Categories: Interesting

7 Reasons Why You Need a Good LinkedIn™ Profile

By Nick Hurley
December 23rd, 2022

Why is LinkedIn so important? Do I really need LinkedIn?

These are two of the most common questions we get when consulting with clients, particularly those who are hitting the job market for the first time in a long time.

In today’s knowledge-based economy, most recruiters and hiring managers expect professional job candidates to have a LinkedIn profile. Besides conforming to societal expectations, there are seven other good reasons to ensure your profile is up to scratch:

Google Search Results

Have you ever Googled yourself? You will likely see your LinkedIn as one of the top results. Google’s algorithm typically ranks social media profiles above other content and gives LinkedIn the highest rank of all social media platforms, higher than Facebook and Instagram. Unless you have a large media presence, it’s likely that LinkedIn will be what people see first when googling you.

Flag yourself as being open to opportunities

Did you know that you can flag your profile as being open to new opportunities without people who work at your existing organisation being able to see? Speak to us if you want help setting this up.

Searching for jobs

LinkedIn offers a job board (LinkedIn Jobs) similar to seek.com.au. A key advantage LinkedIn Jobs offers over Seek is its ability to suggest suitable roles. Because it has your entire work history and skillset uploaded in detail, LinkedIn knows much more about you than Seek. It runs statistical models to suggest roles that are a good fit based on your skills and career history. Additionally, if you apply for a role via LinkedIn Jobs, LinkedIn will submit your profile along with your CV/resume by default, making it likely the hiring manager will see your LinkedIn profile before even clicking on any CV/resume.

Building your implicit brand

Recruiters will look at who you have as connections and which companies and influencers you follow. Regardless of what claims you have written on your profile, viewing connections, activities and interactions provide an additional layer of verification for any sceptical hiring manager. For example, an implicit red flag would be if your profile says you have ‘over 20 years of experience in the local construction industry’ yet have zero connections to other local people in the construction industry.

Being searchable to head-hunters

Head-hunters pay a lot of money to be able to refine and search the platform for talent fitting even the most nuanced of combinations. Do you want to miss out on coming up in searches? We use keyword optimisation and SEO techniques to ensure that your name comes up near the top the next time a head-hunter does a search in your field.

A digital version of your CV

Your LinkedIn profile’s individually collapsible fields give more space to go into further depth than your printed CV. There is no page-limit for LinkedIn, unlike a printed resume. Be careful not to include any commercially sensitive information as your LinkedIn profile is likely to have a much wider audience than any CV/resume.

Networking

Probably the most well-known reason to use the platform, networking is at the core of the platform with the group chat feature coming ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years. Perhaps you could ask a friend to do an intro via chat for you?

Here at Executive Agents, we specialise in making your LinkedIn profile stand out and be seen by those who matter. Get in touch today for a free consultation.

Nick Hurley