As more senior-level executives are becoming active LinkedIn users, including a reported 80% of CEOs, recruiters are also tapping into LinkedIn’s potential when researching new executive candidates for their searches. But with such time-demanding jobs, what can executives do to optimize their LinkedIn profiles to increase their visibility to search consultants?
There are many simple alterations that can be made to your LinkedIn profile that can have a considerable impact on your searchability to recruiters and only take a matter of minutes to achieve. Here are our top 6 LinkedIn hacks for busy executives:
1. Optimize Your Name: As simple as it may sound, your name can have a significant effect on your ability to be found online by recruiters. To strengthen your personal brand and make yourself more identifiable by those who are searching for you, you should ensure that you are using a consistent name across all professional platforms. It’s important to make a decision as to whether you will be using your full name, an abbreviated version, middle names, or even middle initial. This is particularly worthwhile to think about if you have a common name.
2. Create a Targeted Headline: To make your LinkedIn profile headline more targeted for your job search and networking, you should aim to employ words that center around your professional speciality and unique value proposition. The overall headline should attempt to encapsulate your career goals or your aspirational job title.
3. Streamline and Fact-Fill Your Summary: Your summary can be instrumental in encouraging people to reach out to you with possible executive opportunities. Spend time in streamlining your summary section and give weight to your statements by adding measurable facts, figures and key metrics which showcase your professional performance. Keep your summary short but effective.
4. Elevate Your Professional Experience Section: Your professional experience section can be enriched by writing 1-2 sentences which highlight your most important achievements in each job role. As with the summary, the goal of this section is to encourage the reader to contact you to find out more information, so try not to include too much detail but cultivate a sense of intrigue which can only be fulfilled by requesting your resume.
5. Add a Photo: It is widely reported that those who don’t upload a photo are 14 times less likely to have their profile viewed, and it really is that important. Having a photo missing suggests that you are not up to speed with technology and social, and also have not invested enough time and effort in your online appearance. Your photo should be professional, and ideally be in a workplace setting.
6. Request Recommendations: Nothing speaks louder in terms of endorsements than positive testimonials from those you whom you have worked with in the past. In order to create a high-impact LinkedIn profile, you should make sure that part of your strategy involves requesting recommendations from past co-workers and employers. If you would like to encourage people to write testimonials for you, you can either send them a direct message request or write a testimonial for them in the hope they return the favor. With LinkedIn, you are able to write one new recommendation per day to a first degree connection, so if you have a spare few minutes, it could be an excellent use of your time.
If you are looking to improve your career trajectory and your LinkedIn Profile requires more than a few minor updates, it might be time to speak with a BlueSteps executive career advisor who can help optimize your LinkedIn profile to increase your visibility to recruiters and enhance your personal brand image. Learn more about BlueSteps executive career services here.