LinkedIn Live: Building A Standout LinkedIn Profile

Tiffany: Hi everyone, I’m Tiffany Schulze, the undergraduate Marketing Manager for Forte Foundation. Thank you so much for joining us for this amazing LinkedIn live. I’d like to introduce you to today’s host for building a standout LinkedIn profile, Haley and Sarah from Wasserman Center for Career Development at NYU.

Haley: So, we know that you’re here because you know how important it is to build a strong LinkedIn profile. Recognizing that LinkedIn is often an important part of the job search and a great opportunity to showcase your skills and experiences to future employers. Studies have shown that many employers do research candidates before hiring, and having a professional and standout LinkedIn profile really does go a long way.

Additionally, many recruiters use LinkedIn to identify potential talent. So making sure that your profile is showcasing all of the skills that you want to stand out is super important.

Sarah: Before we dive into our presentation, I also wanted to encourage you to pull up another tab and actually pull up your profile so that you can take a look at what you have on there and jot down notes for things that you might be able to do on your profile after this presentation.

When it comes to your LinkedIn profile, the very first thing that people are going to notice is going to be your photo.

You’ll see here that there’s a stat on our slides that comes directly from LinkedIn – profiles with photos tend to get 21 times more views. That’s a huge number, and definitely something that you don’t want to leave blank. You want to make sure that the photo is just a picture of you – not you and a few other friends or you and a pet, although if you’re interested in being a vet, maybe having a pet makes sense! But besides that, you want it to be a picture of just you.

And ask for help! You don’t want to take a selfie, but you know have a friend go on portrait mode and take a picture of you. Just as a note, if you’re taking a picture outside, try not to wear sunglasses – people want to be able to see your face. They want to be able to feel like if they were approaching you for an interview or if they were meeting you at a networking event that they’re seeing the same version of you in the picture that they would see in those settings.

So, putting out this sort of friendly, approachable picture is going to really help get them there.

You also want to think about what you’re wearing in the picture. It should be appropriate attire for the industry. If you’re looking to go into an industry that tends to have more professional expectations, maybe wearing a suit versus somewhere where you might be more business casual.

The last thing is that you want to sort of take up about 60% of the frame. I know that seems incredibly specific, but you do want the picture to be mostly of you while still having this contract of that neutral background.

Next is your headline. We actually wanted to start with photo and headline because these are the things that show up when somebody’s just doing a LinkedIn search. People are going to be able to see these things before they get into your profile and read your summary.

Your headline is sort of about what is your personal brand… It’s going to be much shorter than your summary. but your headline is really like I said, the first impression. things that you want to take advantage of since you only have. 220 characters or less. Use this as a way to include industry-specific keywords or phrases. Consider your audience. These are potentially recruiters, potentially future supervisors, so having a job title as well as things like skills or certificates and achievements are really valuable.

Haley: As Sarah mentioned, the summary is a bit longer section where you have a little more room to showcase yourself and really explain to people who you are what you’re looking for. it’s usually about 2,600 characters maximum. where you can give an overview of your professional life.

This is really great opportunity if you have experiences across different industries or different types of roles and you really want to allow a future employer to understand how all of your experiences have come together and how they can make sense.

It’s kind of like your online elevator pitch if you think of it that way. It can include a wide variety of combinations of your experience, skills, interests, passions. It’s kind of up to you, but it is the number one thing that recruiters look at when viewing profiles. It gives recruiters a really good understanding of who you are what you want to highlight about your experiences and what you’re looking for. Given that they may not have the time to scroll through your entire profile. This is a great place for them to go in order.

Some suggestions are: use numbers to show success and scope of some of your main career achievements. Like how Haley was saying, highlight specific transferable skills that you want them to know. choose like three or four skills that you really want them. In describing how all of your experiences and interests intersect might be strong unique candidate for certain roles because of the different ways in which your experiences have aligned with each other.

Sarah: Next is going to be work and education. You can see here again from LinkedIn – profiles with two or more positions are up to 36 times more likely to be found by recruiters. So really something we’re trying to get at is fill out your LinkedIn profile right… You don’t want just have your name – “I’m a student somewhere” – and that’s it. The more information you put on your profile, the more likely people are going.

Haley: Following up on what Sarah was sharing – more traditional work experiences are not the only ones that count. In terms of showcasing future employers that you have transferable skills they’re looking for. Some other sections on LinkedIn that you can utilize include: including academic projects languages certificates organizations Publications volunteering. A wide variety of different opportunities are available.

The way we want prioritize which experiences include thinking about which experiences have allowed us gain skills most relevant career path we’re looking pursue.

But I think it really shows we’re able to think critically and strategically about how our skills and experiences align with our career goals. And I think it’s really important to prioritize these experiences that have allowed us to gain skills most relevant to our career path.

Sarah: And one more thing to consider is – when you’re adding your work experiences, make sure you’re not just copying and pasting from your resume. Try to summarize the experience in your own words, and focus on what you learned, what you accomplished, and how it’s relevant to your career goals.

Haley: Absolutely. And one more thing – when you’re adding your work experiences, try to use action verbs like “managed,” “created,” “developed,” and “improved.” These verbs help to make your experiences sound more dynamic and impactful.

Sarah: Okay, so now let’s talk about some best practices for writing a summary. The summary should be a brief overview of your professional brand and what you’re looking for. It should be concise, clear, and engaging. And it should include a call-to-action – something that encourages people to reach out to you or learn more about your work.

Haley: That’s right. And remember, the summary is often the first thing that people see when they look at your profile, so make sure it’s strong and compelling.

Sarah: Great tip. Okay, let’s move on to some common mistakes that people make on LinkedIn. One common mistake is having an incomplete or outdated profile. Make sure you’re keeping your profile up-to-date and complete.

Haley: Another common mistake is not using keywords. You want to make sure that you’re using keywords from your industry or field so that recruiters and others can find you.

Sarah: And finally, another common mistake is not connecting with others on LinkedIn. You want to make sure that you’re building a network of connections who can help you in your career.

Haley: Exactly. Okay, so let’s talk about some final tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile. First, make sure you’re using relevant keywords in your headline and summary.

Sarah: That’s right. And also make sure you’re including a professional photo and a clear headline that clearly communicates what you do.

Haley: Absolutely. And don’t forget to customize your LinkedIn URL. It’s easy to do and it makes it easy for people to find you.

Sarah: Okay, great. Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things on LinkedIn. You don’t have to stick with the same old format – you can try new things like video posts or long-form posts.

Haley: Yeah, LinkedIn is constantly evolving and changing, so it’s important to stay up-to-date and adapt to those changes.

Sarah: Okay, I think that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you all for joining us for this LinkedIn Live session. We hope you found some valuable tips and strategies for optimizing your LinkedIn profile.

Haley: Yes, we hope so too. And don’t forget to connect with us on LinkedIn if you haven’t already.

Sarah: Absolutely. Thanks again everyone!

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