How to Optimize Your Linked In For Recruiters
Posted on April 14, 2021 by Alysha Chin, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
How to update that LinkedIn account from your empty profile just used for looking up potential dates to one that recruiters will find and contact you!
The Basics
I have to get these out of the way first. Make sure these are done before moving on to the more intricate steps. If you are just setting up your LinkedIn profile I would recommend reading this detailed post on LinkedIn Basics first.
1. Profile Picture – make it clean, clear, and a good representation of you. Your face is clearly visible (no sunglasses or hats) and you are smiling.
2. Headline – include more than just your job title. Make it a little aspirational and include the wording for the work you want.
3. About Section – start with a strong hook. Only the first 120 characters are shown before the viewer has to click read more – so make them count! Also, spend a lot of time on this section because this is the biggest section recruiters see when clicking your profile in LinkedIn Recruiter.
4. Header Picture – Have it represent what you do/who you are. There are lots of cute and free templates in Canva.
Once you have these done you are ready to move on to the meat of your profile. The sections that are going to help you appear in recruiter’s search results/talent pool. But that does not mean that you can skip the work above. You need those to help you appear in those results and for recruiters and possible connections to want to read your profile.
How LinkedIn Works for Recruiters
Recruiters not only have their own personal LinkedIn profile but they also have a platform that works more like a CRM. It will divide each position into a project and help find and filter out potential candidates.
It uses specific filters to narrow down the results. These filters include:
Spotlights (the people that LinkedIn believes are the most likely to engage)
Job title
Location
Skills
Companies
Schools
Year of Graduation
Industries
Keywords
Employment types
Seniority
Degrees
Job Function
Years of Experience
Within these filters they have the option to do an advanced search and adjust the features and criteria to be more specific. Meaning that they can set filters for not only your current experience but your past experience as well.
How to Show Up as a LinkedIn Spotlight
Make sure your LinkedIn profile is open to new opportunities.
Under your picture and headline there should be a section that says “Open to Work”
When you click the pencil in that section to edit. You can enter:
Job titles you would like to be hired for
Job locations and whether you are open to working remotely
Start date
Job types
Who is able to see that you are open (all LinkedIn members or only recruiters)
Other ways to be considered a spotlight candidate for recruiters is if you have previously applied to that company, if you have connections to that company, or if you are engaged with the company’s talent brand.
Talent brand Engagement includes:
Researching the company
Following the company
Viewing and applying for their jobs
So, if you want to show up as a LinkedIn Spotlight for a recruiter you need to engage with the company’s page, job postings, and people.
What Content to Focus on to Improve Your Visibility
Try to have the title of the position you WANT somewhere in your profile – even if you have not had that position. You can put it in your headline as: “Aspiring Graphic Designer.”
Update the skills section to be full of the skills you use and will use in your ideal position. Think of the position you want and look up some job postings. Look at the skills that are continuously listed within these postings and add them to your skills section.
Make sure your profile is rich with keywords that relate to the position you want. You can include these in your headline, about section, and your work experience. Do so in a way that is still relevant to having the keywords in these sections and not just listing them.
Update your contact information and make sure it is easy for recruiters to contact you through LinkedIn. LinkedIn will allow recruiters to contact you through InMail (their messaging system) for free if you are a 1st degree connection with the recruiter, you are an open link member (option within LinkedIn Premium), or a job applicant.
Fill out your work experience. You want to include your job function, your role and responsibilities, and showcase your experience.
Set your industry to the industry you are looking to work within.
Make sure what you are including in your profile is an honest reflection of you and your work.
Once your profile is optimized for the position and industry you are looking for you will start hearing from recruiters. Make sure you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. You can also post regularly on LinkedIn, which will build your connections, engagement, and visibility. LinkedIn has specific ways that it calculates whether or not to display your work so try and follow it’s algorithm’s preferences.
