I recently conducted a half-day session to folks in transition on how recruiters (like me!) use LinkedIn to source great candidates and how folks looking for a new opportunity can ensure their profiles are optimized – and that they are noticed by recruiters and hiring managers. It was a resounding success!
Aside from the over 300 million people who are already using LinkedIn and the 2 new users who are joining every second, in a recent Bullhorn survey of nearly 2000 recruiters, 97.3% said they used LinkedIn as a recruiting tool. Yep, you heard right. 97.3% of recruiters said they used LinkedIn as a recruiting tool!
A recent article I came across posted from socialtalent, went on to say 64% of recruiters use ONLY LinkedIn for recruiting. While I would disagree with this recruiting strategy, undoubtedly those recruiters are the same ones who only relied on job boards back in the day when they were popular.
However, some key points to stress when you are not being noticed on LinkedIn. If you are not using LinkedIn effectively and if your profile is not optimized, recruiters and hiring managers WILL NOT FIND YOU! Why would you make it difficult for them? Why would you choose to not be found?
Want to be noticed? Want to be found? Here are some key points to consider:
- Put up a professional profile picture. Make it recent. Make it professional….but by all means get it up there. Don’t crop yourself out of a wedding picture. Don’t put up a blurry picture. Don’t put up a picture of yourself from ten years ago. Look at others in roles similar to yours and then put one up!
- Use the headline. Don’t just list your current role and the company. We already know your role and company from the work experience section. Put in key descriptors. Think of key competencies. Again, look at others like you and see what they have. If they have just their titles, chances are good they are not interested in making a move or getting noticed. You always want to be noticed. If not for a job, then for sure for your subject matter expertise. Connections and your network are key.
- Construct a good summary. Think of an expanded elevator pitch. And by all means, put in your key competencies. If you are so awesome that you have tons of them, list them in a paragraph format separated by semi colons vs. a laundry list in bulleted format.
- List your current and past jobs and ensure you have an overview of what you did. Again, not a laundry list and not a rehash of your resume. Just enough of a taste to whet the recruiter’s appetite and get them to want to know more about you.
- Get connected. Connect with everyone with whom you’ve worked, or volunteered or gone to school. See where they are and for whom they are working. Connect with key influencers and decision makers.
The list could go on and on – after all my seminar was a half day – but start here and see how quickly you are noticed! Have I noticed you yet?
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