Before you start Part II of your challenge, take a moment to appreciate the time and effort you've taken optimising and creating an engaging profile so far. While working on your LinkedIn profile, you need to understand that
your resume and LinkedIn profile serve different purposes.
LinkedIn allows your audience to know more about you through a broader lens; you can give more insight into your work in a human voice by adding your personality. The next few sections are often ignored by professionals but are the most important for optimization and building credibility.
There is no better section to highlight your career stories than the work experience section. Consider this section to showcase your journey across your work history. Unlike your resume, which has to be tailored to each role, your LinkedIn profile allows you to show progress and advancement by stating all your accomplishments. While drafting, keep in mind that recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you've worked on, what you accomplished, and how you accomplished individual and team goals.
You must avoid writing large paragraphs, keep it simple yet appealing to the eye by breaking them down into bullet points. As you're focusing more on your recent work and accomplishments, adding 4-5 bullet points and 2 sentence descriptions above that can cover the summary of your responsibilities paints a clear picture.
You need to focus on adding jobs that will lead you to your next job, skip jobs that are unrelated or too far in your past. There is no rule that you need to state your entire work history.You can also stand out by adding videos or presentations that speak of your work - Make sure to double-check that you're not sharing confidential information.
While shopping online, as a customer, besides reading the description of the product, you do spend some time reading reviews from other customers. Reviews build credibility! Similarly, recommendations on LinkedIn build credibility. All recruiters and hiring managers spend time reading recommendations once they find your profile interesting, so make the most of it! It's advisable to have at least 3 recommendations from current or former peers and managers. Be strategic while seeking recommendations, brief your connections about the skills and projects you would like them to highlight on. As there are no rules, I'd advise you to seek recommendations from your juniors, seniors, or individuals from the same level.
Don't shy away from writing good recommendations for your connections. It helps strengthen relationships in the long run.
What goes around comes back around. Endorse others while they endorse you on your skills. This section plays a role in optimizing your profile through keywords. Though LinkedIn only displays your top three skills, don't stop there; it allows you to add a total of 50 skills to your profile. Maintaining a relevant list of skills to your profile helps others understand your strengths. It also plays a vital role for recruiters and hiring managers to find you and match you with the right opportunities.
A welcoming way to reconnect with a former colleague is to endorse them on their skills as they accept your invite.
Include all the institutions you've attended. List your concentration, major, and/or minor. If you are a recent graduate, include club committees and groups you were active in
You can use this section to highlight the courses that you've taken during your professional tenure. It's recommended to add valid certifications and course details. If you want to let anyone know if you are bilingual, trilingual, here's your chance!
If you have completed a "remote work certification", do add those details here.You can also use this section to address your employment gap, if any.
You can add side projects and special work assignments in this section to highlight your remote experience over a formal position. LinkedIn also allows you to tag other members you've worked with in the project
This can be a useful section when you have received major public accolades that are recognised by many people. It is not the section to list every Little League Medal you got as a kid. Mention recognised publications you have been part of. Ever filed a patent and want to highlight your innovative spirit? Sure thing - mention it here
If you've been a part of any community or organisation where you've served as a volunteer for any cause, do share that information here. Use discretion when choosing to include any religious or political affiliations.You can also use this section to address your employment gaps, if you have
Be a part of industry-wide groups, college alumni groups, professional associations. Participate by answering questions, sharing links to interesting articles and engaging in conversation with other like-minded professionals
