How to put together a 5-star LinkedIn profile

If you’re saying, “what’s the point?” then you need to sharpen your pencil and catch up. I can practically guarantee you that an employer will look up your LinkedIn profile before they interview you, so don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by thinking it’s not important.

Here is a checklist of things to do straight away that will make a difference.

  1. Find out what your SSI is (Social Selling Index). LinkedIn measures your social efforts, how complete your profile is, what you post and how relevant it is to your community. Can this work for you as a job finding tool? Absolutely. If you haven’t been active on the platform, this will be low, but the good news is that you can increase your score pretty quickly through activity and tuning your profile up properly. The more active you are, the more LinkedIn will drop your content into the feed of relevant people; that’s how you can get the algorithm working for you.

Find out what your SSI currently is at www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi        

  1. Complete your profile
  • Upload a good quality, recent professional photo of you on your own against a plain background. Have your face in the centre of the frame. Make sure the lighting is good, so your face is well lit. Some people won’t connect with you if you don’t have a decent photo because it creates the impression that you’re not active.
  • Get your name right. How are you known in business? Make it consistent. If you’re Phil or Phillip for example, make it easy for people searching for you.
  • Have an eye-catching background photo that shows what you do for your banner.
  • Create your headline (120 characters) to promote who you are to your network. People will see this when they comment on your post. This is really important. Use your characters wisely.
  • Make your headline fit the job you want. Include who you are, what you do and what you want to be. Make your headline attract the type of employers you want to work with.
  • Write your “About” section (2600 characters). Make this speak to the people you want to draw to you. The first 3 lines need to be very compelling as it’s what people see when you come up on a search. Tell your network more about you (your story), what you’re passionate about & talk about your goals. Write in the first person, use language that show sector knowledge, include keywords for SEO. End your summary with a CTA (Call to action) – how to get in touch with you. some people are cautious about this. It’s especially important if you’re a) looking for work or b) looking to network or c) looking for business. Don’t hide – USE the platform.
  • Work experience – list some key achievements and where you have made a difference to previous employers. Include anything relevant to the job you want. This is the “CV” part of your profile.
  • Skills. There’s a maximum of 50 skills you can add, and people endorse these skills as you build your network. I’m not convinced about the value of this as it’s unregulated so anyone can endorse anyone without understanding their actual skill level.
  • Education history. List all your professional qualifications. Make sure you list any awards you’ve won or special recognition.
  • Featured/media links – key articles you post can be saved at the top of your profile. I have a guide called the “Ultimate Guide to hiring ex-military” at the top of my profile, an e-book I have put together designed for employers who haven’t recruited veterans before and who want to understand what they might get.
  • Voluntary experience – don’t ignore it. If you’re going for a role in a charity or the employer is involved in a similar voluntary space, it can often smooth the path for you.
  1. Complete your contact information. Make it easy for people to connect with you in several different ways.

Ask yourself what you want to be found for. Your LinkedIn profile is probably the first thing you will be found for online.

Start connecting with people you want to engage with or influence. Offer to connect with people you know initially, then extend out. Track influencers in your industry who have a lot of connections, are LIONS (serial networkers) or post a lot. This means they will have connections and eyes on their profiles. By connecting, commenting, and engaging in their content you will get yourself noticed. The bi product of this is that all of their first connections will become your second connections.

Groups – join veteran groups like Forces Recruitment solutions & vertical groups that are relevant to your career path. Good, active groups will share relevant content to you, and you can be around your “people” – this is where many opportunities will come.

Get recommendations from people around your areas of expertise. It helps to build credibility.

If you’re job hunting, change your status to “open to work” – this will be picked up by employers and recruiters.

Be active – connect with 25/30 people every day. Target these connections carefully.

Create your own content to raise your profile. Make it relevant to the people you want to attract to showcase your expertise. If there is something you want employers to see, tag it as a featured article and it will remain at the top of your profile.

Join groups that are relevant to your background and skills. There are dozens of military groups on LinkedIn – join all that are relevant to you. There are also hundreds of vertical groups, some very niche.

You can do most things on LinkedIn as a job seeker for free. There are paid for packages which enable you to connect with more people per day and send in-mails.

You can’t DM anyone out of network or a 3rd connection unless you have a paid for license. You can send a tailored connection request to a 2nd (and I would recommend tailoring it – why should they connect with you?) and a free message to your 1st connections.

Newsletters – subscribe to newsletters of people you want to follow, influencers and market intel that will help you to achieve your LinkedIn goals.

Hashtags – whenever you are posting content, think about the audience you want to reach and include a maximum of 5 hash tags at the end of the article – this will increase the reach of your post. Any more than 5 will likely punish you because you are not viewed as being focused on your community.

Verify – this is a new feature which LinkedIn say builds trust and credibility. From the LinkedIn experts I have spoken to so far this doesn’t yet make much difference, but I expect that it will at some point.

Hopefully this will give you a good start on LinkedIn. Happy creating!

 

If you’re saying, “what’s the point?” then you need to sharpen your pencil and catch up. I can practically guarantee you that an employer will look up your LinkedIn profile before they interview you, so don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by thinking it’s not important.

Here is a checklist of things to do straight away that will make a difference.

  1. Find out what your SSI is (Social Selling Index). LinkedIn measures your social efforts, how complete your profile is, what you post and how relevant it is to your community. Can this work for you as a job finding tool? Absolutely. If you haven’t been active on the platform, this will be low, but the good news is that you can increase your score pretty quickly through activity and tuning your profile up properly. The more active you are, the more LinkedIn will drop your content into the feed of relevant people; that’s how you can get the algorithm working for you.

Find out what your SSI currently is at www.linkedin.com/sales/ssi

  1. Complete your profile
  2. Upload a good quality, recent professional photo of you on your own against a plain background. Have your face in the centre of the frame. Make sure the lighting is good, so your face is well lit. Some people won’t connect with you if you don’t have a decent photo because it creates the impression that you’re not active.
  3. Get your name right. How are you known in business? Make it consistent. If you’re Phil or Phillip for example, make it easy for people searching for you.
  4. Have an eye-catching background photo that shows what you do for your banner.
  5. Create your headline (120 characters) to promote who you are to your network. People will see this when they comment on your post. This is really important. Use your characters wisely.
  6. Make your headline fit the job you want. Include who you are, what you do and what you want to be. Make your headline attract the type of employers you want to work with.
  7. Write your “About” section (2600 characters). Make this speak to the people you want to draw to you. The first 3 lines need to be very compelling as it’s what people see when you come up on a search. Tell your network more about you (your story), what you’re passionate about & talk about your goals. Write in the first person, use language that show sector knowledge, include keywords for SEO. End your summary with a CTA (Call to action) – how to get in touch with you, some people are cautious about this. It’s especially important if you’re a) looking for work or b) looking to network or c) looking for business. Don’t hide – USE the platform.
  8. Work experience – list some key achievements and where you have made a difference to previous employers. Include anything relevant to the job you want. This is the “CV” part of your profile.
  9. Skills. There’s a maximum of 50 skills you can add, and people endorse these skills as you build your network. I’m not convinced about the value of this as it’s unregulated so anyone can endorse anyone without understanding their actual skill level.
  10. Education history. List all your professional qualifications. Make sure you list any awards you’ve won or special recognition.
  11. Featured/media links – key articles you post can be saved at the top of your profile. I have a guide called the “Ultimate Guide to hiring ex-military” at the top of my profile, an e-book I have put together designed for employers who haven’t recruited veterans before and who want to understand what they might get.
  12. Voluntary experience – don’t ignore it. If you’re going for a role in a charity or the employer is involved in a similar voluntary space, it can often smooth the path for you.
  13. Complete your contact information. Make it easy for people to connect with you in several different ways.
  14. Ask yourself what you want to be found for. Your LinkedIn profile is probably the first thing you will be found for online.
  15. Start connecting with people you want to engage with or influence. Offer to connect with people you know initially, then extend out. Track influencers in your industry who have a lot of connections, are LIONS (serial networkers) or post a lot. This means they will have connections and eyes on their profiles. By connecting, commenting and engaging in their content you will get yourself noticed. The bi product of this is that all their first connections will become your second connections.
  16. Groups – join veteran groups like Forces Recruitment Solutions & vertical groups that are relevant to your career path. Good, active groups will share relevant content to you, and you can be around your “people” – this is where many opportunities will come.
  17. Get recommendations from people around your areas of expertise. It helps to build credibility.
  18. If you’re job hunting, change your status to “open to work” – this will be picked up by employers and recruiters.
  19. Be active – connect with 25/30 people every day. Target these connections carefully.
  20. Create your own content to raise your profile. Make it relevant to the people you want to attract to showcase your expertise. If there is something you want employers to see, tag it as a featured article and it will remain at the top of your profile.
  21. Join groups that are relevant to your background and skills. There are dozens of military groups on LinkedIn – join all that are relevant to you. There are also hundreds of vertical groups, some very niche.
  22. You can do most things on LinkedIn as a job seeker for free. There are paid for packages which enable you to connect with more people per day and send in-mails.
  23. You can’t DM anyone out of network or a 3rd connection unless you have a paid for license. You can send a tailored connection request to a 2nd (and I would recommend tailoring it – why should they connect with you?) and a free message to your 1st connections.
  24. Newsletters – subscribe to newsletters of people you want to follow, influencers and market intel that will help you to achieve your LinkedIn goals.
  25. Hashtags – whenever you are posting content, think about the audience you want to reach and include a maximum of 5 hash tags at the end of the article – this will increase the reach of your post. Any more than 5 will likely punish you because you are not viewed as being focused on your community.
  26. Verify – this is a new feature which LinkedIn say builds trust and credibility. From the LinkedIn experts I have spoken to so far this doesn’t yet make much difference, but I expect that it will at some point.

Hopefully this will give you a good start on LinkedIn. Happy creating!