LinkedIn as a gateway to new career opportunities
The social network LinkedIn is our everyday hub. We find and contact most of our candidates through this platform. So we see a quality LinkedIn profile as a key means of getting a headhunter’s attention.
Professional profile photo and background
Profile photo
-
Choose a portrait photo with a neutral background.
-
Keep your photography as up-to-date as possible.
-
Avoid photos from “family barbecues” – choose presentable clothing, pose and setting
Profile header background
-
Use this space to strengthen your own brand.
-
For example, you can include an illustration related to your industry, or a custom graphic with your motto or service offer.
Fitting headline (title)
-
The headline appears just below your name and is one of the first things a headhunter sees.
-
Briefly describe what you do, what you excel at, what position you hold or what you are looking for.
-
Add keywords relevant to the industry (e.g., technology name, position, field).
-
We often see different mottos and philosophies of life here – certainly information directly related to your career is more appropriate (see example)
Example: “Data Analyst | Python & R Expert | Improving business processes with data“
Summary (About)
Structure
- The first paragraph should clearly describe who you are and what you do.
- In the following paragraphs, you can highlight your strengths, professional achievements and career goals.
-
Be personal and authentic
- People (and especially headhunters) are interested in stories, not just bullet points of facts.
- Answer the question what is your professional passion and what values do you follow. Here you can also touch on different styles or directions, for example people management and so on.
Keywords
- It will definitely help your profile to be displayed in searches if you add relevant keywords (technology, software tools, skills, professional focus…) to the summary.
Detailed work experience
Position description
- For each position, provide a clear description of the responsibilities, accomplishments and value you bring to the company.
- Add specific results, ideally expressed in numbers or percentages (e.g. “I increased conversion by 30% in 6 months”).
- Try to search for your employer’s official LinkedIn page (if they have one) when you post a new job experience.
Relevant projects
- List the specific projects you have worked on, their objectives and your contribution to their success.
- If you have links to results or presentations, please attach them.
Don’t forget the keywords
- As with the title and summary, include relevant passwords in the work experience description so the system can easily find you.
Education and Certification
- List education and certifications that may underscore your professional competence.
- It is always a good idea to include the field of study/field of study in addition to the school and period.
- Feel free to include short courses and training if relevant.
- LinkedIn allows you to add selected courses (e.g. LinkedIn Learning) directly to your profile – use this to showcase your proactivity.
Skills and Endorsements
-
A selection of core skills
-
Prioritise the skills in the list that are most relevant to your job and target position.
-
Add a few general soft skills, but don’t clutter the profile with irrelevant items (for example, language skills have a separate section on the profile).
-
-
Endorsements from colleagues
-
Ask your colleagues to confirm your chosen skills.
-
The more endorsements on key skills, the more credibility for the headhunter.
-
Recommendations
- Ask for recommendations from former supervisors, colleagues or clients.
- Referrals are a great way to show that you have quality references and that people like working with you.
- Choose people who know you well and can highlight your strengths and specific achievements.
Activity and networking
-
Community and content
-
Share interesting articles, industry news, comment on others’ posts.
-
Being active will make you more visible – LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritises users who create or share content.
-
Occasionally it is appropriate to publish your own professional contribution, for example a short case study.
-
-
Establishing a connection
-
This is one of the most important activities on LinkedIn – you can exponentially improve the reach and visibility of your profile.
-
Send connection requests to people in your industry or headhunters with a short personal message.
-
Use networking events, conferences or meetups to make new contacts and then connect them via LinkedIn.
-
-
LinkedIn Groups
-
Join groups relevant to your field or specialty.
-
Discuss, share useful information and expand your network of contacts.
-
Language mutations
-
If you operate in an international environment or want to expand your capabilities abroad, use the “Add profile in another language” function.
-
A profile in different language will help you to be more traceable to foreign recruiters.
Regular profile updates
A LinkedIn profile is not a “one-off” project. Keep up with your professional development:
-
Add new achievements, projects and results.
-
Adjust your skills if your focus changes.
-
Update resume information (e.g., if you change jobs or obtain a new certification).
-
It’s not rare for users to forget to end a previous work experience – so positions throughout their career are shown as active.