5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your LinkedIn Profile - CareerAlley

5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your LinkedIn Profile - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. With well over 400 million users on LinkedIn, the site has become the number one site where recruiters (both independent and corporate) go-to source talent for open positions. Just having a LinkedIn account wont help if youve not fully developed your profile. While your resume should be the major source for your LinkedIn profile content, it should not be just a cut and paste of your resume. Similarly, once your profile has been created, LinkedIn should be the first place you list major new accomplishments. Your profile then becomes the best source for keeping your resume up to date as well as informing friends, business acquaintances and recruiters of what youve been up to (not to be confused with Facebook updates). Tweet This While the vast number of LinkedIn users further validates the site as the go-to source for recruiting, it also complicates the age-old job search problem of getting noticed. The noise of 400 million users can be overwhelming and just adding stuff to your profile will not (necessarily) get you noticed. Adding the wrong stuff to your LinkedIn profile can be just as bad as not having a LinkedIn profile at all. Buzzwords Youve done your homework and have managed to include the top 10 LinkedIn buzzwords in your profile. Job well done? No this is a BIG MISTAKE. You dont want to be part of the crowd, you want to stand out from the crowd. Furthermore, your profile (and all of the action words you decide to use) should reflect your experience. The best advice for resumes does not necessarily work as well in your LinkedIn profile. What to do? Take a look at some of at this article Understanding the Importance of Keywords in Your Job Search Dont Write a Biography Hiring managers do not want to know how you helped Save the Whales (a very noble cause, but not for your LinkedIn Profile unless you are hoping to get a job at Sea World). Nor should your profile just be a regurgitation of every accomplishment youve ever achieved. Your profile should reflect accomplishments and skills that appeal to hiring managers. Think of it this way, if you were hiring your replacement, what would you want to see in their profile? This resource is worth a look. How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile Price: $9.97 Specific line by line instructions on how to create your LinkedIn profile to maximize your job search. Buy Now from Amazon We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Last Updated: March 2, 2020 Whos Viewed Your Profile If the answer is no one, then Im thinking this is a pretty good indication your profile needs a rewrite. But besides the advice given above, there could be something fundamentally wrong with your profile if you are not getting any hits or they are very low. The first thing you should do is click the Whos viewed your profile link. Some great stats here. The middle of the page shows the most recent viewers and the right-hand side of the page shows a neat graph of your profile views over the last few weeks/months. Directly below this is the How many times you appeared in LinkedIn Search stat along with the weekly change (increase or decrease). Once you tweak your profile, you will want to keep an eye on this stat to see how effective your changes have been. LinkedIn is Not Facebook Having thousands of people in your LinkedIn network is not necessarily a good thing. You should only accept a link request if you actually know the person (business first, family probably not). I get lots of requests from people Ive never heard of. Many of these requests are so they will have access to the links in my network. While having a large network is a good thing, it only helps if the links are valid and can help in your career. Should I accept LinkedIn invitations from people I dont know? Recommendationless Not a typo, I wish I can say that Ive just made a new word, but its been used before. Anyway, recommendations are a must on LinkedIn (not to be confused with Endorsements a topic for another day!). How many recommendations is enough and whats the best way to get more? TopResume Free Resume Review Price: TopResume writes and analyzes more resumes and LinkedIn profiles than any other service in the world. Let our resume experts provide you with objective feedback and personalized recommendations to improve your resume and land the right job sooner. Get a free, confidential resume review from TopResume Get Your Killer Resume We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to identify and land your dream job. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search