Build a LinkedIn Profile That Gets You Interviews

Intro

LinkedIn is your personal landing page for the business world. Whether you’re applying for jobs or selling to prospects having a linkedIn profile that stands out will make the difference between getting what you want or not.

Is your profile in good shape?

I’m asking job seekers firstly.

Many have lost their jobs in the past 6 months. Do you think they’re sitting around doing nothing? Of course not! They’re looking for a new role so competition is going to be high for many tech jobs.

To make things worse we’re going into a recession so the number of open positions will be limited.

Companies that are hiring love being in this position because they can cherry pick who they want to work with and for the most part name their price too. UNLESS you’re a top performer that is because A-players are in short supply an will always be sought after.

If you’re reading this you probably know how much standing out matters and there are candidates stronger than you out there. You need a way to compete with them. You got this!

Now, will having a kickass LinkedIn profile land you a high-paying job? No - but at the very least it’ll help you get more interviews.

In this post I’ll help you update your LinkedIn profile in 3 easy steps. Let’s do this!

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First impressions

The only thing that matters in business is being known, being trusted, and providing value others can’t live without. We’re going to set up our profile along these lines.

Keep in mind you should set up your profile in a way that appeals to the company you’re applying to

so treat this guide as just that. A guide - and then adapt it to your needs.

Let’s say you’re looking for a new sales job at a startup. Step one is making a good first impression and you won’t need much to do that. You’re going to upload a professional profile picture, a neutral but stylish cover photo, and write a headline that tells visitors clearly who you are, what you do, and who your profile is relevant for. The higher up the ranks you go the more it’s worth having your photo taken by a skilled photographer. The cover photo should help keep a clean aesthetic but you can also use it to boost your message.

Here’s another one: Small detail but creating a custom URL for your profile helps complete the look.

As a hiring manager I’m going to ask myself 3 things:

1. Who are you?

2. Are you relevant to me?

3. Can I trust you?

Your profile needs to answer all of these clearly.

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Are you a culture fit?

Moving onto step 2 we want to show that we’re a culture fit and the About section is the best place to do that. Visitors will ask themselves can I trust this person and would I enjoy working with them?

The thing is people like working with people they trust and people trust people like them.

How do you show that?

By opening up.

Write down things you’re interested in and activities or causes you deeply care about. My advice is to get vulnerable. If you don’t feel naked when reading your about section you need to work on it some more.

Don’t forget to make it easy to read. Play with structure and spacing. And if you’re applying to a more laid back company like a startup you can add emojis as well that reflect how easy-going you are next to being structured.

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Can you deliver?

The last step is to show you’re capable. Having people like you enough to want to work with you is one thing but they also need to trust in your abilities to deliver on the day to day tasks. This is where the experience, featured, skills, and recommendations sections come into play.

Where do you think most people go wrong?

They focus on the day to day tasks they were responsible for which makes their profile look boring and doesn’t tell me as a hiring manager if this person can actually deliver. Does this mean you should skip what tasks you did overall? No, but

focus on the results you got and the impact that lead to first, and then list what day to day activities got you there.

Small change, big impact!

Moving on we have the skills and recommendations sections.

You’ll want to add skills you have that are relevant to the role you’re applying to and if you have linkedin premium you can also see what recruiters are searching for in job postings. Prioritise those.

But that’s not enough. Anyone can add skills to their profile - it’s a whole other thing when people confirm that you actually know your shit. Ask connections you’ve worked with to endorse you for your skills. Better yet - ask them for a recommendation!

The easiest way to do this is to endorse others in your network first. Most people will feel the need to reciprocate, but LinkedIn will also prompt them to endorse you back so it’s a low effort high impact activity.

If you got this far you already have a better profile than most, but here’s how you knock it out of the park.

Post about your experiences from current and previous roles that made an impact and how you contributed to those results. Then add them to the featured section of your profile. This little self promotion goes a long way.

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