While most employers expect to see a link to your LinkedIn profile on your CV, in 2023 simply being present on the platform is no longer enough. To make a good impression you need to concisely illustrate some key information, such as your best skills and professional background…
Whether you’re in the midst of a job search looking to increase your visibility or you’re looking to gain more credibility to make professional connections, our tips will help you optimize your LinkedIn profile for 2023 in three steps.
1. Take care of the presentation of your profile
If the quality of your profile is not up to par you will miss out on many professional opportunities. In fact, recruiting a candidate is like marketing and you have to learn to sell yourself as a professional on the job market.
In addition to mastering some storytelling techniques, it’s up to you to:
- Take care of your profile photo choosing a good quality photo that represents you as a professional
- Detail your key skills and professional experience in such a way as to illustrate your professional qualities, even if you are just starting out in your working life
- Include only the most relevant information from your academic or professional background (it is not necessary to list your high school diploma marks if you have a master’s degree or if you already have a few years of professional experience)
- Guarantee the coherence and good linguistic register of your profile checking that there are no spelling or grammatical errors
If you need advice on how to better detail your skills and experience to illustrate your professional qualities, review how to create a professional CV suited to today’s world of work. In fact, you’ll be better equipped to organize and optimize your LinkedIn profile by applying the same tips.
2. Optimize your profile using the right keywords
All online research is based on keywords, including searches on LinkedIn. To increase the visibility of your profile or social activity on the internet, you need to use relevant keywords in your profile content.
Polish your profile title
Don’t limit your LinkedIn title to your current job title. Consider including the most searched keywords in your sector of activity that are related to your skills or abilities. You can write your LinkedIn title in two ways:
- Using keyword separated by dashes
- Use a catchy phrase short and impactful that gives an overview of your experience at a glance
Your profile might look like the examples below, both straight to the point:
Note that if you have a more internationally oriented profile, LinkedIn offers the option to add your profile in another language. This choice could prove to be more prudent than simply citing one’s foreign languages to gain visibility. However, remember to use the necessary keywords in your target language.
Take care of your LinkedIn summary
Too often, LinkedIn users insert the content of their CV into the LinkedIn summary in a disorganized way, listing in detail their academic or professional background; or, worse, leave this part of your profile blank.
Like your resume slogan, it should be the summary of your profile shocking explaining yours in more detail:
- Quality
- The best results
- Job responsibilities or services offered
- Areas of expertise
- Job responsibilities or services offered
If you are a student, at the beginning of your career, or in the process of professional retraining, this is the opportunity to show your Career goal and your current experience, as in the following example:
This short description is interesting and piques the interest of visitors because it provides the complete context:
- Demonstrate level of professional experience
- Specify areas of expertise and centers of interest
- Mention key skills (including IT tools)
3. Personalize your LinkedIn profile
To differentiate yourself from thousands of other professionals on the platform, personalizing your profile is essential. Here are two examples of customization that are easy to do and will boost your career:
Customize your profile URL
To make your LinkedIn profile more easily identifiable, customize your profile URL using your first and last name. In fact, today recruiting and natural referencing go hand in hand.
Natural referencing improves the natural referencing of your page and makes it appear more easily in search results on LinkedIn. Finally, a personalized URL is always easier to share and remember.
Cultivate an active social presence
Regardless of your business sector, show your interest in your field by regularly sharing publications, articles from other professionals on the platform and relevant news to stimulate discussion.
Join groups and communities related to your field of practice and make an effort to comment and interact with posts from other professionals in your industry.
Finally, by following these three steps to optimize your LinkedIn profile, you will be able to:
- Expand your network;
- Express yourself and share your vision and ideas about your business sector;
- Gain visibility through better SEO and your active presence;
- Obtain professional opportunities.
Need to quickly update your CV to accompany your new LinkedIn profile? You have many options for online resume templates whose format and colors reflect your professionalism without sacrificing your personality. Finally, don’t forget to proofread to avoid spelling errors.
About the author
Dominique Vatin is editor-in-chief and employment expert at CV Genius. As a Certified Professional Writer (CPRW), she enjoys using her workplace knowledge to help job seekers seek more fulfilling employment opportunities. With a master’s degree from Yonsei GSIS University in Seoul, she is featured on sites like Yahoo! Finance and Urban Linker.