How to Stand Out on LinkedIn - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

How to Stand Out on LinkedIn - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool that allows you to form professional connections and network. The sites popularity is certainly widespread too, its ranked as the 31st most visited website globally, and has over 546 million users. How then, with so many others on the platform, can you stand out from the crowd? Today well highlight some best practices that will help you become more LinkedIn savvy, and stand out on the site. Have a Professional Photo A crucial first step is uploading a professional photo. If you dont update your profile with your own photo, youll just be another silhouette among many. So one of the first things you should do is update that profile photo! Just make sure you dont use something unprofessional like a selfie. Consider having your photo taken by someone professionally, and make sure you dress to impress! If you want a more thorough guide, check out our previous blog here. Customize Your URL If you want to make your profile easily accessible, you should customize your URL to suit you. Ideally it should be your name, if available. If not, try adding in your middle initial, middle name, or reversing your first and last name. Having your name as your profile URL is preferable over the alphabet soup you will have by default. Flesh Out Your Profile A lot goes into having an all star LinkedIn profile. It should be as comprehensive as possible, and paint a full picture of your work history. That means not just having past job titles and companies, but also adding bullet points that summarize your responsibilities. Dont neglect the volunteering or interests sections either! If you want more to go on, we wrote a blog about The 10 Components of a Great LinkedIn Profile. Use the Site as Intended Oddly enough, you can stand out somewhat by simply using the site as intended. Far too many users on LinkedIn treat the site like they would Facebook. LinkedIn is not the place for you to constantly upload pictures of your children, or your recent meals (unless youre a chef). It should at most times stay professional, unless you are sharing a personal story tied to your career. Share Relevant Industry News Tips One of the best ways to use the site as intended is to share updates and trends within your field of work. Ideally, you will be connected with many people within your industry, who would want to share and discuss any new developments. Its a great place to get advice, feedback, and stay up to date on the employment status of others. Its also a great place to do business if you approach it right! Also, if it makes sense, LinkedIn is a great place to be a brand ambassador. Represent your company, and talk about what excites you about working for them. Just make sure management is okay with you being outspoken about it! Personalize Your LinkedIn Requests If youve been on LinkedIn for a while, youve probably seen your fair share of boring connect requests. When most LinkedIn users want to connect, all they do is click one button, and send the same pre-written invite. When you receive a robotic sounding invite, youre more likely to ignore it. On the other hand, when you receive a personalized connection request, it stands out. When you are interested in connecting with others, indicate in the message why you want to do so. If you met someone at an event, remind them of that in the message. Personalized connection requests have a much higher likelihood of being accepted, and leaving a good impression. Add a Link On Your Resume Finally, add a link to your resume! Your LinkedIn profile is a great tool on its own, but it can enhance your resume as well. Including a link to it allows any potential employer to get a wider glance at your background. Doing this also lets them see any of those relevant updates youve been sharing. Its a great way to payoff all of the hard work youve put into your profile!