I am happy to admit that I am NOT a LinkedIn professional! I do know one thing though – if you are looking for a new job, or a change of career, or simply want to make connections business-wise, you need to have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile in place. It is VERY important.

Let’s cut to the chase – what does your LinkedIn profile say about you right now?

  • Do you have a photo in place? If so, is it up-to-date, or are you gazing into the camera with a drink in your hand? Or have you decided that you are camera shy and still have a silhouette in place?
  • What does the backdrop to your profile look like? Do you still have a sky blue backdrop with the solar system in place?
  • What wording do you have in the 2 lines beneath your photo?
  • Have you filled in the ‘about’ section? Does it bang on about how wonderful you are? Or is it a long list of everything you’ve ever done?

Yes, I know – it’s another social media platform to take care of and keep updated, however, get it right and it can really help you and your career by doing the work for you.

Get it wrong and it could hold you back! And let’s face it, do you want to hold back your career rather than help it move forward? No, I didn’t think so!

It’s not necessary to spend heaps of money on creating your profile, although it is certainly worth investing in training if you want to use it for business purposes.

I’ve recently spent quite a lot of time working on my own profile, as it had been slightly neglected. As such, I revisited some online training notes and had a conversation with a friend who’d recently revamped her profile following specific LinkedIn training. I then did some additional research to get to grips with what was required to create a profile that would engage and demonstrate to anyone how they can benefit from working with me as a coach and a recruiter.

I now want to share some of what I have learned to help you create your own engaging profile – one that stands out from the rest.

Here are my top 5 tips for creating a LinkedIn profile that will really stand out:

  1. Use a professionally taken photo (where possible) that truly reflects you and incorporates your authentic personality, and the business sector you operate within.
  2. Use the ‘real estate’ backdrop fully to market yourself, attract businesses or clients and ensure that there is a picture (or related image / information) on there that is synonymous with your career, i.e. if you’re a fashion buyer, use images of clothes, or if you have your own business, ensure that you have an image and associated logos / wording in place.
  3. Ensure the two lines of text beneath your photo capture how a business would benefit by employing, or collaborating with, you.
  4. Take your time to work out the information that goes into the ‘about’ section, as here you can really expand upon what you have to offer. Try saying ‘so what?’ as you put in the text. It helps focus your mind.
  5. Keep your career history succinct and relevant – don’t fill it full of content regarding jobs that you’ve done and dislike – focus on what you love and want to do again.

Bonus Tip:

Ensure your LinkedIn profile represents the essence of you, and what you can bring to a business / organisation via employment or collaboration in one way or another.

Recruiters and businesses use LinkedIn all the time to find candidates for vacant job opportunities, so by taking time to ensure that your profile is written well, you may find that the job or collaboration you are looking for manifests and finds you instead.

Click the link below for more information and a detailed and upbeat chat on this very subject with Louise Trevatt, founder of Simply Changing, the organisation I trained and qualified as a coach with in 2012.

Please do grab a cuppa and listen in for more valuable advice.

 

As mentioned, I’ve recently updated my own profile, which may help give you some basic ideas too. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjnaylor/

At the time of writing, the way we work, is still very much affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and this in turn is going to have a deep knock-on effect across the economy and political landscape. As such, right now is a really good time to get your LinkedIn profile and CV up-to-date and ready for action. None of us know what ‘the other side’ will look like, but it’s well worth getting prepared now.

To be forearmed is to be forewarned!