1. COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE
Many people leave certain fields on their profile blank. This is the easiest way to have your profile rejected by anyone who views it. Make sure your entire profile is filled in and that there are no blank spaces that make it look awkward or incomplete. Add your industry and location, education details, current position, two past positions, key skills (more the better) and 30-50 connections (again, more the better).
Your photo is perhaps the most important part of your profile. Make sure it is professional, represents your industry and is in no way misleading. Updating it every few years is a good idea so that people have a clear picture of what to expect when they call you in for an interview.
2. REARRANGE YOUR PROFILE
LinkedIn gives you the flexibility to rearrange sections of your profile in whichever order you want them. So use this to your advantage and rearrange your information so that your profile flows well and makes you seem more appealing.
For example, if you have won any awards you can put that section right below your summary or below the job where you received the award. It may seem like a simple suggestion, but believe you me, it has quite the impact.
3. CUSTOMIZE YOUR URL
When you create a LinkedIn profile, your default URL will have a long string of numbers and letters at the end. In all honesty, it looks like a jumbled mess. Customizing your LinkedIn URL will allow you to put your own name in the URL, thus making it look neater and more professional. It only takes a few seconds and is an extremely simple process.
4. UPLOAD WRITTEN RECOMMENDATIONS
Gone are the days of “recommendations available upon request.” Use your LinkedIn profile to show off every possible recommendation you can get your hands on. You can ask ex-bosses and colleagues to go to your profile and upload a glowing recommendation. Trust me, recommendations are what will push recruiters off the fence, in your favor.
5. INCLUDE A LINK TO YOUR VIDEO RESUME
If you want to upload your video resume to your LinkedIn page you can’t do this directly. You will have to make a Google presentation and upload the video to one of the slides on that presentation. This is not very complicated.
6. JOIN GROUPS—BUILD YOUR NETWORK
Each LinkedIn account holder is allowed to join a maximum of 50 groups. Not everyone takes advantage of this. Scour the web for LinkedIn groups that are related to your industry and join as many as you can. This is not all. You have to become an active member of at least 4 or 5 of these groups. This is the key to networking.
The possibilities and connections it will open up for you are endless. With just a little bit of effort and one hour a day dedicated to LinkedIn networking, you can have job offers rolling in, in a matter of weeks.
7. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZE YOUR PROFILE
This is another simple and effective trick that will really get your profile noticed. Search engine optimization ensures that your page, website or blog will rank among the first 10 websites on a Google search. It is just a matter of including the right keywords and relevant content in your profile. When someone types in those keywords, your LinkedIn profile will be one of the first websites to pop up.