The Social Enthusiast

I can’t stress enough how important a LinkedIn profile is.  I personally know of people who have gotten jobs, freelance work, and other opportunities based on their profile.  Here are five tips that can make your profile shine above the rest:

 1.  Keep your profile up-to-date.   This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t include their most current places of employment. With recruiters and HR professionals checking LinkedIn frequently, you’re not giving them the best impression of you if your profile doesn’t have the most current information. 

 2.  Write—and ask for—recommendations.  At Doe-Anderson, we like to say that word-of-mouth is 62 times more effective than any PR, ad or web campaign.  A real life example:  If I tell you that Restaurant ABC is amazing, you’re more likely to believe my opinion versus the restaurant’s glittery advertising. 

3.  Add substance to your summary.  I once heard someone refer to the summary section as your personal “pitch” to the world.  Before you write anything, think about what you would want to read as a potential employer.  Make it count, but also make it truthful

4.  Toot your horn.  Be sure to include your specialties in your profile.  Are you an amazing event planner?  Are you a master at media relations?  Now is the time to sell yourself and your abilities. 

 5.  Link to your Twitter account. Some people might disagree with this point, but I believe if you use Twitter to promote professional blogs, news stories, and so on, it’s fine to sync it up with your LinkedIn account.  The general rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t want your grandmother or boss reading what you post on Twitter (or any other social networking tool for that matter), you probably shouldn’t broadcast it to the world. 

Your professional stock can go up with a great LinkedIn profile. Image by Conecte Link via Flickr.