing this you can see their profiles, experience and posts which may give you some ideas on what you can do whilst at university to stand out in the future. You can also reach-out to professionals to ask any questions you may have, LinkedIn has provided opportunities for people to find mentorships and gain insight into careers by sending messages to people who they have found interesting!

Interact with Content.

Interacting with posts/creating your own posts helps to boost your profile and again, attract more attention to your profile by sharing it with more people. LinkedIn is mostly used to showcase your achievements and so sharing job updates, extracurricular and educational achievements can boost your profile and show your network what you are getting up too.

Make your Profile More Inclusive.

LinkedIn has recently added features that can help you make your profile more inclusive, such as adding an additional name, name pronunciation and pronouns. Inclusivity is becoming an increasingly important value that many companies are looking for, showing that this is a value that you personally have will show you have the values recruiters are looking for. The additional name feature can be used to add a previous name, in order for people who knew you by this name to be able to find you and connect! Name pronunciation has been used by recruiters before interviews, and pronouns can be added by everyone to provide a more inclusive environment.

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