The 10 Components of a Great LinkedIn Profile - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

The 10 Components of a Great LinkedIn Profile - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. On LinkedIn, every profile is made up of the same components. However, the way you use those components can make you stand out from the millions of other users on the platform. Having a stand out profile will not only make you an attractive candidate when job searching, it could also bring opportunities to you! In this blog well be going through the 10 components in the order they appear on your profile, and how you can utilize them to better showcase your personal brand. If you want to look at an all star LinkedIn profile as an example, we recommend checking out LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiners page. Its a textbook example of a profile that is inviting yet professional, which also demonstrates all of his qualifications with both text and visuals. 1. A Professional Profile Photo Your profile photo on LinkedIn is the first thing people see, so it should be a photo that is well suited for the platform. Not exactly sure what that means? Thankfully we have a comprehensive blog post on perfecting your LinkedIn photo. If you want the CliffsNotes version, your photo should be professional, warm, and colorful. Take it from the shoulders up, and have someone else take it. It might even be worth having done professionally to send the right message. Whatever you do, make sure you dont use a selfie as your profile photo! 2. An Attention Grabbing Headline Title It goes without saying that you should have your most recent job title listed as such on your LinkedIn profile. Once that is done, you can start working on your headline, which is arguably more important. This is what appears at the top of your profile and also shows up in search. So this is your best chance to sell yourself in just a few words. Mistakenly, many LinkedIn users leave this the same as their current job title, which is the default. However, its a great place to succinctly demonstrate what you do, and who you do it for. Go into slightly more detail than just your job title, and demonstrate some value if possible. 3. A Summary With Some Personality If you are able to get someone to actually click on your profile, this is likely what they will turn to next to evaluate your worth. Its a great opportunity for you to demonstrate some personality, while also highlighting how well you understand your field. Explain a little bit about who you are and what you hope to accomplish professionally, and what areas you specialize in. What motivates and drives you? These are great questions to answer in your summary. Just make sure you inject a little personality into it. If youre not sure if its too personal, an 80/20 rule is usually best. Keep your summary 80% professional, and 20% personal. 4. Published LinkedIn Articles A few years ago, LinkedIn unveiled LinkedIn Pulse, a separate app that featured articles and stories published by LinkedIn users. Recently it was integrated into the overall LinkedIn experience, and it still remains a popular publishing tool. LinkedIn articles are very popular on the platform, and typically generate many shares and likes. Writing some of these articles yourself is a great way to establish that you are up to date and current on trends in your industry. If you want to publish one yourself, navigate to where you can update your status. There, you will have an option that says Write an article. Clicking on that will bring you into their publishing interface. There you can write out a headline and the body of the article, as well as uploading a themed photo. All you have to do after that is publish and share it! 5. Bulleted Work Experience When it comes to your experience on LinkedIn, its best to list it chronologically. Unlike a resume where you may opt for a focus or project based resume, LinkedIn works better as a catalog of all of your professional work experience. Make sure your experience is also tied to each company page as well. When it comes time to describe your responsibilities at each job, the best way to present them is with a bulleted list. Use 2 or 3 bullets per every job. If you received a promotion at a company that included many different responsibilities, it should be listed separately. This shows your growth within the organization, while also explaining the difference between the roles. These bulleted lists will be eye catching and easy to read for anyone looking at your page. 6. Media From Past Projects You may notice as you update your experience that you also have the option to upload media under each job. If you have something you could showcase here, definitely do so. Worked on an event for your company? Find a digital copy of the flyer and upload it! Anything that demonstrates physical proof of your work will enhance your profile greatly. The best part is that LinkedIn supports many file formats for presentations, documents, and images, which can be found here. Also, if you upload a link to a YouTube video, it will show up embedded on your profile. Use media and links to back up your bullet points with visual proof. 7. Endorsed Skills Skills have recently found a place on most resumes, and LinkedIn should be no different. While some skills may be implied through your experience bullet points, the endorsements section on LinkedIn allows you to highlight them specifically. In this section you, and others, are able to add skills you are proficient in. Once they are added, your connections can endorse you for those skills. What some users dont know, is that you dont just have to show the most endorsed skills on top. You can actually go through and select specific skills to bring to the top. This is a great tool if you want to highlight new skills, especially if youre making a career change or pivot. Your LinkedIn profile should tell the story you want it to, so utilizing these small customization features is important. 8. Glowing Recommendations Next up is the Recommendations section of the LinkedIn profile. Different from endorsements, these are long form recommendations given from coworkers and bosses. Whats different here is that endorsements typically happen organically. You wont have to ask for them, people will just endorse you. On the other hand, you wont likely receive a recommendation on LinkedIn without asking. These are impressive on a profile, so you should do your best to build them up. Some companies require letters of recommendation anyways, so when youre asking someone for a paper copy to deliver, ask them to consider posting it on LinkedIn as well. Or you could ask when you request to use someone as a reference. Both are good times of transition. Finally, you could always leave an outstanding recommendation with some of the best people youve worked with, and hope they return the favor. 9. Impressive Awards Organizations If youve ever been honored with an award at work or won any competitions, there is a place for that on your LinkedIn profile. Under the Accomplishments you can add organizations, certifications, honor and awards, patents, publications, and more. Fleshing this section out with whatever applies will help demonstrate that you arent just a bare minimum worker. According to LinkedIn, adding these has benefits that go beyond simply making your profile more informative. Having publications listed increases profile views x7, and certifications do so x5. So if you want to boost your profile views, make sure you fill this section with all of your accomplishments. 10. Interesting Interests Nobody is at work 24/7, and everyone has hobbies and interests outside of work. The Interests section on your profile is a good place to highlight some of those hobbies. Its smart to mix in a few work-related interests, along with your hobbies and pastimes. Having a good distribution of your interests will show some more of your personality that wouldnt come through otherwise. It also could establish some common ground between you and anyone who may reach out to you. For instance, you may find out you and someone in your network both enjoy photography, and start a discussion on the topic. Whatever you put in your interests, it will keep your profile diversified and interesting. After refining these components of your LinkedIn profile, you should be ready to rock! Whether youre starting a job search, or just looking to keep your profile fresh, these updates will put you above the rest. We hope your all star profile can get you whatever you want out of LinkedIn, and wish you the best of luck!