I wrote this blog having not touched my LinkedIn profile for probably the best part of 6 months. I have to ask myself – why is that? I probably speak for circa 90% of people in that I don’t have it high up my priority list. However it is one of those things (I guess like flossing your teeth) – you really know you should do it regularly, but you don’t make the time or quite simply you forget.

My timing of this blog is due to the impending Christmas break coming up, which should give some opportunity to channel some much-needed attention to this task. I have therefore (below) written some key areas for you to focus on so that you can efficiently and effectively update your profile.

Before I go into the detail you have to ask yourself: why do I need to update and keep updated my LinkedIn profile? In simple terms it is “self-marketing”. This doesn’t come easy to me – but LinkedIn is an area where you can raise your professional profile. I can give many examples why – but one that stands out is that a couple of candidates we had for a senior position were unsuccessful as the hiring manager couldn’t see any activity or articles from those candidates.

What follows here is just the tip of the iceberg but is a good start – for more info why not register for our coaching newsletter:

Firstly, and this may sound obvious, but we see so many profiles without, make sure you have a decent profile image and add something as your cover image. It just gives the impression that you’ve made an effort, like you would preparing for an interview.

About

This is your elevator pitch – same as I recommend in your CV writing – so how can you describe yourself in 30 seconds to make someone read further? With a CV I am a big fan of this section as you can tailor it to fit whatever job you apply for – but in this case for LinkedIn, it will stay very static.

Experience

These are all the roles you have had in the past – one big mistake I feel some inexperienced people make is that they put absolutely everything! Less is more here – as long as it is succinct and tells a story (if you have gaps, explain them somehow). Think about per role what was your remit and what did you deliver (obviously as long as it is something you can put in the public domain).

If you’ve done any training courses you should also add these to the ‘Courses’ section of your profile. A great place to shout about our Excel training courses if you’ve completed one of those.

Skills

This is a real key area from the point of view that when recruiters start to search for people they will often search on skills. The one take here is to keep them up to date, even adding skills as you develop them; the part that gives more kudos is to ask for people to verify your skills! Also you can take a quiz on some skills to boost evidence that you really do have them!

Recommendations

We’ve all searched trip adviser based on reviews and recommendations when we are looking for somewhere to eat or stay. Well the same principle applies here – why not reach out to trusted connections. It is worth making sure someone you have managed, someone who has manged you, a peer etc. can give you recommendations – just to give that 360 degree view of you!

Post & Engage

Have a think about what you can do to show you are an expert in your area – these can be LinkedIn articles, vlogs, polls, links to blog posts etc. Once you share, try and get people you know to interact with them – so you can tag them etc. Engaging with others can be interesting as well for getting your profile raised – try and interact with groups/posts by commenting on or even sharing things that are relevant to your career interests and skills.

Connections

It’s good practise to look for past and present colleagues and connect to your contacts. Also check for any connection requests and accept these. The more good connections you have the better your engagement will be. It all adds to a rounded profile.

Make it a habit

In summary, updating your profile (and maintaining it) is all about habit – maybe set aside an hour a month to begin with, just to review your page and/or to write a blog, article, or even a vlog. Use this Christmas break as a chance to dust off that profile and be ready to start the new year with vigour!

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Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash // Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash