What exactly is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is an online social network for professionals to stay connected and communicate. It is a website where users can share their resume-like profile with others. Users can share their contact information, career summary, complete work history, job skills, educational details, and more. LinkedIn is primarily used to build professional relationships, but has evolved into a job search platform over time. LinkedIn is typically used by recruiters to search for potential candidates for open positions, while job seekers browse available positions.
Creation and optimization of the LinkedIn profile
Creation of the LinkedIn account
To create your LinkedIn profile, you must first create an account on LinkedIn.com. Please enter your name and email address. Please create a password. Click on “Sign Up”.
LinkedIn will then ask you a series of questions to set up your account.
- Enter your country and zip code. This helps you find local jobs and news articles in your area.
- Your current/past job title, company and industry are important informations that LinkedIn can use to suggest groups, job opportunities, etc.
- By linking your email account to LinkedIn, you can see which of your contacts have a LinkedIn profile. Inviting connections from your existing contacts is a great way to build a solid foundation for your LinkedIn network.
- Upload a professional photo that showcases the image you want to project.
- What are you interested in? Follow hashtags, people and companies to keep up with current events. What are the key issues and topics that are important to you in your industry or career?
Now that you’re registered on the site, you can start searching for jobs, connecting with members and browsing your news feed.
Complete your LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn profiles are at the heart of the platform. LinkedIn users can discover opportunities by connecting with current and former colleagues, industry peers and potential employers. Recruiters review and verify applications based on their LinkedIn profile.
A complete and professional LinkedIn profile is essential for applying for a job online. To get the most out of LinkedIn’s tools and services, the first step is to improve your page, here are some tips:
- Add your industry and location
- Add a description of your work experience
- Add dates of employment to your Experience section
- Fill in the Education section
- Add skills to the Skills and Certifications section.
- Add a summary to your LinkedIn profile
- Connect with other professionals
Whether you are writing your LinkedIn profile for the first time or trying to improve the visibility of your existing profile, all of these steps will increase your chances of appearing in LinkedIn search results.
Rédiger un titre pour LinkedIn
Your title on LinkedIn is your first opportunity to market yourself to others. Make sure your LinkedIn title is catchy and professional. It will help you create a positive first impression with anyone who reads it. The LinkedIn profile title is also one of the most important fields when searching on LinkedIn. To appear in recruiters’ search queries, writing an optimized LinkedIn headline is a top priority.
Edit it at the top of your profile page to create an impactful headline. You have just over 100 characters for your LinkedIn headline. This is plenty of space to include the details that will help you stand out and appear in search results.
Your headline can state what type of job you are currently doing, what position you are in, that you are looking for a new challenge, etc. It should tell other LinkedIn users what you have to offer or how you want to grow your career in the future, whether you are actively looking for a job or not.
Writing your profile summary
Your LinkedIn profile summary is a brief overview of your work experience, education and skills. It’s where you introduce yourself. With 2,000 characters at your disposal, it’s the perfect place to showcase your background.
Identify your audience
Before you start writing your summary, think about your audience and your goals. The tone, language and calls to action you include in your profile summary depend on who you are trying to reach.
- Job Search – If you apply for jobs online, your potential employer is likely to follow up on your application and consider your resume in qualifying your application.
- Open to opportunities – If you are looking for the next step in your career, your audience includes recruiters and headhunters who use LinkedIn search.
- Networking – If you use LinkedIn to promote yourself and build relationships with other professionals in your industry, your audience is people looking to hire or partner with you.
When writing, be sure to clarify your goals and audience beforehand so you have some parameters to work with.
Tell your story and showcase your personality
While your headline gives an overview of what you have to offer, the summary is an opportunity to put your experience and aspirations into context.
The summary is an opportunity to let your personality shine through on LinkedIn. It’s a great place to share your interests, notable accomplishments, and anything else you think would be interesting or useful to potential employers.
Optimize your profile for the search engine
To increase your chances of being found by other users, whether they are professionals in your industry or recruiters, use keywords and phrases that are relevant to your experience and that are commonly searched.
When your LinkedIn profile is live, you can see if you appear in search results. Click on your LinkedIn profile dashboard to get this data.
Write up your work experience
The “Work Experience” section of your LinkedIn is a great way to detail your skills and accomplishments. It’s similar to a resume, but offers more space to share specific information about each job you’ve held. When adding a new job, be sure to select the company from LinkedIn’s suggestions rather than typing it. This will make you part of the LinkedIn company page and recruiters will be able to find you when they filter by company.
Add details to your job title
The work experience fields are heavily weighted in the LinkedIn search and allow you to enter multiple characters. Instead of just “Financial Analyst,” a more effective job title would be something like:
Financial Analyst – CPA, Budgeting
This type of heading highlights your specialties and areas of work by adding search terms in the high yield field.
Should you put all your work experience on LinkedIn?
Being labeled as someone who regularly changes jobs can cause you to miss out on career opportunities. Hiring a new employee can be costly and time-consuming, which is why many companies prefer to avoid candidates with a history of short-term jobs. If your work experience includes short-term jobs, consider removing them completely from your profile page.
If you are actively applying for jobs, make sure the work experience on your LinkedIn profile matches what is on your resume.
Write your education section
While your educational background is part of your career path, you may choose not to list all degrees earned if they are not related to your career. Adding degrees is a great way to showcase your knowledge and achievements on your LinkedIn profile. You can add, edit or delete an education entry in the Education section of your profile. Rather than typing the school, select it from the drop-down list and you will be associated with other students from that school. Only educational institutions with a LinkedIn page, listed as educational institutions, will appear in the Education section drop-down list.
Select your profile picture
Make sure your profile picture is clear and well taken, not blurry or depicting other people or animals. Other users may get the wrong impression if your profile picture does not reflect a professional look.
Find a job with LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great place to find job opportunities. The site offers an opportunity search function and a platform to connect with recruiters. At LinkedIn.com/jobs, you can search for jobs that have been posted on LinkedIn by keyword, company and/or location. Once you start searching, you have a number of filters to help you narrow your search, then click on a job for more details and options. Click on a job for more details and options. From the list of jobs, you can read the job description, learn more about the company, view their employees, save the job to your favorites, or apply.
Some jobs allow you to apply via LinkedIn’s “Easy Application” feature, which forwards your LinkedIn profile to the recruiter for review. Optimize your LinkedIn profile for the job before clicking “Apply Easy.” This will increase your chances that the recruiter will consider your application.
In your profile options, you can add a sticker to your photo telling recruiters that you are looking for a new opportunity. Most jobs are not found by applying online. A majority of job openings are made through recruiters or headhunters. Most of them use LinkedIn to search for candidates who might be a good fit for open positions – the tag can be a good way to catch their eye.
Build your business network
LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for growing your professional network, not just keeping in touch with friends and former colleagues. Depending on your business, your LinkedIn network can be used to generate sales leads, forge partnerships or establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Who to make connections with
The more connections you have on LinkedIn, the better. You can benefit from a diverse group of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. LinkedIn users with more connection points (1st, 2nd and 3rd degree connections) appear higher in the results than users who are not connected to LinkedIn. The more 1st degree connections you make, the more likely you are to appear in search results.
- People you know well and those you have recently met.
- Current and former colleagues, business contacts, and people in your industry.
- Industry peers you haven’t met yet, as well as industry leaders and experts.
When you create an account on LinkedIn, the site asks if you want to import your email contact list as a starting point for suggested connections. Once set up, you’ll find more suggestions under the Network tab. You can connect with other users by visiting their profile pages. The “Connect” button will appear either under their profile picture or in the “…” drop-down list at the top of their profile.
Levels of connection
Networking on LinkedIn can help you connect with more people and access valuable resources. Each new connection you make is considered a first-degree connection. Your second degree connections are known as connections between you and people you know well. You can connect directly to your second-degree connections or get in touch with them through LinkedIn’s messaging feature, InMail. LinkedIn restricts communication with users outside of your first and second degree networks, so the more first degree connections you have, the more LinkedIn users will have.
Keep up with the news feed
LinkedIn is a great place to gather new ideas for your business and stay on top of industry trends. The social network automatically adds relevant articles to your news feed based on your industry and location. Take the opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas with your peers and see if you can help each other, which will help you learn more about what’s happening in your industry and make you more respected by your peers.