CLEVELAND — From picking a new photo, to creating a stronger headline, Transition Coach Nancy Karas, helped one of our viewers, a former real estate executive, enhance his LinkedIn profile when he found himself back in the job market following COVID.
And Karas says, "There's so many different things you can do just to present who you are and give people a little taste of your expertise."
That includes utilizing the Skills Section. It's at the top of employer's searches.
“You want to make sure that all relevant skills are checked off,” says Karas. “And remember, they may be skills that aren't relevant to real estate specifically (or whatever field you’re in). But skills you can pivot and use anywhere in your career. So, list them all.”
According to LinkedIn, members with 5 or more skills are contacted up to 33 times more.
And to really shine, rack up recommendations from your contacts, which you can include in the Recommendations section. Experts say, the best way to get them, is to give them.
"It's huge, because people say, ‘you know, I worked with Danielle. She was really, brilliant. And the way that she thought through her projects’. That kind of stuff. Use that opportunity to get people who are really important in your world," explains Karas.
Another way to show employers who is important in your world is to follow leaders in your field and join groups. All of that shows up under your Activities section. It also helps increase your connections.
Karas says she contacts industry leaders all the time. “I reach out to people who are in industries that I'm interested in. And I say, ‘hey, you know, I looked at your profile and you have a really great background. I had a few questions about your industry. I'd love to be one of your contacts. If you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out to me also’."
But just because more than three quarters of recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates, according to a study by the recruiting software company called Jobvite, don't post your resume in full.
Kris McGuigan, founder of Career Courage, a company which helps counsel job seekers says, that's giving away too much.
"If I were a recruiter,” she explained, “ I could come to your profile, pull down that resume and make a decision about whether or not I want to talk to you without ever notifying you of such.
LinkedIn should be more like the coming attractions for a movie.
"Just making sure you have powerful content embedded in the actual profile, you give yourself more control over the process,” Kris says. “Because, then as a recruiter, someone would have to reach out and talk to you directly if they wanted to see that next level of information."
And here's another interesting tip: Before you start updating your profile, adjust your security settings so your connections don't get notified every time you make a change.
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Editor's Note: The below story aired on December 16, 2020