Social media has allowed people to find old classmates, catch up with family and friends who live out of state, stay up-to-date on high school friend’s lives and has even helped people find their dream jobs.
While Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus can be used for job-hunting, LinkedIn is the top social media networking site for professionals.
As of November 2014, 332 million people are using LinkedIn.
For job searches, LinkedIn can be used to connect you with prospective employers, it can broaden your network, it allows you to stay current with top employers you hope to work for, it can connect you to employees of your dream firm and more.
But, in order to use LinkedIn to its full advantage, you need to have a profile that stands out and makes employers want to hire you.
What You Should Include in Your LinkedIn Profile
People and employers are 11 times more likely to look at profiles with photos, so that should be one of the first things you do.
Ideally, you’ll want to upload a professional head shot of yourself, but if you don’t have one, use a photo that’s clean and portrays you in a professional manner.
Other pieces of information you’ll want to include are:
- Strong headline – Your headline is what’s going to either get employers to stay on your page or it’s going to veer them away. Make it count by being specific, enticing and leaving your viewers wanting to learn more.
- Personal summary – After your headline, you’ll want an eye-catching, personable summary of yourself. Include a brief summary of your previous work experience, any relevant volunteer experience; what it is you’re doing now and what you hope to do in the near future. If you’re willing to relocate, state that. If you’re available immediately, put it in your summary.
- Use LinkedIn groups – Groups allow you to connect with other individuals in your industry and create good conversations. They can also be used to connect with people who have the same interests as you, so join groups to your liking and get to networking.
- Avoid buzzwords – Buzzwords are the most overused words found on LinkedIn profiles. The article “What to Include and Exclude in your LinkedIn Profile” states that instead of using buzzwords, you should provide concrete examples of your work and accomplishments. The top 10 overused buzzwords found by LinkedIn include passionate, motivated, strategic, driven, track record, creative, extensive experience, responsible, dynamic and analytical.
- Recommendations – You should ask for recommendations from fellow employees via LinkedIn and help other people out by recommending them. Giving recommendations makes you an authority in your industry and asking for them can make for a great first impression to the company you want to work for.
- Keep it current – If you get a promotion, change your LinkedIn profile. If you switch companies or take on freelance work, put that on your profile. Log in regularly and see what’s happening with those in your network and stay up-to-date with your own profile. That, coupled with the other strategies mentioned above, will make for a winning LinkedIn profile certain to catch employer’s attention.
Photo credit: Image courtesy of shutterstock.com
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1zAh2E0 via small business marketing company
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