Did you know that four people are hired on LinkedIn every minute? With nearly 800 million members and 57 million listed companies, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It provides not only opportunities to highlight your own skills, but it helps you network with people around the globe and connect to job opportunities.
But with so many members, how can you make your LinkedIn profile stand out? Here are three tips to help you put your best (virtual) foot forward. And be sure to keep reading to learn about some of the latest career opportunities with EveryIT.
1. Choose quality photos for your LinkedIn profile and banner
Your image is the first thing recruiters and contacts notice about your profile, so you want to make a good impression. For your profile photo, choose an up-to-date, high-resolution headshot. Your picture should represent how you look day-to-day. Clothes with solid colors typically look better, as do uncluttered backgrounds. Avoid using a cropped group photo where a stray hand might be visible. And one more thing? Smile!
Don’t forget about your banner photo. Your banner is a great way to personalize your profile with an eye-catching image that showcases who you are and your professional identity. It could be your product, your customers, your mission, or just something unique about you. As with your profile photo, use a high-resolution image.
2. Create an engaging LinkedIn headline and about section
Many people focus on their experience section, but then neglect their LinkedIn headline and about section. So let’s start with the headline, which appears directly beneath your name. It’s designed for more than just your job title and company. Update your headline to reflect your professional identity. Include keywords and phrases that you want to be found for and share something about yourself that makes you unique.
The good news is that you’ve got 120 characters to use. Use commas or vertical bars to separate phrases. So instead of “Sales Manager, XYZ Manufacturing,” go with something like “Customer-obsessed sales manager, innovator & mentor | Creating business value through cloud-based solutions.”
The about section is the place where your connections get to know you. It’s the ideal place to share your personal mission and work goals and the value you bring to the table. It’s where you can spotlight important skills and the accomplishments you’re most proud of. Be sure to incorporate the keywords that you want to be found for. Always write the about section in first-person and let your voice shine through to help personalize your profile. You’ve got 2,000 characters to spend, so make them count.
3. Beef up your LinkedIn recommendations
Just like an Amazon review, people look at recommendations from others you’ve worked with to validate your skills. So acquiring quality recommendations is essential. Ideally, you should continue compiling recommendations throughout your career, not just when you’re looking for a job. In addition to colleagues and managers, consider asking people you’ve managed, clients, mentors, and others that you’ve collaborated with to recommend you.
Thankfully, LinkedIn makes it easy to request a recommendation within the tool, although you still want to personalize your request. It’s helpful to remind colleagues of a particular project or workstream where you worked together. You can even ask them to vouch for specific skillsets that you are hoping to highlight. Also, always return the favor by offering to write them a recommendation.
Obviously, there’s much more to making your LinkedIn profile stand out, but these are a great place to start. Still searching for the right career fit? Check out the latest sales and technical career openings at EveryIT.
EveryIT career opportunities
Sr. Chief of Staff / Director of Operations (Bellevue, WA): If you are a creative, results-driven professional who is passionate about organizational effectiveness and building a strong, diverse, and inclusive team culture, this could be the role for you. In this role, you’ll be responsible for leading the US operations team with responsibilities that range from defining strategic direction to ensuring strategic execution.
Sales Executive, Managed Services (Bellevue, WA): In this B2B sales role, you’ll grow our Managed Services business by generating business opportunities and closing sales primarily in managed/outsourced services, service desk, data analytics, and AI/machine learning.
Client Partner, Engineering Services (Bellevue, WA): We’re looking for a senior leader to drive growth in our Managed Services business. In this role, you’ll be responsible for end-to-end, go-to-market strategy planning, generating business opportunities, and closing sales with new and existing enterprise accounts.
>Technical Program Manager (Remote): Support the organization that provides the infrastructure, systems, and tools necessary for external-facing product teams to develop and ship their code. In this role, you’ll support their systems and workflows, build PowerBI Dashboards for reporting, and track performance for improvement.
Account Manager (Bellevue, WA): Develop client business relationships and focus on the development and delivery of a broad range of IT products and services, working hand-in-hand with the delivery team to ensure quality and timely execution.
Release Engineer (Remote): Do you have experience with Jenkins and in bringing up build, release, and continuous integration systems? Work with our client’s team of software engineers to support their product development and release processes. Our client’s products enable artists to create unique, interactive augmented reality experiences.
Technical Project Manager (Remote): We’re looking for a dynamic and exceptionally organized team player who can thrive in a fast-paced environment. In this role, you’ll plan, track, and negotiate dozens of priorities while learning the technical environment we operate in.
Business Systems Analyst (Remote): We’re seeking a creative problem-solver who can identify opportunities to improve customers’ businesses. In this role, you will collaborate with customers, analyze IT systems, propose IT solutions, and create comprehensive IT systems roadmaps.
Software Test Lead/Lead Test Engineer (Boise, ID): In this role, you’ll lead a group of test engineers supporting printer network security to develop and execute test strategies for printer network security functionality.
Sr. Software Developer (Boise, ID): Do you have experience with C++/JavaScript/Python development? Develop and support low-level, embedded firmware for a new printer code-base implementation and work with developers on the user-interface team to deliver required core firmware to meet project timelines.
Senior Analyst, Marketing Analytics (Remote): Take your enthusiasm for data and contribute analytics deliverables and support strategies for digital marketing analytics clients. As part of this role, you’ll transform data into meaningful presentations with actionable insights on consumer behavior.
Materials Science Technician (Vancouver, WA): Support our global software client onsite. In this role, you’ll perform complex testing tasks, observe and analyze results, perform minor repairs and preventative maintenance, write processes and operating instructions, and suggest process improvements to enhance customer test results.
Manufacturing Tech (Corvallis, OR): We’ve got multiple openings, with various shifts available. In this role, you’ll be responsible for completing manufacturing assignments in a cleanroom environment using automated tools.
