Marketing
Learn five essential tips to create a professional profile on LinkedIn
Digitalization has changed the world of work, the way we look for employment, and engage with our our professional network.
Nowadays, being present on LinkedIn–the most important social media in the professional world–and keeping a solid digital reputation is an important move.
Núria Mañé—communication consultant and social media strategist—has over 17 years’ experience working with companies and entrepreneurs. She shares some basic tips to help you review the essential details of your LinkedIn profile. She offers advice on how to present your profile image, experience, activities, aptitudes, and endorsements, as well as a few other details that will help optimize and improve your personal brand and get more profile views.
Basic tips to improve your profile and communicate your unique selling point on LinkedIn
1. The initial visual section includes the cover and the profile picture. Always use a 400x400 image for your profile, with a neutral background: a headshot looking at the camera and smiling. For the cover, choose a photograph (size 1584x396) showing yourself engaged in some activity, for example, giving a presentation, or at work in your studio.
2. Your work title is perhaps the most crucial feature because it appears in Google searches. Therefore, try to use keywords that communicate your unique selling point: include what you can offer to your clients and what makes you stand out. Use the expression: ‘Specializing in …’ to better describe yourself, add your training if relevant, and the type of professional relationship you are seeking. Having the right title will also help you increase profile views.
3. In current employment, add what you are currently involved in and add a link to the website of the company you work for, even if it’s your own.
4. The summary is the text provided by LinkedIn to describe who you are and what your field is. This part is aimed at convincing viewers to offer you a contract or become your clients.
Write a summary of your professional history written in the first person to captivate the reader, and include the most relevant jobs in the first three lines to start off strong. Then, add your present responsibilities, milestones, aptitudes, skills, key values, and external links. Conclude with a final prompt (“send me an e-mail,” “let’s talk”).
5. If you are looking for work or projects, indicate that you are seeking professional opportunities, but don’t put this in your title. Insert the dates of previous jobs and add a current place related to your profession to better position yourself.
6. Add volunteer experience to your page. It gives recruiters and hiring managers an idea of your values and work ethic. The ability to take something on for the sake of passion, or experience, speaks volumes.
7. Make connections with people who work in your sector. By doing that, you’ll expand your professional network and reach. Having a bigger circle within your field will also help open up more job opportunities.
Núria Mañé teaches the Domestika course 'LinkedIn: Build Your Personal Brand,' an excellent way to learn necessary tools to optimize your LinkedIn profile, improve your personal brand, expand your network, change jobs, increase your professional visibility, and get more clients.
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