Networking is a powerful tool to expand your connections and build meaningful relationships to enhance your career growth. With the right networking strategy, you can access job opportunities, career advice, or connect you with like-minded professionals. There are different ways of networking, including meeting people at job fairs, attending seminars, or simply engaging with your colleagues. If those aren’t available at your doorstep, LinkedIn can boost your network, and this article will help you how to optimize your profile.
But before that, first, what is LinkedIn? It’s the world’s largest professional network on the Internet. It is designed to connect professionals in your related field, hire the best candidate, or provide job opportunities. If you’re job hunting or shifting to a new career, LinkedIn is your partner in finding opportunities.
However, LinkedIn is a competitive platform, but it’s an advantage for career advancement for professionals like you. Now that 2024 is winding down, we’ll help you optimize your LinkedIn profile to boost connections and get opportunities this 2025.
First Step in Building your LinkedIn profile
Let’s say you’re building your LinkedIn profile from scratch – like totally from zero! If you’re creating LinkedIn to shift careers or establish your personal brand, what an optimized profile can do is drive career progression. An up-to-date LinkedIn profile can make potential connections reach out to you for opportunities.
To kickstart your LinkedIn profile, you need to have your most updated profile picture with a formal headshot. Consider this as your personal branding—confidence, professionalism, and cleverness. With a picture, your profile is 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.
Treat your LinkedIn profile “Introduction” section as a pop-up page – attract potential visitors with a captivating headline at first glance. This section could include your current occupation, specialized expertise, or latest achievement. And if you have one, earned titles like CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or CPHR (Chartered Professional in Human Resources) can elevate your profile’s appeal and add credibility.
As people say, first impressions matter! So, never miss the opportunity to grab visitors’ attention with these basics. Visitors can instantly tap your LinkedIn profile to learn more about you (especially for possible work collaboration). The question boils down to the next step – how do you maintain their attention to continue scrolling down your profile?
Showcasing Your Professional Background on LinkedIn
Now you’ve got the hook in your LinkedIn profile, you should continue the momentum by showcasing your professional background. Your experiences are crucial to selling yourself to your potential and current connections. Visitors, whether they are business partners, recruiters, or applicants, will press that “Connect” button in your LinkedIn profile to hopefully reach out to you for certain reasons. That could be a job offer, freelance opportunities, or even a business proposal. Luckily, if you’re a recruiter, the best candidate may apply directly to you, saving you time in finding the applicant you’ve been looking for.
Think of LinkedIn as an online resume, but this time, it’s in public view for anyone on the platform. But what should you highlight in your professional background on LinkedIn?
- Internships: Internships may not feel like actual “work” jobs, and that’s perfectly fine! Internships are meant to develop your professional skills under the guidance of mentors, immersing you in various tasks and industries before landing your first full-time job experience.
- Professional Experiences: From the moment you stepped foot in the corporate or agency world to your current or last job, list everything down in your LinkedIn profile. Whether it’s a freelance or full-time, highlight achievements to make your profile stand out to potential employers or business partners. With a fuller picture of your career history, you might be their definition of an “ideal candidate.”
Once you’ve documented everything, you can summarize one of these in your “About” section. Try to condense your remarkable experiences and achievements into 150-300 words to count this as a hook. Remember, this section is your chance to tell your wonderful story.
Hard & Soft Skills: A Key to Success
There are countless skills that you can always highlight on your LinkedIn profile, so the more, the better! Write down your best skills and insert them in the “Skills” section. You are likely to be viewed or contacted by various people on this platform when you log multiple skills.
If you’re finding the best job opportunities, you need to showcase the skills needed for the industry you’re applying for. Adding the skills to your LinkedIn profile could vary depending on the industry you’re entering, specifically the hard skills. For example, in Architecture, employers might seek candidates proficient in AutoCAD. Information Technology (IT) professionals require computer competencies, while graphic designers often need expertise in applications like Adobe Photoshop. Generally, your hard skills point to your technical abilities and expertise.
However, you should never forget the importance of soft skills. To optimize your LinkedIn profile, recruiters or employers value how you interact with professionals, including colleagues. Soft skills like communication, time management, and leadership, are examples applicable to any industry. These necessary skills help recruiters gauge your collaboration with different people and how you approach each dynamic relationship.
LinkedIn Features to Strengthen Your Profile
To build repertoire and credibility, it’s crucial to add your educational attainments and certifications in your LinkedIn’s profile respective sections. These accolades show how you can do your job efficiently and effectively in the workplace. Remember, learning never stops, especially in this dynamic, fast-paced, and technologically innovative world. If you could invest in certifications to upskill, then you can be a competitive professional. Moreover, the “Honors & Awards” section will help you prove yourself as a professional for making every work remarkable and excellent.
LinkedIn, like Facebook, Instagram, or X, lets you post updates or share content with your audience. You can react, comment, or even repost content. However, on LinkedIn, the focus is on your profession, sharing your career stories or expertise on a topic. The way you optimize your LinkedIn profile with these will allow certain professionals to connect with you, while also knowing how you showcase your knowledge and attitude toward various topics or situations. Employers or recruiters will also have a glimpse of your image toward work and with stakeholders.
Apply Now for an Amazing Career
There’s no such thing as a perfect LinkedIn profile, but these pieces of advice may help you gain visibility across the social networking platform. However, to further strengthen your LinkedIn profile, you also have to invest in developing your skills. Whether it’s completing workshops or earning certifications, you will have more chances to be viewed by employers or potential business partners.
Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, you likely have a clear idea of how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Once you’re done optimizing your profile and feel like you’re ready to enter a new career, we highly recommend applying to our Careers Site. We’re excited to see you update your LinkedIn, sharing with your connections about your new and amazing career at HGS OSS.
