LinkedIn may not be the sole determinator in whether you find a new position or not but if you don’t have an “A game” profile and strategy, you risk being overlooked for the best opportunities. Think of your Linkedin profile as your own a real time dynamic marketing tool designed to generate “leads”, in this instance leds are traffic to your profile and enquiries in the form of job opportunities and the more there are the better. Once you are generating lots of leads, you can make the simple decision to pursue them or not and you do not need to be a LinkedIn guru or marketeer to be better at attracting more of an audience in comparison to your peers, those who master this have no end of opportunities put in front of them to choose from.
Profile
If you want to make your professional social media platform into a lead generator you need to make an effort on your profile.
“About me” – Do it in a way that reflects you and your personality. Mine, for example, is very lighthearted and factual but it is really up to you how you want to be perceived.
Each role – Make sure your job title reflects the job you actually do or is more relevant, as some companies sometimes like to give weird and wonderful job titles that are meaningless.
It is not illegal to have a more relevant job title if it reflects the job you do. I.e. if you manage people or projects. Why should you not be a “Lead XYZ”. There is a cavite to this. In the description, you need to back up what you are leading.
As my audience is generally technical, add the technical aspects.
Example :Lead Software Engineer
- Designing and building widgets for the MedTech sector.
- Technical lead for junior engineers and project lead for several life-saving instruments.
Envirnoment: C++, Python, Scrum
Perhaps you want to put in there an achievement, but it does not need to be chapter and verse like a CV. If you have a number of positions, do this for the most relevant roles or the top 3, for instance. Linked In works off buzzwords so if you don’t mention something, you won’t show up.
Key skills
These are massively underrated, but LinkedIn’s algorithms prioritise key skills over the content on your profile. So make sure you have it done and kept relevant. i.e. project management, modelling, specific software or programming skills. But be smart. If it is not a skill, do not put it in there. Otherwise, you will have irrelevant enquiries.
Job titles
Another ranking factor is job titles and this will see you hit the top of the search rankings. Linked In tells people to use generic job titles for a reason and it is not to help you. It is to help them. The more companies (internal or external recruiters) spend on messaging people without the right skills, the more money they make! $14 billion in 2022 to be precise. It is as simple as that.
So if you are a “Data Scientist” who builds machine learning models for the energy sector.
Have a job title something like this…
Data Scientist | Machine Learning Modelling | Energy
or another example
“Software Engineer” becomes…
Embedded Software Engineer | C++ & Python | Aviation Devices
SAP Consultant
SAP SD-FI Consultant | Order to Cash / O2C / OTC | FMCG
Or Programme Manager
Programme Manager | £100m Digital Transformation | E-Commerce
Reviews
When LinkedIn took centre stage in the business world, it was normal to ask and give professional reviews. Now, it just doesn’t happen. LinkedIn lag perhaps. I give more reviews than I receive because I think it is good to say something positive that they can take through their career. It is a nice thank you.
Recruiters, HR professionals and hiring managers check these out when there are reviews from credible people, not my mate from down the pub. The more credibility of the reviewer and quality write-ups are key to others putting more stock in those reviews.
Can you afford not to have some reviews to take with you throughout your career?
Give freely, ask humbly! It is easy to request a review on LinkedIn, so get previous line managers, stakeholders, or those who reported to you to do a review. A tip: perhaps write something nice about them first.
Free Inmails
Did you know over 78% of CEO’s have their LinkedIn Inmail settings “open”. That means anyone can message them without being a connection, or any cost or barrier incurred. They do this so they do not miss out on opportunities. Stay no or nothing to irrelevant messages is easy. But you never know when that super role or service will pop up.
So why change your settings? There is a barriers to reaching out to you!
Remember that $14 billion LinkedIn turned over in 2022. A good proposition will come from selling LinkedIn licenses, and of those licenses, there are recruitment licenses. These licenses are super expensive, especially if you are a recruitment business. Depending package and deal, an “InMail” can cost anything from £1/$1.2/€1.15 each for the big players, Hays, Adecco, Manpower. To £10/$12/€11.5 each message for your small or niche recruitment business. On either end of the scale, the costs for a day’s work can really add up!
Recruiters are restricted to how many people they should be messaging and the conversion rate of responses must be high. Inmails should be wisely spent or recruiters will be keeping inmails for no brainer candidates and or sure-thing active candidates.
Now if you change your settings, you will have some extra contact and have the opportunity to say “yes”, “no”, or “here is why you need to send me!”.
Instructions –
Looking for
Ensure your “looking for work” is on, present and relevant. Having looking for work on when you are looking for work is important but it is a slow burn, so do not expect immediate results. Recruiters will review active candidates first on searches because there is a cost to outreach, so being “on” makes a difference.
The other key element is “what and where”. Keep this up-to-date, clear and complete. This can stop irrelevant approaches and help encourage the relevant ones as what you put in factors into the search algorithms. i.e. if I am looking for a Project Manager with a software engineering background. Here is the place to write “project manager”. If you dont, you could be missed out.
For more insights and discussions on recruitment and career development, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn under “Wesley Plumb.”
