We encourage jobseekers to put their best foot forward at every step in their job search journey because first impressions are important. With regard to the LinkedIn profile, that means making certain that the top of a profile—the section recruiters see first—will catch their interest…
Every week we scroll through dozens of LinkedIn profiles. More often than not, we see the same or similar errors again and again. These issues include, but are not limited to, the following:
- No images in the intro card section,
- The account has not been verified,
- Default or no LinkedIn headline, and
- Creator mode is turned on.
LinkedIn is a social media platform, so you will get the best results with effective images, headlines, and account setup.
Start with images to get noticed.
Frequently, the LinkedIn profiles we scroll through lack images. They look bland, and in marketing terms, do not “grab attention.”
It’s an easy problem to fix.
You can grab attention by uploading a headshot and a background image. Those of us that use social media regularly have headshots or similar images, along with background images on our other social media profile pages. We should follow a similar practice on LinkedIn.
Headshot: LinkedIn Help tells us a headshot is not required. You can upload an “illustration, caricature, or other artistic rendering of yourself”—but hiring teams probably expect to see a photo of you. A professional headshot is not needed unless you are in a creative business where headshots are commonly expected. Just have someone snap your headshot with your phone—it will look better than a selfie.
Paradoxically, hiring teams do not want headshots on resumes because this could lead to conscious or unconscious bias during the hiring process. Resume scanning software employers use typically scans text only so the company will not have a photo of you in their records until they hire you. But images are an integral part of social media profiles, so your audience expects to see images.
A marketing maxim comes to mind here: “if you can’t avoid it, feature it.” Add a photo of yourself in appropriate attire for your line-of-business.
Background image: Your background image, or banner, gives you an opportunity to promote your personal brand. A software engineer we have collaborated with on resumes uses his banner image to promote the “99.9% accuracy” of an optical character recognition (OCR) app he developed for the financial technology (FinTech) industry. A profile for someone who did PR for professional bicycle racers used the image of an open road for his banner.
There are many banner images promoting socioeconomic causes available from LinkedIn and other sources, too. These seem to be popular although we do not recommend them because your prospective employer may not embrace your favorite cause.
Of course, only post images online that you own, images you have received permission to use, or images that are in the public domain.
Your photo and banner will increase the chances you will be found in searches. Some experts say your photo will increase your appearance in searches 25 times or more. A recruiter told us last week that she skips search results that have no photo or banner.
While we understand that jobseekers may not want to include their photo on a profile for a variety of reasons, we suggest weighing the benefits of doing so.
You may be at a disadvantage when your profile is not “verified.”
We have noticed recently that an increasing number of profiles have been marked “verified.” Once again, LinkedIn is following a trend we’ve seen on other social media sites.
Some months ago, we looked into the process and found out other coaches had difficulty getting their profiles verified. But when we noticed many verified profiles, we tried the process.
Last week, the process worked without significant glitches. Members need only scan in a photo ID, and take a selfie to show that they are the same person. A site called “Clear.com” verified our ID and sent us back to LinkedIn. Clear is the same company that works with TSA on their pre-check program.
The verification process has to be done using a smartphone. It can be a nuisance to the minority of us that prefer doing business on a laptop or desktop computer, but it works.
You need ID to get a job, so showing ID to become a verified LinkedIn member seems like a reasonable “ask” for better results.
A missing or poor headline will hurt results.
The LinkedIn algorithm places a high value on your profile headline. Your headline, along with intro card images, are also the only things recruiters see in their initial searches. So, it’s important to include a strong headline.
LinkedIn allows 220 characters for your headline, so you have an opportunity to write a keyword-rich headline that represents your personal brand, as our example demonstrates. The site may have entered your most recent job title by default when you set up a profile. Change it now to better reflect what you do. And, do not leave this valuable space blank!
Creator mode should not be turned on.
A relatively new feature of LinkedIn is “Creator Mode.” According to Sprout Social, “A social media content creator is an individual who creates and shares content intended to educate or entertain an audience across social media platforms.”
The problem with creator mode, from a jobseeker’s point of view, is that it pushes your “About” and “Experience” sections further down your profile page. That means a busy hiring team member may not scroll down to see the great information about your career that you have carefully crafted for them. As a result, we recommend turning Creator Mode off for the duration of your job search.
Concluding Comments Those of you that have been using LinkedIn regularly realize we have only scratched the surface. The sections we have covered are those at the top of your profile. There is much more to update. We’ll be adding updates regularly over the next two months.
Guide to the Post-pandemic Job Market
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