The LinkedIn ‘Tune Up’
This month we caught up with Ben and Dudley who make up our automotive recruitment team here at Tru Talent. They have been so excited to share our new blog with you, where we dive into the depths of LinkedIn and how this social media platform can be a fantastic tool (if used well) in the hunt for your dream job, growing your professional network, and to share your great work and achievements with the world.
Our automotive team could (and would if you let them) share buckets of great tips and insights into how LinkedIn has become the modern-day C.V, how it has changed the face of the hiring landscape, how both employers and potential employees are using this platform to reach greater audiences than ever before, how easy it is to grow a powerful professional network and make connections that haven’t been possible before and to of course land that dream job you’ve always wanted. But that may be a little much for this blog, so Ben, Dudley, and Anton have decided to bring you their top six tried and tested essentials for creating a powerhouse LinkedIn profile. Many of these tips may seem obvious but these small steps can make a huge difference.
A recent study found that job applicants with a powerful LinkedIn profile are 71% more likely to receive a call back for a job interview than those with no LinkedIn profile at all.
Your Headline - ‘The Golden Sentence’
The Headline is the piece of text featured directly under your name. This is a snapshot of text and the first thing people will read on your profile. It’s the place where you want to share what you do (your profession), who you help, how you help, and to achieve what outcome. It’s best to try and capture this in one short sentence, an example of this could be “Recruitment Consultant - Helping automotive repair companies nationwide find skilled and talented candidates to achieve the highest quality repairs’. Use these 4 elements or a variation of them to make it clear to the reader who you are, what you do, and how you can bring value.
This piece of text also appears directly under your name whenever you comment on another person's posts, they’ll be able to see at a glance who you are and what you do without even opening your profile.
Your Profile Picture
Your profile picture is more important than you know. This is where the subtle elements can make a huge difference. Of course, the lovely photo of you at that wedding with your friends cropped out will do, but we’re not looking for just ok here, we’re looking to take your LinkedIn profile to the next level. Remember these 5 things when you’re taking/ choosing your profile picture:
A photo of just you, preferably from the shoulders up… a classic ‘headshot’.
“Dress for the job you want” - Dress smart or smart casual, use your discretion as to what is most appropriate within your industry.
A plain background works best.
Make sure you’re in focus.
Try a smile on for size.
About - Summary
Your Summary is such an important part of your LinkedIn profile and is most commonly the second thing other LinkedIn users will read after your headline. It’s an overview of your professional life where you get to showcase your expertise, successes, and importantly your character too.
What separates the good from the great when it comes to a LinkedIn Summary is letting your authentic self shine through. Be you, yes really you, keep it professional but let the real you come through. This is much more than just a vanilla CV header crammed full of words you’d never used in real life!
With up to 2,000 characters to use here (you don’t need to use them all) you can create an impressive summary that fellow LinkedIn users and potential employers will enjoy reading.
Remember these key points when writing your Summary:-
Introduction - Start your LinkedIn summary by introducing yourself.
Authenticity - Be you... yes, really you!
Achievements, skills, and key experiences - Tell us some of your proudest achievements and successes along with the experiences and skills you’ve developed through your career.
Numbers and Data - Don’t be afraid to back up your achievements and successes with specific numbers and data.
Unique Value Proposition - This is a short statement that describes the benefit of you and your offer, how you solve your customer's needs and what distinguishes you from the competition.
Call to Action - Prompt readers to get in touch with you, to connect, and begin a conversation.. after all it's a social platform.. be social.
Background - Your Professional Experience
Be sure to add your previous employment history to your LinkedIn profile. This helps build that bigger picture of your professional journey and adds credibility too. Writing a short summary of your role and responsibilities for each position will really take your profile to the next level.
Skills & Endorsements
Add all your skills in all elements of your current and previous roles. This plays well to the current ‘LinkedIn algorithm’ and most importantly makes it easy for you to be found by someone searching LinkedIn for a person just like you with your skill set and experience. If you can get these skills endorsed by a senior figure in your organisation / previous organisation, that will add even more weight to this section of your profile.
Connecting, Posting, and Engagement
Now get busy connecting, commenting, and posting. Explore and ‘be social’, we really mean it. The more you engage with others the more you will appear in their feed (and their friends feed too), the more you give, the more you’ll get… its an algorithm thing… it’s a life thing!
But First…
The unspoken rule of LinkedIn!
LinkedIn is a special place, unlike other social platforms, LinkedIn maintains a certain etiquette. Now we’re not saying boring, grey and super corporate feels, no we’re just saying spend a little time in your feed, jump into some comments, see how people are speaking to one another, see what is being posted, see what is Not being posted and you’ll see what we mean.
Remember your next potential employer will most probably search social media platforms to gain a better picture of you when considering you as a candidate, your LinkedIn profile will be the first in line. (‘Privacy settings people’ - for all social platforms).
For more great tips on how to take your LinkedIn profile to the next level and all other aspects of the hiring journey follow us on socials @tru_talent_ on Instagram or @TruTalentUK on Facebook.
