How to update your LinkedIn profile for 2018

How to update your LinkedIn profile for 2018Whether youre planning a full-scale job search in 2018 or just thinking about your next steps, career-wise, its time to do some prep work in your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is one of the first places tauglichkeit employers scope you out and it can be a recruiting tool as well, so you want to make sure youre getting the fruchtwein out of your profile. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Update your headline and summary.Your headline and summary are the first things that will be read when a recruiter or potential employer sees your name in a search. That means these have to be on point. You dont need to fit in all of your qualificationsfocus on the ones that you want to feature most prominently. Here are some examples of clear, no-nonsense headlinesTop-Performing Sales Associate2018 Accounting Grad Seeking Entry-Level OpportunityInnovative Graphic DesignerIf you already have a job and will be searchi ng on the DL, make sure your headline doesnt announce too obviously what youre up toremember, your headline will show up in public searches and you never know whos looking. If youll be subtly looking for new jobs, make your headline describe what you do or how you want to be perceived (professionally).Your summary should be more of a narrative of where you are in your career, your best professional attributes, and your biggest accomplishments. To make your summary section 2018-ready, include your most recent projects, achievements, and lessons learned. That means ones from the past year or so, so that youre including the latest and best information. Its okay to take out information that feels outdated or is more than a few years old if the summary is getting a little long. The length is at your discretion, but keep in mind that recruiters and hiring managers may have little time to read and dont want to get bogged down by a full-on memoir while theyre browsing LinkedIn.Update your p hoto.If your current LinkedIn headshot is that one of you as an eager new grad 10 years ago, its time to upgrade. No need to get glamorous Hollywood-grade headshots. These days, anyone with a solid smartphone camera can take a solid photo of your face that you can use as a professional avatar photo. It should be a fairly natural, friendly solo photoyou dont want it to look like a passport photo or, worse, a mug shot. Candid photos are fine as long as you look professionally appropriate. If youre having trouble figuring out if a photo is appropriate, take a look around at other profiles in your field, around your level, and see what people are using.Open up your availability.One of the easiest and best ways to leverage your LinkedIn profile to help create opportunities for yourself is to update your privacy settings. In your Account settings, click on Job Seeking, click on Let recruiters know youre open to opportunities. This is what opens up LinkedIn from living resume to next-level job search tool. It doesnt replace the need to go out and search for job openings or proactively send out your resume, but it increases the chances that someone will find you (the needle) in the database (the haystack) for a potentially great job opportunity.Its a way of letting the recruiters and hiring managers of the world know that youre available, without putting up a big, honking neon sign (visible to, say, your boss) that youre looking to leave your current job. It flags your availability behind the scenes.Update your key words.Given that youve opened up your profile to recruiters and potential employers, you need to make sure that youre giving them what theyre searching for in 2018. That means updating your skills, job history, and summary with the words that are important in your industry nowelend three years ago. This step is especially key if youve had a profile that has kind of languished, un-updated since you got your current job.So how do you figure out what key words to use? Search for current job postings in your field. What kind of skills are they emphasizing? What qualities are they seeking in candidates? Once you know what companies are looking for right now, you can work that language in to your profile and increase the chances of a) matching their search criteria and b) holding interest once someone clicks through to your page.Refresh your profile content.The hardest part of making your LinkedIn profile ready for 2018 is keeping up with it after youve made the initial updates and changes. Some of the information you put in is going to stay static for a while, especially after youve updated your projects and skills from 2017. That means you should turn your attention to live content on your profile page. This is basically a blog where youre able to write what you want. Its not a personal blogit should be entirely focused on your field and your professional life. If you dont feel comfortable waxing on for 500 words about your career philoso phies, you can share links to articles by others in your field or offer commentary on trends. How-to posts are also very popular, if you have a particular skill or area in which you can teach others.According to OKDork, the most successful LinkedIn content postsHave a headline of fewer than 50 characters.Contain pictures, but not videos or other multimedia, to avoid awkward device and readability issues.Are divided into separate headings for ease of reading.Include lists or how-to tutorials.Are substantial (approximately 1000-2000 words).Are not controversial.Are readable for a broad audience (like the lay person who doesnt know much about your field, as well as someone who already works in your field).And as youre thinking about what you want to write and share on your LinkedIn profile, remember always keep it professional. Youre presenting your best career self, so dont derail that by airing your political grievances, or responding in kind to negative comments. And I assume we all know this already, but just in caseno smack talk about people in your industry. If you disagree with someone, and want to talk about it publicly on LinkedIn, do it politely and respectfully.Another key step is editing and proofreading your content before it goes liveyou want to make sure you sound intelligent and put-together, and nothing derails that quite as quickly as five typos in the first paragraph alone.Set a LinkedIn update schedule.At the beginning of the year, set reminders for yourself to update your profile so that youre keeping it as fresh as possible. Consistency is the key to a well-maintained LinkedIn profile, and it shows youre engaged. If you go on a hot streak, posting stuff for a month, and then a recruiter sees that you havent bothered for the past three months after that, it looks like youve abandoned your page. Reminders and a schedule (say, monthly) for posting new content (and updating your existing skills and projects) will help ensure an active, consisten t vibe for your page.If youve been a more casual user of LinkedIn, or you just havent spent much time updating your info, this is a relatively easy way to help set up your 2018, career-wise. Even if youre not sure whether youll be looking for a job, youre getting ready for just in case, and saving yourself valuable time and energy if you find yourself needing to start a job hund on short notice. Its also a handy tool for keeping track of information youll need to set your professional goals or if you need to come up with a snapshot of your achievements and skills for a promotion or self-review. Updating your LinkedIn profile is a great way to get organized for the coming year.