How to Min-max your LinkedIn Profile

I’m a nerd. I geek out on a lot of things whether it’s video games to gardening to the latest SEO and Optimization Trends on LinkedIn. Yeah, that kind of nerdy. #SpecialInterestsForAll!

I think most people know having a LinkedIn profile is “important” but here’s why:

• 67M+ Companies are listed there (Source: LinkedIn)

• 30M Job Postings Annually still go on the platform (Source: Charle Agency)

• 70% of people acknowledge LinkedIn for “providing valuable insights and resources that aid in their career growth” (Source: Charle Agency)

  • There are also over 16,000 LinkedIn Learning Courses available (Source: Production Design)

Yes, LinkedIn is just one option in the world of profiles, career sites, and portfolios; however, being the oldest Career Social Network Platform that 87% of recruiters use (Source: Finances Online) and 7 people are hired every minute, it would be disadvantageous for you to not have a LinkedIn profile. You can also reuse this profile for other career sites and one-click applications for some Applicant Tracking Systems.

Theorycrafting

LinkedIn search is a little different than your standard search engine in that it actually creates a unique relevance per person searching based on that searcher’s own activity, queries, etc. This means to a recruiter, your profile might appear first for one searcher and fifteenth for another. Recruiters also have access to a recruiting search dashboard where they can search Job Titles, Skills, companies, and more to find candidates. However, when your profile shows up, they only see Your Name, Headline, last 3 job titles and dates, Interest, and Activity. These short, 5 pieces of information need to spark enough interest for the recruiter to click to learn more about you, and even then it just opens up your email/phone number, the first 3 bullets-ish of your first 3 jobs and the only the first line of your About summary. So let’s get to Min-Maxing that LinkedIn Profile!

 Optimal Pathing - Profile Requirements

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, go make one. Get your resume in there and get it live to start. Be sure you try and hit the “complete” mark and LinkedIn will give you a step-by-step on the actual site as you do it. A LinkedIn “Complete Profile” is 40x more likely to get you job opportunities! The little progress bar at the top will help you.

You can check out LinkedIn’s Official Blog to see the requirements here, but to summarize:

• A Profile Pic - which will get you 21X more profile views

  • Make it “professional” meaning your face is visibly shown, you look like YOU (figuratively represents your vibe and…well…literally), you take up about 60% of the frame.

• A Strong Headline

  • Keep it tight and to the point: Job Role/Family | Industry or Affiliations | Unique Skill

• Previous or Current Jobs and a Description—use your resume

• 5+ skills - you’re 27x more likely to be discovered in searches by recruiters by including skills

  • This is the MINIMUM. You have way more skills than that. Put in your hard and soft skills.

  • If you need help, check out my post about Unique Skills here

• Personal Summary – the About Section

  • For now, write a little blurb about yourself and add a keyword list below.

  • Make sure in your first sentence you highlight your awesomeness:

    • [Job Noun] in [industry and/or field] who [loves/can do/is awesome something]

• Industry and Postal Code

  • Helps when people search for a specific industry or physical location

• School Listings if applicable

• 50+ connections

  • If you have over 500 connections you are 20x more likely to be approached by recruiters o.O.

Built in exploits: Best Places to Add Keywords without Spamming

You need your profile to tell a cohesive story just like your resume, but also not get marked as a potential bot or spam. The ultimate way to find this balance is to incorporate your skills into each section under your control as these are weighted more heavily in LinkedIn search than say Recommendations.

About Section

• Draft your story and include your personal operating principles and soft skills in that story.

• If you have many technical skills or other hard skills, you can include them below you story in a bit of a list. I’d recommend no more than 10.

Skills Section

• Fill this up with as many relevant skills as possible through the list provided

Experience Section

• Ensure you are listing your experience as: [Action Verb] + [thing you did which is usually the skill you used] + [Impact]

 Education Section

• More keywords! Mention the clubs you were in, activities you participated in, awards you won, or any special programs you participated in

Honors and Awards Section

• Even MOAR keywords. Add anything you feel honored about here or awards you’ve received.

 Interests

• These are pages, companies, or people you follow.

  • Pro Tip: applying to a certain company? You can “Follow” them to show Interest.

Look, LinkedIn is a core network to have a professional profile. Feel free to repost your profile on other sites like Indeed, but no matter what focus on you, your personal keywords and story, and don't miss out on the opportunity to min-max your LinkedIn profile. Optimizing your profile can unlock new career opportunities and help you cut through the Search noise. Remember, every skill point counts, and every keyword and completed portion is a step closer to your next big adventure.