If you’re anything like me, you’ve been treating LinkedIn like Facebook’s poor cousin – an online CV that you only update when you’re about to start job-hunting.
That’s your first mistake, according to recruitment expert Christine Khor. When we view LinkedIn as an online resume we do ourselves a disservice, by not engaging with people who view our profile.
“Think of this as a shiny brochure when you’re selling a house versus your CV, which is an architectural drawing,” Khor says.
“It’s the TripAdvisor for you – where people go to find out about where you are. It’s a place for you to show your credibility and expertise.”
With that in mind, Khor, who is the managing director of Chorus Executive, has let us in on the six changes you can make to your profile right now that can help land you a job.
1. Pick a professional photo
First things first, your profile picture needs to be professional, yet engaging. So swap the selfie for a nice photo behind a clean background.
“Too many times I see the happy snap or the half wedding photo or something like that,” Khor says.
“Remember it only takes seven seconds to make an impression on someone and that includes your profile online.”
2. Fix your tagline
If your tagline/title is your current role, you might want to ask yourself 'why?'
If you're the managing director - or another high up position, leave as is. But Khor says that if your current role is something vague such as 'Administrative Assistant', you might want to change it something that better reflects your skills and interests.
"Have a title or tag that really describes who you are and what you do," The Hunger Project chair says.
This can be tricky when you're a student or someone with limited experience. Khor suggests something like: "Passionate about marketing, strategy and growing my career."
3. Tell a story, don't rattle off a list
Right now, your LinkedIn profile probably resembles your resume - under each past position, there's a bullet point list of responsibilities, am I right?
Khor says it should be more about "telling a story". To do this, turn those bullet points into a few sentences where you describe what you did in that role in a way that people might actually want to read it. Think cover letter language.
"It can't be too long because people are glancing and you've got to highlight what you've done, but it can be done in a more engaging way."
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4. Share examples if you can
Are you in a creative industry or any industry where you've created something shareable online? Add it to your LinkedIn profile, says Khor.
"I put up any video that I can, any interview, any blog post and they can click if they want to see more. It creates a perception of me in their mind."
She says not to be afraid of adding too much, because they are only links and people will look at they want to look at.
5. Err on the side of 'I'm awesome'
It's been said time and time again, but it's true: Women are too humble. A recent study found that women in the US included 11 per cent less skills than their male counterparts, and that men were more likely to skew their profile to highlight more senior level roles.
"There is a line there between being too humble and arrogant and a show-off, but women err on the line of being too humble," Khor says.
She recommends thinking about your greatest achievement or the legacy you left behind at a company and highlighting that.
6. Don't just set and forget
Khor says a mistake too many of us make is to update our LinkedIn account and then forget about it until we're next job-hunting.
"If you just put it there and don't update it and don't do anything, it's like a product that doesn't have any marketing to it," she puts it.
Instead, get updating and get sharing. If you write a blog post or come across something relevant to your industry to share - share it. If you nail a project at work, add that achievement to your profile.
Khor says she posts something to LinkedIn at least four to five times a month, but not necessarily every week and adds "don't post for the sake of posting". For ideas of what to post, look at your current feed.
Finally, Khor says it's important to remember that LinkedIn is in the top three places a recruiter will visit when filling a position - so it's worth your time and effort making your profile the best it can be.
Have you been neglecting your LinkedIn profile?