Searching for a new job? Why you must not forget your LinkedIn account:
If you are searching for a new job (and for that matter, reverse this blog if you are seeking to recruit someone for your business), it is nowadays more or less vital to your on going career that you have a great LinkedIn profile.
I have recruited a few people recently and the first place I go to is LinkedIn. Not only will I place a job post on LinkedIn, I will also keyword search for people that may be applicable for that role, ie experience, location and availability. Though I use them myself, I found that many recruitment companies, besides posting their vacant positions on to indeed.co.uk and other free recruitment platforms, will also tear in to LinkedIn. A recent job post I needed to fill I experimented by searching on LinkedIn for the ideal candidates and I was not surprised that a few of the candidates the recruitment company offered me were exactly the same people – So, it is important to know that your LinkedIn profile could very well be carefully reviewed regularly by both recruitment / headhunting companies, but also by your future employers as when you have sent in your CV for that ideal job role you recently applied for, your profile will be searched for online and especially via Google, LinkedIn profiles appear frequently in the results.
So, what should you be doing to make sure that if your LinkedIn account is viewed by recruiters, then you stand the best chance to make the right impression and land yourself that ideal new job role to enhance your career.
- Have a LinkedIn account! Fine, you are reading this blog post so you are highly likely to be on LinkedIn already… But for those who are not then WHY NOT! Get yourself set up with a free LinkedIn account today.
- Your photo. Make sure that the photo you use clearly indicates the type of person you are and fits in with the role you are looking to achieve. Yes, for the gents out there, a nice collared shirt with tie and a neat blazer and for the ladies a neat top and jacket that is ideal for the office. This though is not always the norm as job roles vary immensely out there so you may wish to have a profile photo of yourself pruning vines, in your chef whites, ski-ing on the snow filled slopes, acting on stage etc. Try not to use old photos of yourself or ones where you are with a group of friends, make sure photos are clear and not grainy and make sure you have a happy expression. Search through LinkedIn and look at peoples profiles, you will see many variations and many will not be conveying the right message.
- Headlines / Keywords. Make sure that your headline clearly states what your job title is as this is what people will be searching for, ie Head of South East Audi Car Sales or Senior Negotiator. Keep what you do easy to understand and importantly, easy to be found when people are searching for those with experience in business just like you.
- Your Profile Summary. This is an important area for you to think carefully about what you share. As in most things with business, you want to be sharing what you offer the reader rather than trying to, in length, describe you, you, you… Why should someone be interest in you, what can you offer them, are you worth the risk, should I read on with interest etc is what you want to be getting the reader to be thinking so ‘I am an email marketing expert and currently deliver over 400% return on investment on all the projects I am working on‘ or ‘I lead and manage a team of 40 telecommunication engineers that cover Greater London‘ or ‘I have 20 years experience in HTML coding within the banking sector.‘ What problems can you help to solve, what results can you help to achieve, can you manage, have you experience and more should be addressed here. You can also get technical here of course, though that should be after the main points you have shared – certainly go in to detail and use keywords that you think people will be searching for, ie ‘skills in ASP.NET, MVC, C#, Agile, SQL, HTML, JavaScript, JQuery‘ or ‘worked in both Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics internationally for Rolls-Royce and Audi‘.
- Obtain recommendations. This is sometimes overlooked, but really you must be confident enough to ask your connections who know you and worked with youfor their recommendations. There is sometimes no better way to recruit someone new or indeed to book a hotel, holiday, buy a new car, try a new restaurant than by reading up on other peoples recommendations / testimonials / feedback – So think this important factor for your own profile too. If you can gather plenty of positive feedback, especially from your ex employees, then this gives a great sounding to readers of your profile as to what kind of person you are and are likely to be in their business.
- The rest of your profile. LinkedIn contains plenty of information areas you can fill with details about you. Make sure that you correctly present your history, ie job roles and work experiences and highlight all the responsibilities you held and results you delivered. You contact details should also be up to date and evident for anyone interested in you to make contact – Consider at least to share your email address and telephone number. Try not to highlight your social media accounts, ie Twitter, if you are not using them professionally as this could deflate someone’s interest in you if they see you sharing party all night updates or you moaning about work etc.
If you are searching for a new job in the UK property industry then visit Estate Agent Networking today: Jobs in UK Property
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