1. Your Professional Headline

The phrase that sits just below your name is the most highly rated index for search on LinkedIn, so it’s important to use this to your best advantage. Don’t think of this as your job title – but as a personal description in 120 characters. It should convey your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

Think of how you’d like to be searched and the roles you’d like to be considered for. For instance, an aspiring Account Manager wanting to build a career in Social Media would amend their headline as follows:

Account Manager

TO

Account Manager | Social Media Specialist | Content Creator

Here are some other examples of how key words are utilised in the Professional Headline using key words:

Account Manager at XYZ, specialising in Social Media and Content Development.

Applications Developer | Senior Programmer | 10+ Years Specializing in Programming Mobile & Web-Based Applications

Account Director: Advertising | Digital | CRM | Social Media

By making this change and incorporating key words, you are more likely to be found in search around key words “account manager”, “social media” and “content” and be approached for these opportunities. You also show up in a narrower, more targeted search selection. To ascertain key words, it’s a good idea to review job descriptions of “target employers” to see what skills they are looking for.

Also note this is not the area of your LinkedIn profile to showcase soft skills eg leadership, team-building – this is the area to really hone in on the technical and industry skillset you have.

2. Your LinkedIn "About" Section

In this area (formerly called “Summary”) you have 2000 characters to describe yourself. Again this area needs to cover all your key words, but in an engaging way that describes your skills and experience. Think of this section as your “elevator pitch” and give particular thought to the first 2 sentences as most readers will only see the first 90-150 characters when viewed on mobile. Highlight any key technical skills you have By putting keywords up front in your About section, it also helps with SEO.

Also utilise the ability to highlight your work using the “Featured” section – add any media, documents, folio’s, video or publications to your profile. You can also add these to specific jobs in the Experience section of your profile. It all helps to build an engaging LinkedIn profile.

3. LinkedIn Skills & Endorsement Section

LinkedIn has a Skills and Endorsement section which you should utilise. It makes it easy to create a snap-shot of skills and to be searched for those skills, particularly in LinkedIn Recruiter. You can have up to 50 skills listed and be endorsed by first level connections. Carefully choose (or re-order) your first 3 skills as these will be most visible on your profile. Choose skills most relevant to the job you have and the job you want next.

Make sure you include any technical skills as well - (Salesforce, Marketo etc). Analysis suggests that candidates with 5 or more skills listed, get 27 times more profile views. 

So there you have it. 3 simple things to review on your LinkedIn profile to ensure you stand out and get noticed. Who knows where your next opportunity lies..