It’s true… LinkedIn really is very important for you career! Having an up-to-date and professional LinkedIn profile can genuinely boost you chances when finding a new job and meeting new customers. Think of your LinkedIn profile as your online CV.
Below we offer some advice on areas you should focus on and how it can help you…
Profile photo
First impressions are key. So it’s important to make your profile photo clear, professional and focussed on you. We suggest you use a headshot style photo, so just your head and shoulders. Your profile photo is quite small, so the less of you in the photo the smaller you will appear. With regards to what you should wear… keep it simple and wear what you would wear at work.
Summary
Similar to the opening summary on your CV, a crisp and detailed summary that can be quickly read is a great way to explain who you are and what you do. Consider mentioning your key achievements, for example, you could discuss a couple of successful projects you worked and the role you played in successfully delivering the project.
Experience
This is where you summarise your role within your business. Just like a CV, include your key responsibilities and achievements concisely. It’s important to think about the person reading your profile, so don’t make it too long but you do want to make sure they get a good understanding of what you do! Include all of your roles and ensure the dates (length of service) all work out with no gaps, similar to how you would list your work experience on your CV.
Skills
This section can seem like a complete waste of time, but adding your key skills can genuinely help! You can add as many skills as you want and once they have been added to your profile your colleagues, customers and people you know within the industry can endorse you for these skills. The more endorsements you can get the better, as it’s essentially people saying yes you do possess that skill.
Recommendations
If you have people saying you are great at what you do then it will have a big impact on the people reading your profile. We suggest you ask your colleagues or clients to add a recommendation on your profile, you’re not being rude by asking. As they say “don’t ask, don’t get”.
Get connected
LinkedIn is all about building a network. The more relevant connections you have the more you will come up in searches and the more known you will become. So we suggest you start connecting with people you work with, including clients, colleagues and suppliers.
Looking for a new engineering job?
If you are looking for a new opportunity then get in touch with us to discuss what you are looking for and we can get to work on helping you find your perfect job!
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