Here is how you can make the best of your LinkedIn profile

With LinkedIn taking over traditional resumes and cover letters, it is crucial to keep your profile updated with the most relevant information. From your work experience to your interests and endorsements, you need to ensure that all the information is valid and current. With 77 percent of all job openings posted on LinkedIn and 97 percent of all HR professionals using it for their recruiting efforts, you would be missing out on a lot if you are still stuck with an incomplete LinkedIn profile. Here are some tips to make sure your profile isn’t passed over by a potential employer:

Show the most recent information

If you haven’t updated your LinkedIn profile in a while, now is a good time to get started. Make sure you have filled up all the relevant work experience, your educational qualifications, any additional certifications, your interests and your accomplishments. Any good recruiter will look for the most recent and relevant information and will usually pass over a profile that has not been updated in months or years.

Include job details

Make sure to incorporate the details of every role you have held in the past. List out key responsibilities you were entrusted with in your previous jobs and specific achievements in a way that will arouse interest in a potential employer. Include details of the companies that you have worked for as well so that a head hunter can get all relevant information at one go.

Use a good headline

A clear and crisp headline will pique interest in knowing more about you and make head hunters go through the rest of your LinkedIn profile. Keep your headline specific to the role you are currently in or modify it to match the position you are looking for.

Take a professional photograph

A good photo in formal or semi-formal clothing is a must for a good LinkedIn profile. The photo is the first thing that people see when they visit your profile, and it forms their first impressions of you. While photos of you laughing and having fun are always pretty, they are best left to your other social media profiles.

Build your network

When you’re searching for a job, an impression that you are well connected within your industry will boost your chances of landing a job. A profile with 100 connections is far more impressive that one with only 10. Connect with people from your past and present to broaden your network. Make sure to also add your personal connections who are employed in other industries as well to flatten out your network and build it further.

Ask for recommendations

Recruiters may already ask you for references, but LinkedIn recommendations from former managers or colleagues will give you a leg up. A recommendation, however long or short, gives the impression that you were a valuable part of the team that you worked in and have left an impression on the people with whom you have worked with in the past.

A good LinkedIn profile will definitely give you an upper hand in your job search, but there will always be a need to filter out unnecessary information from your past and keep your profile up-to-date.