finding career zen
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finding career zen
How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Attractive to Recruiters
Ready to make recruiters on LinkedIn stop in their tracks? With over 900 million active users, it might seem like you're just a drop in a vast ocean but fear not because Pete Newsome is about to arm you with some excellent tactics. In this Finding Career Zen podcast episode, Pete shares insights on making your LinkedIn profile shine brighter than the rest. He's got your back, from top-notch professional headshots to persuasive headlines, detailed summaries, and impressive accomplishments. And here's a secret: consistency is king - your resume and LinkedIn profile should tell the same compelling story about your professional journey.
But wait, there's more! Pete discusses effective networking strategies, the hidden power of Reddit, and other resources that could give you the edge in your job hunt. Remember, recruiters sift through countless profiles daily, and your goal is to make yours stand out effortlessly. And hey, if you're ever in a bind or need personalized advice, don't hesitate to reach out at questions@zengig.com. Here's to making recruiters sit up and take notice!
You're listening to the Finding Career Zen Podcast. I'm Pete Newsome and I'm going solo today to talk about something that's been on my mind a lot lately, and that is what recruiters look for on LinkedIn. I've been on LinkedIn a lot lately, more so than I have in the recent past, and a couple of things have jumped out at me. One is how many people are looking for jobs right now. I know the numbers, I see the math, I pay attention to what's going on in the market, but when I see how many applicants there are for each job, it really gives me a whole different perspective on what the job market is really like right now, and that is to say, it's not good. The other thing I've noticed is that a lot of people have questions about what to do on LinkedIn, how to use it to give themselves the best opportunity to be found, and that's really what it's all about.
Pete Newsome:Some quick stats on LinkedIn. It is a massive job network. No one knows that, but I'm not sure many realize how big it's become. Over 900 million active users right now, 58 million registered companies, 61 million people using it to look for jobs. That is a huge number and a lot of competition for any individual job seeker. My staffing business has been posting job openings lately on LinkedIn and, as I mentioned, I've been alarmed by some of the numbers that I've seen. We'll have hundreds of applicants within a couple hours of a posting and historically I just haven't seen numbers like that. You really need to do your best, put your best foot forward on LinkedIn to stand out, because there's so many other people trying to do the same.
Pete Newsome:Now here's the good news For any individual job seeker who really wants to maximize their visibility most people aren't going to do all of those things that they should do. If you're listening, please take advantage of these tips. Let's just get right to it. Recruiters want to look for people who are professional. One has the opportunity to use their own social media platforms as they like, but it doesn't mean that's how they should, not in a professional setting. If you have social media accounts and you want to do things that may be controversial or, let's just say, unprofessional however you define that consider not doing those things on LinkedIn. Use some of the more personal social platforms that are out there, because recruiters are looking on LinkedIn. They will look you up. Even if they don't find you that way, they will check out your profile and get a feel for what you're all about.
Pete Newsome:Start with a professional headshot. Don't clip anyone out of a picture if you can avoid it. It doesn't have to be professionally taken, it just has to be a professional appearance. Hopefully, the difference between that is easy to understand. Put your best foot forward with your picture. The next thing is your headline. Recruiters are scanning. They have so many people. As I mentioned, 61 million people are using LinkedIn to find a job right now.
Pete Newsome:What is going to help you stand out? It's a headline that the recruiter can see. Just like if you're in the checkout line looking at magazines, what's going to grab your attention? Newspapers have done it since they started being published. It's all about the headline how you want to be found, what you want to be found for. You need to put that in there. If it doesn't have to be perfect in terms of coming up with something overly creative or gimmicky in fact, I would argue against that you want it to be natural, but you want it to be clear and easy to understand.
Pete Newsome:Start with that good headline before you fill out the rest of your profile. Then put your summary. Put it in detail, make it easy for the recruiters who are looking to understand who you are, what you're looking for, what you're all about. Think about telling a story. Right, it's a story of you, the story of your professional life. So, as you put this information together, yes, it's ultimately going to be a summary of your professional history and the jobs that you've had, but if you think of it as a story that has a beginning and an end end is where we are right now then you want the recruiter to be able to see progression. You want the recruiter to see how your career has evolved, and don't make them work to try to figure it out.
Pete Newsome:Now, that's probably a recurring theme. I don't know how many times I'm going to mention that in this relatively brief episode. So if I do it a bunch of times, just know it's because it's important. When recruiters have to stop and guess, it's a really bad thing for the candidate. They won't do it. It is a reality. The recruiters don't want to have to figure out overlapping data. They don't want to figure out conflicting information between a resume and a LinkedIn profile. So I'll go ahead and say that now, make sure that your resume and your profile on LinkedIn are similar Now. It doesn't have to be exact, but it can't be contradictory.
Pete Newsome:So showcase who you are. If you're passionate, if you're dedicated, if you're enthusiastic about whatever it is you're doing, let it come out in that summary and then, for your experience, same thing. It's all part of the same equation. Spell it out, be accurate, be clear. Highlight your accomplishments. This is a chance to back to the story of you. What have you done? Use statistics, use numbers if you can. If you won an award and it's been the top performer, say you're the top performer. If you've grown a sales number 1,000% year over year, use that number. So the more you can spell out the specifics of what you've accomplished, the easier it is for you to stand out in the eyes of the recruiter who's going to be looking at it, because, again, they're trying to compare you and the moments that they're looking at your profile to everyone else in their candidate pool and, as we've established, there's a really large number of these days. So tell that story. Use action verbs where you can and make sure it's quantifiable.
Pete Newsome:Now, one thing you never want to do is exaggerate to a point where you can't back it up. So if it's on your profile, just like anything in a resume or anything you filled out in an application, you have to be able to defend it. So the easiest way to do that always be accurate, always be honest and you can exaggerate to a point. Again. You have to be your own marketer with this, but be prepared for anything that's written on your profile or on an application or in your resume to be questioned in an interview and be prepared to explain it in detail. So you don't want to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar there, but toot your own horn. No one else is going to do it for you in this situation.
Pete Newsome:Recommendations and endorsements OK, I just said no one else is going to do it for you, but actually that's not really the case. You can get people to do it for you. You can ask for recommendations. The more the better. It's a section that some people disregard completely on LinkedIn, but it's an opportunity for you to have others telling your story as well and have those references sort of baked in right from the start on your profile when a recruiter looks at you and encounters you for the first time. So ask for those references, or recommendations, rather, and endorsements. Take advantage of that section of LinkedIn, if you haven't already.
Pete Newsome:And then some of the other things you want to consider. Those are the obvious, right, your profile has to look good, your picture has to look good, your headline has to look good. You have to tell a clear and accurate and compelling story. But what else can you do above and beyond? So we'll call these advanced tips.
Pete Newsome:If you will Think of keywords, think of those things that are going to be on a job description If you are in a role for any period of time. You know the buzzwords, you know the phrases that are used over and over. Sprinkle those throughout your profile, just like when you search for something on Google. Recruiters are using keyword searches on LinkedIn to find the candidates who most closely match what they need. And what they need is going to be the skills and traits and background that are listed on a job description in some form or fashion. So if you want to match for that job description and be found for those things, well that's what needs to be on your profile as well. So keywords needs to be searchable. Use those common terms for your industry. The next thing and this is where so all of that is sort of behind the scenes, right, did anyone can do. No excuse is not to. I'll go ahead and say that as well. If you haven't taken the time to do those things and this isn't the only place you can get this information, the internet is littered with it then that's on you right, because there really is no excuse, just a matter of effort and willingness to do it.
Pete Newsome:This next piece is a little more uncomfortable for a lot of folks, and that is to be engaged. The LinkedIn rewards people who are using their platform, who are communicating with others, and that it's a great way for you to be noticed by those who you want to be found by. So whenever I talk about a job search, I often use a phrase cast a wide net. That's the objective of any job seekers. You want to be found for as many positions as possible. Have people coming to you and if you're engaging on LinkedIn, if you're commenting on other posts, if you're building your network not just by inviting someone or offering to connect with them that's easy, anyone can do that Take that extra step and you'll get the benefit of being found by more people by expanding your network and having people see who you are and what you're participating for. So I'm not suggesting necessarily you need to engage people in their personal posts, but things that are industry specific. If you see people who work for a company you aspire to work for, there's a perfect opportunity. If they're actively commenting on LinkedIn and posting and sharing, then you can get to know them. That way, you can do that subtly. So active engagement is something that you should 100% take advantage of.
Pete Newsome:Now. There was a job seeker not too long ago. I was watching it was someone I knew who was looking for a job and I saw this person who didn't. They weren't really a big LinkedIn user in the past, but during their job search I noticed that they became very active, telling stories, supporting others, commenting multiple times a day. I mean, I was it keeping that close track, but every time I pulled up LinkedIn, it seemed like this person was making a comment on my feed and just being so generous and supportive of others and it absolutely stood out. Now I don't know if that's what helped her land a job in particular, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did, because her interaction just shot her to the forefront of so many people's LinkedIn page and it had to help her get more attention. And when someone is just being generous and helpful to others. People are going to want to be generous and helpful to them and I, as I said, I have to assume that that played a part in helping this person to secure what seems to be a really great job. So, be engaged, be a participant only then, not just a bystander, not an observer.
Pete Newsome:Content creation Now this one is a little next level of difficulty, right where I'm recommending that if you really want to stand out from the crowd, then you should consider creating your own original content. What story do you have to tell? Now? The earlier you are in your career, probably the more difficult that is to do. You may not feel qualified, you may not feel knowledgeable, that you don't have anything to say. Put those feelings aside, right, it is your opportunity as now I think I'm saying for the third time to toot your own horn, and you can do that by creating original content that will get you noticed. Now, it needs to be relevant, it needs to be on point for what it is you want to be found for and how you want to be thought of. But there's no shortage of routes you can take to come up with ideas. Ai has made that very simple for a lot of us now to take advantage of. If you need brainstorming ideas, get on chat GPPT. I'm not saying to use that for your content creation, but it's a great tool to use for ideas and tips. So you can see content that other people wrote. You can try to rephrase it in your own words, you can try to add to it, you can build on it.
Pete Newsome:If you have ideas that have been on your mind for some period of time, everyone has thoughts that are in their head. Put them on paper, put them on video and even if you don't want to publish it right away, go ahead and get your feet wet, Record yourself, just like I'm doing right now. I've been recording podcasts for a couple of years right now and it's still not very natural to me. To be completely frank, I'm talking solo today and that is. I feel like a fish out of water when I'm doing that, but I know the subject. I have the experience. I'm not trying to talk about something that I don't have knowledge of. That would be an entirely different deal.
Pete Newsome:So if you have confidence that what you are sharing is accurate or interesting to someone else and, by the way, if it's interesting to you. It probably is interesting to someone else. Just get on Reddit. I didn't use that tool. I was talking on a live stream about Reddit the other day and I made a comment I'll make again here, which is for every interest you may have, there are thousands and thousands of people who have a similar interest, and that's what's made Reddit so successful is that it accommodates every niche anyone can have. So if you have an idea that you think, hey, this is relatively obscure, not that many people may be interested, you may be very surprised to realize that there are a lot of like-minded folks out there who you can connect with. So it doesn't have to satisfy a mass group.
Pete Newsome:If you have something that you want to share or content that you think is interesting, it just has to satisfy enough people, and sometimes more specific content is going to play out much better, because people will be more interested and take the time when those things that they're personally invested in right, either as a hobby or a passion. So try it. Try it, even if it's uncomfortable. Go ahead and start posting content, whether it's written, whether it's video. Take a shot. Create the content, even if you don't want to post it right away. Share it with people you trust and rely on, get their honest feedback, and I say, go for it right, because by not doing it, it won't help you be noticed, it won't help you be found, so you may as well take that step.
Pete Newsome:The next thing I'll say is just about networking in general. On LinkedIn, there are so many resources that you can take advantage of in terms of groups that are out there, and so if you haven't already become a member of different groups and seen what others are doing or who you can follow, right, if you are, if you're a senior in your career, you probably have a pretty big network, but if you don't, then you have to build it somewhere, and the way to do that is so easy today. I mean, when I was coming out of school, linkedin didn't exist, and so I had to meet one person at a time, and now you have access to hundreds of thousands I mean millions of people on LinkedIn, and some of the groups are massive and have super activity. Whether you're in marketing or finance or IT or law, whatever your specialty area is, there are giant groups of people who are like-minded, who you want to meet, who you want to know, who you can connect with and who you'll be found by, and so recruiters look for all of these things. So we're talking about how to get recruited here, what recruiters are looking for, and they want someone who is very easy. Ultimately, here's the bottom line with what recruiters want they want to find the perfect candidate with as little effort as possible, not because they're lazy, but because they want to get to the finish line. The finish line is finding the candidate who's going to be interested in the job that they have, that they're recruiting for, who's a good fit for it, who's going to interview well, who has the right background, who's going to be liked by the hiring manager and who's going to want the job. And so if you can tell that story right who you are, what you've done, what you're looking for, what you're all about, make that very clear and easy for the recruiter to understand then you're going to have a successful time being recruited on LinkedIn. If you don't, you're not. So hopefully this helps.
Pete Newsome:If you have any questions, I'd love to hear from you. Questions@z engig. com. Give me feedback, tell me what I'm missing, tell me where the gap is, where you could benefit from having content that we haven't created yet. Also, of course, check out zengig. com, where we have information on pretty much every aspect of the job search, as well as career advice for so many different scenarios. So I won't do a huge commercial on that, but questions@ zengig. com. Let me know if you still have any after listening to this and good luck with your hot. Thanks. Have a great day.