Tips to improve your LinkedIn profile and make it attractive

LinkedIn is one of the top professional platforms for meeting and greeting individuals from all around the world.

It’s up to you whether you utilize it wisely or not. Over the past two years, I worked on enhancing my profile. I used to go through the features on LinkedIn and improve the look of my profile. I was just thinking about sharing some of my personal lessons with you. Here you have it!

1. Create your account with your complete name. You also have the option of adding a “Nick” name.
2. Include a professional headshot of yourself.
3. Change the cover image. It might be relevant to your line of work or the logo of your organization.
4. Draft a memorable “Bio/Headline.” For instance, to demonstrate my love for APIs, I created mine in JSON format. The roles are the most accurate in defining myself. I included “Mom” because it is my top priority role, and it made it easier for many Moms to connect with me. Many of my friends and acquaintances changed their descriptions after I did:-)

{“aboutMe” : “Mom ★ Postman Supernova ★ AWS Community Builder ★ Blogger ★ API Enthusiast ★ Community Contributor ★ Learner ★ Speaker ★ Enabler”, “role” : “Passionate Test Engineer”, “currentLocation” : “Malaysia”}

5. Try “Creator mode” and add your interests.

6. Use the “About me” section as an “Elevator Pitch”.

7. Include work experience with specified job roles. Describe each role’s tasks and responsibilities. Every job has the option of including the link/media. If necessary, attach any supporting documents here.

8. Update your “Education” details.

9. Under “Licenses & certifications”, add the certification details. You can add the “Badges” received as well.

10. Update the “Skills” section based on our expertise. You can have up to “50” skills. This is one of the key fields used by “Recruiters”. So if you are searching for a job, use it wisely. LinkedIn provides some skill quizzes, and if you are passing the assessment you get a badge.

You can also get endorsement for the skills from your leads/co-workers.

11. Ask for “Recommendations” and also write recommendations to your team. This is my personal favorite. This section is my dose of motivation.

12. If you received any “Awards”/ “Honors”, feel free to add them here:

13. You have the option to edit/customize the profile URL. I still notice many people are using the default profile URL generated by LinkedIn (For instance https://www.linkedin.com/in/pricilla-80264). You can actually customize it based on your name/profession/area of interest.

Click the “Public profile & URL”.

The new page is launched as below. Edit your custom URL.

14. Use the “Featured” section sensibly. You can add your articles links, posts, etc. which you feel like “brandishing”. You can order them here because only a few are listed in the “Preview”.

15. Utilize the “Volunteering” section for providing details other than your full-time job. This is the “value-add” section of your profile.

Isn’t cool? It takes quite some time. But trust me, it’s all worth it. A good profile helps in your personal branding. Not only LinkedIn, any account you use either personal or professional follow the simple rules and complete your profile. This reflects your personal discipline.

We should treat our resumes as a top priority. But everything cannot be quoted in there. That’s where a well-built “LinkedIn” profile will help you.

What do you get out of it?

1. Better visibility
2. Provides better clarity to your connections about you and your work
3. Recruiters might find your profile interesting
4. You might get other external opportunities and collaborations
5. Better reach in your organization
6. Opportunity to inspire others
7. Connecting with other influential people