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13 Steps to a Better LinkedIn Profile

For many people, the Internet is an important platform for presenting themselves to others – also from a professional perspective. LinkedIn is one of the most important social business networks. More and more people trust LinkedIn when looking for a job and when networking; on the other hand, recruiters and HR managers use the site to find and contact interesting candidates. Therefore, the better you design your LinkedIn profile, the higher the chance that recruiters or HR professionals will notice you. If you apply proactively to companies via LinkedIn, your profile should also convey a competent impression. Many users create their profile once and do not change it afterwards. Follow these tips to optimize and refresh your LinkedIn profile.

 

Profile Headline

After your name field – which should really only contain your first and last name – the headline of your LinkedIn profile plays an important role. Make sure you have a meaningful, but concise text that highlights your strengths and focus. Formulating this can take some time, but you should take this time as the headline/title is crucial for the first impression of your profile.

 

Image

As in other social networks, the same applies to LinkedIn: A professional, personable and appealing image has a significant impact on your profile. Make sure that your picture suits you, both in terms of color scheme and appearance and that it conveys the effect you want.

 

Contact information

If you want to make contacts and build relationships, you should of course offer appropriate contact options. You do not necessarily have to provide all possible contact information. Rather concentrate on the channels that you are actively using and through which you can really be reached.

 

Profile URL

LinkedIn offers you the option of adapting your profile URL to make it more readable – and easier to remember. Make sure to use this option and be sure to choose a URL that is easily identifiable to you or your primary website. This not only increases the chance of being found by others, the links with your profile URL also look nicer and more elegant.

 

Add Value

In order to attract other members’ attention and to create real added value in the network, you should ideally share interesting content on a daily basis. These can be your own articles as well as articles and contributions from other sites and users. If you repeatedly share the content of certain authors in a targeted manner, you can also attract their attention.

 

Keywords

The online business network works in a similar way to Google. This means that LinkedIn also needs information from your profile and your behavior in order to be able to suggest topics, people, companies, content, etc. The better LinkedIn can assess who your profile might be suitable for, the better for you! This happens through the algorithm at LinkedIn, that has to be “fed” with key terms. Therefore your profile should contain keywords that someone would use to search for new employees or interesting contacts to connect with.

 

Language

The “About Me” section on LinkedIn may require some creativity and well chosen language. This is not a resume, but your chance to present yourself to visitors to your profile in a summary. Therefore, you should write from a first-person perspective and address your target group and readers directly. In this way you create a personal connection to your readers and can specifically point out who you are and what sets you apart.

 

Video / Media

LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to incorporate videos, slideshows or other media into the various stages of your professional career. Make use of this option and include meaningful videos or media here that give visitors to your profile an impression of your work or philosophy.

 

Experience

In addition to the “About me” area, the experience section on your profile gives you the opportunity to include your keywords and address potential employers and network partners. Take advantage of this opportunity and choose the experiences that you want to publish carefully while keeping your target group and objectives in mind.

 

Accomplishments

Some profiles display dozens of accomplishments. This may seem impressive at first, but it might turn into a disadvantage. When choosing your accomplishments for your profile, you should concentrate on only the relevant ones that underline your competence and tie in with the overall picture of the profile and the goals you have. If you list too many random skills and projects, it becomes unnecessarily difficult for HR and recruiters to filter out what your strengths are. Present your professional successes and achievements in a targeted manner. Include projects that you have led or worked on, highlight specific skills, and make it clear what skills and knowledge you have that set you apart.

 

Recommendations

Recommendations not only show that you are really active on LinkedIn, they also give visitors of your profile an impression of your professional network. If you give a lot of recommendations, make sure that the recommendations are visible on your profile by adjusting your settings.

 

Linkedin Contacts

With a well-designed profile, you are already doing a lot right on LinkedIn. An important factor on LinkedIn are also contacts that should be maintained. A profile with only a few contacts does not give recruiters the impression of a strong network. So add contacts to your profile! Network with all people in whom you see a benefit or who are potentially on your customer list. Maintaining contacts on LinkedIn means that you have to sort out names every now and then. Some contacts are out of date and might no longer fit your current situation. A smaller but active and useful network is better than simply collecting a large number of followers.

 

Participate in groups and discussions

One of the most important activities to become more visible on LinkedIn is participation in groups and discussions. Become a member of groups that are related to your industry or job and participate in topics that fit your specialty, your experience and your career aspirations. HR managers from companies are also active here and read along – whoever participates here has a good chance of being noticed. Pay particular attention to the quality of your contributions.

 

It is important to regularly update your LinkedIn profile. As your career evolves, so should your profile. Our recruiters at ESG Consulting, a provider of IT staffing, Engineering and consulting services can support you when it comes to optimizing your social media presence. Our expertise not only includes help in finding the right job for a candidate, but also advice on all stages of the application process and beyond. Let’s connect.

 

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Navigating A Successful Career Change During the Pandemic

The global pandemic is forcing many employees to work remotely from their homes. Others have been off work temporarily and many people have lost their jobs entirely. The time spent at home and away from people’s regular routines allowed many professionals to think about and rethink their previous career path.

 

Maybe you’ve been thinking about a career change for a long time, or at least reconsidering your priorities and preferences. There are a variety of reasons why someone might want a career change. Especially during this time, many people consider making major changes in their life. However, a career change should not be taken lightly – particularly with all the uncertainty the pandemic has created in everyday life and our economy. If you’re wondering whether a career change is really the right step for you at this moment, ask yourself the following questions first:

 

  1. Do I want to change my entire career or am I simply dissatisfied with my job during this time of the pandemic?

 

It is very important to think thoroughly about why you feel you need to make a career change right now. Your current dissatisfaction is likely to be related to the reality of the pandemic than to your actual job. Think about how your work has changed during the pandemic and how likely it is that the situation will eventually change to the way it used to be. Do you predict the recent changes to be permanent? Will you be satisfied in your current position as soon as the pandemic is over and everything is back to normal. If you were previously dissatisfied with your career, it is likely that right now these feelings are intensified and lead you to think about a new path.

 

  1. Am I dissatisfied with my job or my career?

 

The Covid-19 pandemic has probably already brought a lot of negative aspects of your work to the surface. Maybe you don’t feel valued or undervalued in your company. Perhaps you’ve always had problems with your manager and working from home only exacerbates them. The changes brought about by the pandemic have probably intensified all of those feelings.

However, a bad feeling doesn’t have to mean that you have to make a complete career change. In many cases it can be the specific position, manager or team in the company that lead to your dissatisfaction and all you need is an internal change. Be honest with yourself – do the problems only depend on your current position or would they recur in another area? If you find that you can’t and don’t like your current type of job, or you don’t see a future for the entire industry, you may be looking for a bigger change.

 

  1. What am I looking for on my new career path?

 

You shouldn’t focus on what you are running from, but rather on what you are walking towards. Focus on what you would find satisfying and rewarding about the new career instead of looking back at your current job in frustration. Think about what you want to do next and why, not what you will leave behind. For example, you may feel that you are making no difference in your current position. Instead of stopping there and thinking about it, ask yourself what kind of career path will allow you to make a difference .

 

  1. What is my mental and emotional state like at the moment?

 

Experiencing a pandemic can affect your emotional wellbeing. Neither of us has ever lived through a time like this. It is quite possible that there are additional feelings, emotions, and thoughts that are weighing heavily on you, and that have nothing to do with the job you are in. Be honest with yourself and try to separate the thoughts and feelings that arise as a result of what is happening in the world from those associated with your role and the industry in which you work. You are making a life decision in the middle of a traumatic event where the emotions are really high. Do you make this decision out of your current emotions or out of rational thinking?

Also, look at your coping mechanisms that could affect your judgment. Are you addicted to alcohol, medication, or toxic relationships? Are you able to think clearly and rationally? Do you panic easily and make impulsive decisions in other aspects of your life? These can all be signs that you should wait and think before taking any further steps.

 

  1. Am I ready to face two life changing events at the same time?

 

Getting through a pandemic and rethinking your career path are two major events in your life. Do you really feel ready to take on the stresses and strains of changing jobs while dealing with other stressors that COVID-19 has brought with it? If you switch careers now it can be difficult to find a company that is ready to hire during or after a pandemic.

If you find a new job, you may first work virtually with your boss and the new colleagues and customers for a while. It could be difficult to build new connections and relationships. If you think starting a new career is too difficult or too stressful under normal circumstances, the year of the pandemic might not be the right time to go that route.

 

  1. Do I have the financial means to support a career change?

 

You should also think about the financial aspects of changing careers. It can be risky to make such a change during a recession. Do you want to and can you take this risk? Can you adjust your expenses or rely on your savings if you may lose your income for a while or experience a pay cut? If you’re worried about possible layoffs or budget cuts in the new career area, doesn’t it make more sense to wait before making a change?

 

  1. What are the long-term prospects for my industry?

 

Some industries are hit harder than others, including retail, transportation, leisure and hospitality. If you predict that your industry will need time to recover, it is better to look for other possibilities to use your knowledge and skills in a meaningful way. Trying to think through all of these questions can be intimidating. It is helpful to write down your responses, review them and see if this generates new thoughts and ideas on how you view your future career. This will give you the opportunity to look at your thoughts more objectively and your feelings more closely.

Once you have answered these questions for yourself, you will better understand the motivation behind your desire to change careers. This might help you gravitate towards staying in your current job or area, or quite possibly make it easier to decide that now is the perfect time to change your career.

 

If you need help navigating a career change, please get in touch. Our experienced staff can coach you through the process and offer many opportunities, especially in the IT and engineering field.

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