Optimise your profile using these tips

Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

If you haven’t read Part I of this LinkedIn series, feel free to go read it first via this link.

In this article, I will focus on the following 4 topics:

1. How to make your profile stand out
2. Networking on LinkedIn
3. Posting on LinkedIn
4. LinkedIn ‘culture’

1. Tips on Making Your Profile Stand Out

Tip #1: Have A Formal Profile Picture

A professional, formal profile picture can go a long way. This shows that you understand the difference between a professional work environment or network (such as LinkedIn) and other informal settings.

It is crucial that you are wearing work-appropriate clothing in your profile picture, as it is usually the first impression that your profile viewers get about you.

The easiest thing to do is wear a white shirt and ask one of your friends to take a picture of you against a white wall. This is fault-proof.

Tip #2: Relevant Skills

Make sure to add at least 5 skills related to your business. Users with 5 or more relevant skills receive 17 times more profile views than those who do not.

Tip #3: Request Recommendations

You can request recommendations from colleagues, co-workers, managers, etc. At university, you can request a recommendation from your supervisor or your manager during an internship. This is a great opportunity to ‘have someone vouch for you’.

Having good recommendations on your profile shows recruiters the kind of person you are in a professional environment. A good recommendation explains how the person knows you and how your relationship was meaningful.

2. Networking

In this section, I want to discuss 4 different points:

• The difference between following and connecting with someone
• How to network if you’ve met the person in real life
• How to network if you’ve never met the person in real life

Following vs Connecting

According to the LinkedIn website:

If you’re connected to someone, you will both be able to see each other’s shares and updates on your LinkedIn homepages. You can also send messages to your connections on LinkedIn.

Following someone on LinkedIn allows you to see the person’s posts and articles on your homepage without being connected to them. However, the person you’re following won’t see your posts.

Basically, connecting is for people you know. It is likely that you will connect with your co-worker on LinkedIn, but maybe less likely that you will connect with Mark Zuckerberg.

Networking After You Meet Someone

This is a much more organic interaction, as you have met the person at a networking event, etc.

The key is to send a personalised message with your connection request, especially if the person will be expecting a lot of other connection requests (for example, a speaker at an event).

The personalised message can be as simple as:

Hello [name],

My name is [name]. I attended your talk today on [talk title] and I learned a lot. I was particularly interested in [something specific they mentioned]. I’d definitely like to stay up-to-date on your career.

Thank you,

[name]

Networking Without Meeting

This can feel a little bit less natural at first. If you have someone whom you admire or a person that works where you want to work, you can message them to ask about their experience, the place or a specific topic.

There is a broad range of types of messages for this, so I have included a link at the end of this article with a variety of message templates for all occasions.

The key message here is: don’t be afraid to take the first step in messaging someone on LinkedIn. As long as it’s professional and there is a clear purpose behind it, go for it!

3. Posting

When it comes to posting on LinkedIn, I like to categorise the types of posts (specifically for students, but this can be generalised) into 3 categories:

• Posts about your work
• Posts about an accomplishment
• Posts to ‘impart wisdom’

Posts About Your Work

This includes coursework that you’re proud of, research that you’ve done, etc. Usually, in posts like this, some technical detail is included to show what the work entailed and what results you achieved.

Posts About Your Accomplishments

This is probably the most common type of post I see. This can include getting a new job, getting a scholarship, finishing university, etc.

These posts tend to perform better if you include a picture. I have included a link to some examples of announcements.

These posts serve the purpose of updating your network on what you’ve been doing. Personally, I don’t like announcing things prematurely, so I wait until the experience is done (e.g. when I have completed an internship) before announcing, if I choose to announce.

Posts to ‘impart wisdom’

This is an interesting one. People on LinkedIn, because it’s a big community, like to share stories with a takeaway message at the end. This can be about how they were treated at work (good or bad), life lessons from a young CEO, etc.

There is a very wide range in this category of posts. Although enjoyable to read, I would, again, take everything mentioned with a pinch of salt.

These are, at the end of the day, opinions and not facts. However, it’s refreshing to see a more personal side to LinkedIn.

Some Posting/Engagement Tips

• Reply to people’s posts — genuine engagement, it shows on other people’s feeds as well, showing that you’re an active member and are consistently contributing and interacting with people on the platform.
• Add a photo to your posts where possible. People are much more likely to interact with a post that has a photo (e.g. a picture of your project or a graduation photo).
• Don’t spam. It is great to engage with others’ content and to share your own but no one likes spammers. Schedule your posts with an appropriate gap to allow them to circulate before posting again

4. LinkedIn ‘Culture’

If you are not where you hope to be and are perhaps receiving a lot of rejections, opening LinkedIn to see everyone boasting about their achievements and multiple job offers is perhaps not what you need.

For some, this can be motivating. But for others, this can be damaging to their self-esteem and whatever motivation they have left.

Therefore, like any other social media platform, take everything you see with a pinch (or maybe a bit more) of salt.

Useful Resources

• Wonsulting
• Some tips about LinkedIn from LinkedIn (source)
• Message templates for different occasions (source)
• Templates for announcing a new job (source)

This concludes my mini LinkedIn series. Please let me know if you have any more LinkedIn-related questions!