Whether you are pursuing digital marketing jobs, copywriting jobs or design jobs, your presence on social media is sure to be evaluated with a fine-toothed comb. Your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts may be a mix of professional and personal, but your LinkedIn profile is your true opportunity to promote your professional brand and connect with potential employers and like-minded professionals.
According to Business 2 Community, there are currently an estimated 300 million users on LinkedIn, and the number is continuously growing. With so many profiles on the professional networking site, how can you position yourself so that yours isn’t lost in the mix? Here are some stats to back the importance of LinkedIn optimization and make your profile stand out, appearing in more search results:
Get a friend to take a professional photo of you for your profile.
Photos make you 14 times more likely to be viewed.
A photo is worth a thousand words, and, according to U.S. News & World Report, 14 times as many profile views. Catherine Fisher, senior director of corporate communications at LinkedIn, shared this statistic and the importance of literally putting a face to a candidate’s name. When an employer can see a photo, it makes the profile more personal. It causes the account to go beyond just a list of skills and experience.
A complete education section can lead to 10 times as many views.
Fisher also told the source about the importance of completing your profile’s education section. While it may seem as though college degrees are the norm, it is still important to list yours on your profile. Not only does it add to your credibility, but it also provides employers with a glimpse into your intellectual foundation. Plus, it is a great way to connect with other alumni. If a hiring manager happens to share your alma mater, that common connection could be the deciding factor in choosing you. List your university, along with your major, GPA and any participation in clubs or sports.
List skills in your profile for 13 times as many views.
Your LinkedIn profile is not the place to be humble. Fisher explained to the source that listing out your skills can make you 13 times more likely to appear in search results – and that translates to 13 times the chances of being discovered by a recruiter or hiring manager. By doing this, you are optimizing your profile with keywords to enhance your chances of rendering. If you are having trouble identifying which skills are considered to be valuable in your field, simply think of which duties you are responsible for completing on a daily basis. Use commonly searched industry terms to describe your main responsibilities. In charge of generating content? List “content creation,” “blogging,” “writing.” There is no limit to the number of skills you can list, so in this case it is better to over – rather than under – produce.
This account for skills to be endorsed, as well as the skills within your summary. When you have a list of people who vouch for your experience with a certain skill, it adds to your credibility and it can also help reinforce your connections. When it comes to the skills listed in your summary, it helps optimize your profile and increases its ranking in search results.
“Add LinkedIn groups to your profile.”
There are 2.1 million LinkedIn groups.
If you are not a member of any LinkedIn groups, you should spend the next five minutes adding some to your profile. According to Business 2 Community, there are 2.1 million LinkedIn groups. This means you are bound to come across a number that are relevant to your field of choice and professional interests. Just as there is no maximum when it comes to the number of skills you can include in your profile, there is no limit to the number of groups to join. If you prefer, you can even start one of your own. Find as many interesting, relevant groups as possible and join them to connect with like-minded professionals. The more groups you are a part of, the larger your network becomes. For a benchmark, it’s recommended to join about 20 relevant groups to expand your network and optimize your profile.
40 percent of hiring managers positively view volunteer work.
The volunteer work section of your profile is another one that should not be skipped over. Fisher told U.S. News & World Report that 40 percent of hiring managers consider volunteer work to be a type of work experience. If you list the various volunteer organizations that you are a part of, you can show employers that you are self-motivated and you can simultaneously display some of your interests and passions. It gives the people who view your profile a better sense of who you are not only as a worker, but as a person as well.
