When you signed up for a LinkedIn account, you probably followed instructions to add your career information, dutifully populating each field with past jobs, descriptions, and education.
But wait – did you pop your resume profile into the About section, or add the first few paragraphs of a stiff, boring biography?
If so, you’ve just missed the chance to optimize every one of those 2,600 About section characters you could be using to draw recruiter and employer attention.
Instead of posting a dry summary that describes you as a great communicator or forward-thinking executive, a keyword-driven suite of short paragraphs and sentences in your About section is CRUCIAL to being found by your desired audience.
Why? In addition to the relationship-building factor, LinkedIn is all about searchability! Employers who aren’t award of your reputation as a sharp sales expert or operations turnaround leader will use keywords to find you—and learn more about why they should hire you.
In addition to keywords, you’ll need to make it easy on your readers by using bullet-style sentences and short phrases, which will allow your top competencies and skills to shine.
The About isn’t the only place in which to add keywords; your profile is also searchable by the Job Titles, Headline, and Skills that you specify. Here’s where you have the chance to make the high points of your career and achievements stand out.
But wait – there’s one more step! Track how many visitors your profile received (look on your Home page on the left-hand side to find out who has viewed your Profile. Look at this metric on a regular basis to see if your visitor volume is increasing.
Don’t forget – your LinkedIn profile isn’t carved in stone. Tuning your profile over time is a good idea to gauge any changes in your visitor metrics, especially if your career goals evolve or you have fresh information to display.
