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How to fill out a LinkedIn profile correctly: detailed instructions

Jan 17, 2023

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We want to share tips on linkedin profile writing. We consider the article very useful because here many issues are considered from the point of view of HR (and simply with other accents).

With LN, you can share various HR information with your subscribers, close jobs for client employers, and help candidates adjust their profiles to receive interview invitations.

Recently, specialists conducted a study on the most effective channels for finding a job. One of them was LinkedIn. For many years, this site has been helping employers find employees and candidates find jobs. But in order for the profile to be really useful and bring bonuses to its owner in the form of invitations to interviews, it must be filled out correctly and with high quality.



The article is long and practical, so please don't rush to read it right away. First, open your LinkedIn profile. If you haven't registered there yet, now is the time to do so. Take some time and read and add changes to your profile step by step. If the profile is almost perfect, check each item as per the checklist. And at the end of the article you will find a small bonus. The material will be useful to both technical and non-technical representatives of the IT sector, regardless of the level.

We recommend that everyone update their profile at least once every three months. Not because recruiters are so demanding, but because the algorithms of the LN system often change and improve. There are times when certain settings crash and need to be updated.

Last year, this was the case with the language settings. For many candidates, the level of English turned out to be at the level of Limited working proficiency, although before that it could have been different. If the profile is checked by a recruiter, then he can write to the candidate and clarify some information. But automated job search systems, actively implemented by companies, will not do this.

General settings


Language


If you know at least a little English, then fill out the profile in English. There is a function that allows you to add several profiles in different languages, but in practice I know that candidates for them then get confused. Yes, and adjusting several profiles takes time.

To add a language, go to your profile and select "Add profile in another language" at the top right. A window with the necessary settings will appear.

Experts recommend choosing a profile language that is spoken by as many people in the world as possible. I advise you to choose English and the local language (i.e., the area where you live, work and want to work in the future).

Paid profile


Candidates often ask if a paid profile is needed. Needed if your job involves frequent use of LN: recruiters, HR , LN sales specialists, etc. The biggest advantage that a paid profile provides if you buy the cheapest package is the ability to view a large number of profiles. Recruitment packages are more expensive, have more advantages and great functionality for finding candidates, but even without them, a specialist can successfully use the system's capabilities.

Paid packages have the InMail messaging feature to write an email to a member who is not in the first contact level. But this feature is not required because there are many other ways to contact the candidate. For example, write to email or Skype, if it is indicated in the contact details and the About section.

Let me remind you the levels of contacts:

1st level - these are the people who are in your contacts (like "Friends" on the Facebook network);

2nd level - people who are not your contacts, but you have common contacts;

Level 3 - people with whom you do not have common contacts. They are usually from other spheres or countries.

One member can have a maximum of 30,000 first-level contacts in total. The rest will have to subscribe to read publications or follow the news.

No one knows the limit on how many contacts you can add per week or month. Just like no one knows how many profiles can be viewed within the free package. LN keeps this information private. But according to my observations, you can add about 50-100 contacts per week. This is enough to expand their number to several thousand in a year or two. Or use a month of free premium subscription to add a large number of contacts at once.

If there are 136 contacts in the first level, then do not be surprised that there are no invitations to interviews. In order for the profile to perform its functions efficiently, you need at least 1,500 contacts, among which there should be many recruiters from companies that interest you, and your future leaders.

Be careful when viewing a large number of profiles and the system sends a warning about the end of the limits. In this case, it is better to stop searching and not use them for at least a week. Therefore, for violation of the limits, sometimes they even block the profile.

The limit on the number of characters in an LN post is 1300. Over the past six months, LN has added many high-quality features, so sharing useful information with your subscribers has become more convenient.

Privacy settings, passwords, interface speech - I'm sure you can figure it out on your own. In this article, we will focus on what influences getting invitations from recruiters.

Intro


Photo


If discussions are still ongoing about the need for a photo in a resume, then no one doubts LN. This is a social network, and photography should be. Just remember that this is a social network for professionals, so you should not add a photo here that should remain in a family album or is intended for another type of social network.

Cover picture


Here the rule is: better than none than one that distracts the profile reader from information about you as a professional. Do not add promotional materials there if you are not promoting your business or your own project. The profile is visited to read about you as a specialist, and not about the products of your employer, who may become a former in a few weeks.

Once upon a time, one candidate wrote to LN that he was looking for a job, received a lot of profile views and not a single invitation for an interview. The cover had a picture of soap bubbles and pink flowers. The picture itself is very good, but in no way corresponded to the level of the candidate, who was the director of a large industrial plant, and in the context of his profession, it seemed very strange.

In general, during interviews, do not forget to ask about the company's social media policy. Because there are employers who force employees to repost all the news or, conversely, delete profiles, even if it is LN.

In general, a standard LN cover is suitable, it will not attract undue attention to itself.

Name


First name and then surname is the international standard. Also on resume. During registration, the system clearly indicates where to write what, but there are people who still confuse it.

If you are planning to relocate, make sure that the name is spelled in English exactly the way you want to be addressed at work. It is better that the name is spelled the same in the resume and LN profile.

header


LN keeps its working algorithms secret. No one knows how the list is formed in response to a specific search query. LN algorithms change once a week. A few months ago, when a query word, for example, Python, was written at the top of the search field, profiles appeared first of all, where positions with the word Python were indicated in the title. Today (July 27, 2020) I tested and found that profiles appear where Python is listed in the "Skills" section, and the title or job titles were not taken into account at all. In a month, this may change, and the list will be formed from those who have Python in their current position.

Therefore, in order to be at least a little sure that our profile will be on the 10th page, and not on the 150th, we fill in the key fields correctly. Yes, the information will be duplicated, but we will be sure that changes in the system of algorithms will not affect the number of invitations from recruiters, which should be received at least 1-3 times a month.

The title should indicate the well-known position that you currently hold or plan to hold in the future. If you're not sure what it sounds like, look at the job postings and write the name employers use.

Do not write quotes from the Dalai Lama or wishes for a good day. Do not put emoticons: they are not needed in business communication and no one will look for you by emoticon. Just write your position there.

The title is not a field for writing a status, as is the case in other social networks, but a field for information about the profession. What you write in the title should help recruiters find you.

IT specialists often additionally write the position level, as is customary in the industry: Junior, Middle, Senior, Team Leader, and the like.

Be sure to include your subject area. That is, the words "Manager", "Developer" or "Team Leader" in the title will not give any information about your profession if there is no area nearby. It’s better to write like this: “Finance Manager”, “Android Developer”, “Data Science Team Leader”. Look below in the sample: the first and fourth profiles do not give any understanding of the candidate's profession at all. Even if you write the phrase open for new opportunities, which means that the candidate is openly looking for a new job, be sure to write the name of the position or profession next to it.

How to:

  • Java Developer — open for new opportunities

  • QA Engineer — open for new opportunities

  • IT Sales Manager, Kyiv only — open for new opportunities

  • HR manager — open for new opportunities

  • Marketing, Pharma business — open for new opportunities


Contact Information


To the right of your photo there is a pencil sign, by clicking on which you enter the editing section "Contact information". This section helps recruiters connect with a candidate whose experience and knowledge are relevant to the job openings of the employing company.

Be sure to go into these settings and put the postal code of the place of residence so that the settlement is pulled up. You can specify the index of the city where you plan to move. When a recruiter is looking for candidates, he sometimes marks the exact city, and if the candidate has something else, then his profile will not be included in the search result.

After "Location" there is an important section, which in the sample below is called Industry. Be sure to follow the relevance of this industry. Especially if you change profession or field. This also affects the operation of the algorithms.

The last line contains a button for editing contacts. I had candidates who waited for months for invitations to interviews, but it turned out that the contact information contained an old email or phone number.

In the "Contact Information" section, you can specify:

  • site, if it is the platform of your project or you are the owner of the company. The employer's website can be omitted;

  • You can fill in the "Location" field again manually. But only city and country. You do not need to write the exact address with the street and apartment number anywhere, and also in the resume;

  • Instant messenger - Skype ID as an alternative communication method. It happens that a candidate does not go to his profile for months, so the recruiter sends him an invitation by mail or Skype.


It is better not to indicate the phone number, because after all this is open data and scammers can use it.

Date and year of birth can be omitted unless you are in a profession where age is part of it. For example, actors, fashion models, etc. For IT professionals, age is definitely not a criterion for determining the level of professionalism of a candidate.

Don't forget to click the "Save" button below.

There is also an Add profile section button in the "General Information" section: if you are missing a section, come back here and add it.

Section for job search


Another of the recent changes to LN is to make it clear on the profile that the candidate is looking for a job. Recruiters around the world have been waiting for this. This simplifies the search for candidates and therefore reduces the time for closing a vacancy. Candidates using this section will find a job faster.

Do not skip this section if you are actively and openly looking for a job. It is easier to negotiate with a candidate in the search than with someone who needs to be persuaded to change their employer. Therefore, invitations from recruiters will come first of all to those who have a green mark on the photo with the OpenToWork hashtag and a well-filled section.

It looks like this:

Click Get started and fill in the main sections. Here it is worth remembering the general principles regarding job titles and your job search strategy. You can and should list multiple positions if you have multiple lines of work or if there are multiple job titles in the labor market. It is possible to select multiple locations. Job Type depends on the professional level of the candidate. For example, Senior Project Manager will NOT list Internship in employment types.

If you are openly looking for a job, then in the settings, indicate that anyone can see it, and not just recruiters. Because sometimes a hiring manager or company director is also looking for specialists to the team without the help of a recruiter.

About


There is an opinion that recruiters do not read candidates' profiles at all. A programmer, a recruiter, a marketer, a doctor, and a teacher can perform their work unprofessionally. Yes, there are some recruiters who are unethical or unprofessional, but most of us study profiles carefully and read the About section especially carefully before submitting a job offer. It is quite normal for us to manually go through several hundred profiles or resumes, select a few candidates and write to them. This does not require ultra-modern automated systems or artificial intelligence. The attentiveness of the recruiter and well-filled profiles of candidates help to perform this work at a fairly high level. Fill out a profile for those who read and listen to the wishes of the candidates.

It is important for recruiters to hear from the candidate what he is looking for and what he is interested in. In general, I believe that this section is the most important in the entire profile. That's why I analyze it all the time. But, unfortunately, most candidates write things that raise more questions than answers.

For example, a candidate is looking for a job in digital marketing at an IT company that operates in foreign markets. But at the same time, in the About section, he writes about his previous experience in an advertising agency that developed campaigns for FMCG only in his country. A recruiter reading a profile cannot guess the candidate's desire to change the direction of work. Even if other sections indicate that the person has completed certain digital marketing courses. In the About section, you can write your wishes and clearly indicate what kind of job you want to get.

It often happens that a person in the About section writes that he works and knows a certain technology. For example PHP. But when a recruiter opens and studies a profile, and then offers a certain vacancy where work with this technology is provided, he hears from the candidate, for example: “PHP? Are you kidding? Who cares at all? ". I would like to answer: “You! You wrote it in the About section. The recruiter understands that the candidate has not opened his own profile for many years and does not know that something is indicated there that he is no longer interested in.

Everything that a specialist writes in his profile will attract vacancies of a certain level or direction.

Sometimes motivational quotes from coaches are written here. For example: “As the great coach, trainer and motivator Ivan Ivanovich said…”. Ivan Ivanovich could say a lot, but it is interesting what the candidate himself says. This is not the section where you need to write something on a free topic.

Once, a programmer with good qualifications and experience came to me for profile adjustment, who did not understand why he had not received a single solid invitation from employers over the past year. He was not looking for a job, but his self-esteem suffered, because usually programmers fight off messages, but here it is empty. It turned out that the profile stated in large letters: “I AM NOT LOOKING FOR A JOB! RECRUITERS, DO NOT CONTACT ME." They didn't write. Good recruiters respect the wishes of candidates.

There are also profiles that contain some phrases from a certain profession or direction without any explanation. For example, like this:

  • Brand marketing

  • Software

  • Marketing

  • B2B

  • Sales

  • Java

  • Excel

  • Management


Of course, these words in the context of the profile provide certain information. But it's like a puzzle - its solution depends on the professional level of the reader. The recruiter has to guess whether the vacancy will be interesting to the candidate. There is a good chance that the reader will not understand if this is a previous experience, or a wish for a future job, or if it is something that the candidate does not want to work with at all. You know, it's like specifying a set of products in a recipe, but not explaining how to cook a dish. Each chef will prepare something of his own from them, and it is not a fact that this will suit the guest.

If the candidate is actively and openly looking for a job, it is worth writing your own wishes for future work, your professional advantages compared to competing candidates. You can choose your own option, but I suggest the one in the sample below. Separate each paragraph from another so that the information is graphically readable and can be analyzed and remembered. Sign section titles. Do not spare space and arrange everything beautifully.

Block 1 : The title of the position you are looking for or currently occupying. Industry or type of company. For example, a product company or outsourcing.

Block 2 : Write down, point by point, what functions you want to perform or perform. Write what you like and what you are better at. You can mark which markets or products you want to work with. Which professional do you usually work with? Write no more than 10 points so as not to defocus attention and communicate the most important thing.

Block 3 : Write down the technologies and tools you work with point by point. This is especially true for digital marketers, programmers, testers. Don't forget to write the office computer programs you work with and foreign languages.

Block 4 : Add your contacts so that the recruiter or hiring manager can contact you. Information from the "contact data" is not available to the second level of contacts, so it's worth duplicating them here as well. Write the location (city and country) or indicate that you are ready to move. If you want to work only remotely, write about it. Enter email or skype for communication.

In this section, do not write a list of the company's services or products if you are an employee and not a company owner or self-employed freelancer. You need to advertise here only your professional abilities, and not the goods or services of the employer.

Featured


Here it is worth adding links, previously published posts, some materials or a resume file. A very convenient section that really helps recruiters understand the candidate's wishes for future work and additionally assess professional qualities.

Before applying for a job, check:

  • whether there are any files or links to sites from the former employer;

  • whether the updated version of the summary is attached;

  • If you are applying to a specific company, check for anything that is against their policies or ethical standards. For example, you are applying for a job at an international organization that is opposed to air pollution by large enterprises. And in this section you still have links to the report or plans of the company, which is the main polluter of the region. Or materials from a competitor. Or information that is fake, or of dubious quality. Make sure that there is nothing in this section that can compromise your professional qualities.


And the same advice regarding promotional materials. Make sure that the content you add promotes your professional abilities and defines your professional interests, not your former employer's business.

Your Dashboard


I advise you to analyze this section at least once a month. No need to buy a premium account just because of the interest in who exactly viewed the profile.

The most important number is the last one on the right, called Search Appearances. Click on it and see the Keywords your searchers used section at the bottom of the page - this is valuable information that is worth working with.

You should not particularly worry about which companies and who exactly searched for the profile. But it should be interesting what words these people wrote in the search field so that the profile gets into their result list.

If you are a designer, and you are searched for by the keywords "lawyer" or "accountant", then something is wrong with the profile. This means that you wrote words that have nothing to do with your profession.

In this way, requests can be tracked and the information in the profile can be adjusted so that it falls into the right hands, who will offer a relevant vacancy. This is how the system algorithms work, and they should be used to develop the profile.

Especially carefully analyze this section if you move to another area. If a candidate worked as an economist for 20 years, and then retrained as a programmer and moved to the IT field, then new words from a new profession should appear in his profile. Otherwise, the person will be offered irrelevant positions. Especially if they are offered by an automated system, and not by a recruiter who manually studies each profile.

Activity


When a recruiter looks at the profiles of candidates, he can see comments or likes on his own articles in this section if he publishes something. This is very pleasant and can affect the bias of the representatives of the company in which you want to work. I think that you understood the hint and it is not required to explain it in detail.

Before starting a job search or reviewing a specific job, go to your profile and make sure that you have not previously posted unethical comments or statements that are contrary to social norms. Now among recruiters such a topic as “toxicity” is popular. From the statements of the candidate, experts can draw a conclusion about "toxicity". Unfortunately, they are unlikely to understand the details, and the candidate may lose a valuable vacancy, even if his comments were important for discussing a particular topic.

To see all the posts that have been published, click the See all button on the right (by the time the article was published, it had already moved down and is called See all activity - changes in the system occur in a matter of days), and then select Posts from the four sections at the top. All activity will be in the All activity section: comments and likes on other people's posts, and reposts. But the Posts section, where the profile owner publishes something on their own, gives more information and can even give the candidate information about the company and employees. And recruiters - information about a person, his thoughts, hobbies and interests.

Experience


Most often, candidates are interested in whether to describe each position in the “Work Experience” section. It's better to write. This gives certain information to recruiters and managers about the candidate's qualifications. But, of course, this information should be written in such a way that it helps the candidate to get an invitation for an interview. It is worth periodically re-reading the information and trying to find the words that best describe your professionalism.

The information in this section depends more on the job search strategy, the wishes and the individual situation of the candidate. You can copy the description from the resume. Or work through this section with a mentor, a specialist in your field, an HR consultant, or someone you trust. Still, some general advice ladies, perhaps they will come in handy.

  1. Describe the functionality point by point using markers. A large block of text is less readable, and there is a risk of missing valuable information.

  2. Remember to prioritize information. Write the most important and relevant at the top so that it is read first.

  3. Descriptions of jobs that were a very long time ago and have already become irrelevant, do not indicate. If you are the head of a marketing team and once worked as a cashier in a supermarket in your student years, you can not go into detail about the responsibilities at that job. Or don't add it at all.

  4. Specialists who have changed their profession should revise their responsibilities and leave only what is important for their current profession. IT values ​​knowledge from other areas, such as finance, medicine or law. Therefore, I do not recommend deleting everything, but leaving what is valuable for the candidate and his future employers is worth it.

  5. If you add links or certain materials, keep them up to date.

  6. I don't know why, but sometimes recruiters check dates and facts on resumes and profiles. Therefore, dates and titles must be consistent.

  7. In the "Education" section, also leave up-to-date data. Details about grades or descriptions of university courses and theses are not needed.

  8. If you received a bachelor's and master's degree in the same specialty, you can leave only one highest level with a record of the entire period of study. If these were different specializations, leave both. The same goes for courses.


Be careful with the words you use in the description. Recently, I shared with my subscribers a situation when the LN automatic job selection system determined the Java Developer position as relevant to my profile and offered to apply for it.

In my profile, the word Java is mentioned only once in the job description. I wrote that I am closing certain types of vacancies for my client-employers and indicated which ones. Among this list was the word Java. LN algorithms can read keywords not only from the title, job titles, or the Skills section, but also from the job description text. Therefore, I recommend choosing all the words very carefully.

If you recently were a student or just completed IT courses, this does not mean that the section should remain empty. Write about projects that you have completed during your studies or on your own. When you find a permanent job, delete it. Better such a small record than nothing. It is important to note what exactly they did and what technologies they used.

Skills and Endorsements


I'm sure that at least once you've seen jobs that had a list of skills at the bottom and marks how many of them fit your profile. LN, like many other companies, is trying to make an automated system so that when an employer posts a job, the system quickly identifies relevant candidates. Now this function has been temporarily stopped or hidden from the eyes of candidates.

As I already noted, the query word is now read primarily from the “Skills” section, and not from what is indicated in the title.

Therefore, this section, as before, is important, and the candidate needs to ensure that up-to-date information has been written in the skills.

I recommend choosing skills from the automatic list that the system offers. Click the Add a new skill button, write a new skill in the search field, and the system offers similar ones.

This list is up-to-date, it indicates the skills demanded by employers. By choosing ready-made skills from the list, the candidate will make fewer mistakes, which means that this section will be more qualitatively completed.

The translation function works, but still English is native to the LN system, which is why I recommended initially making an English profile and recording skills in English.

It is not enough to add new skills in accordance with your profession or the position you want to take in the future. In LN, they must be in a certain order.

Periodically review and delete important ones. If there is a technology in your profession that you consider not modern, unimportant, outdated and do not want to work with it for any money in the world, then delete it without regret.

Each of us is a professional in our field, and in this way we also inform employers and customers of professional services about the relevance of technologies and tools. Therefore, the “Skills” section should be kept in perfect order.

Another important task is to determine the three main skills that will be shown first in the profile. You can correct them in the corresponding section by removing pins, and put other three most important points in these places.

If a skill has a lot of confirmations, but it is not the main thing for your position, then do not be afraid to remove it and put on another one. The system automatically determined the top three skills by the number of confirmations, but you can change this.

In addition to technical systems and tools, do not forget to add here foreign languages, managerial skills, work with documents and ordinary office programs that you use in your work. You can also write down areas of work or functions, specific industries or industries. There is a limit of 50 skills, and I recommend using it as much as possible.

Some LN users are afraid to remove obsolete skills just because they have accumulated a large number of confirmations. I don’t feel sorry for the skills themselves, but the numbers of confirmations that stand next to them are very. It's like being afraid to delete a photo of your ex (go) from Facebook just because the photo itself has collected a large number of likes a long time ago. So some people hate photography itself, spoil relations with current ones, but cherish likes. This is an individual question, but the past is sometimes worth leaving there.

Recommendations


This is not the most important section in the profile, but it's always nice when someone decides to take the time to write a review about the collaboration. If the profile rating of the one who provided the recommendations is high, then this will affect your profile positively.

Accomplishments


For recruiters, a valuable part of the "Achievements" section is the language.

Check this section, because, as I mentioned, the settings can go wrong. Difficulties also occur with language levels. One or two languages ​​will be native, and we indicate the rest in accordance with international standards. Make sure that the levels of language proficiency indicated in the resume and LN are the same.

An approximate relationship between the American ILR system, which is used in LN, and the pan-European CEFR:

  • Elementary proficiency - elementary possession; baseline, which roughly corresponds to A1-A2;

  • Limited working proficiency - limited ownership, level to medium and medium, or A2-B1;

  • Professional working proficiency - professional knowledge, good average or above average, that is, the candidate can fully use this language to solve work issues or B1-B2;

  • Full working proficiency - possession, level above average and free, or C1-C2;

  • Native or bilingual proficiency - this is how we designate our native language.


And finally


If you filled out or corrected your profile while reading the article, I congratulate you, because in a short time you have done most of the work, which will definitely not go unnoticed.