3 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Page

I’ve been at All Star status on LinkedIn for several years now and have gathered 3 tips for you to improve your LinkedIn. While it’s not something to brag about, it’s definitely helped me in a plethora of situations. Shoot, I have a recruiter in my messages at least twice a week! So if you feel your LinkedIn profile is lacking, here are three tips to boost it up.

Add Your Accomplishments

Add your academic, work, and non-work-related accomplishments. If you’re in school, thinking of getting a graduate degree, or work in academia, those academic awards and organizations make a difference. Even if you’re out of school, any honors organizations, sororities, or fraternities you belong to can help connect you to people you wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Take a look at other people’s pages and see if they belong to any of the organizations that you do. You might be surprised.

At work, awards may be harder to come by, but they’re not impossible to receive. Some companies have appreciation awards where peers can share kind words about you and your work. Put that in there. If you lead any affinity groups or resource groups, you could be getting leadership awards. Look into internal awards for that type of work and external awards you could be nominated for (if your organization allows this). In addition to showing how dedicated you are to your work or organization, these show that you have leadership skills without explicitly saying it, that’s annoying, and stand out from a crowd in a good way.

Finally, if you have any passions that don’t relate to your work, include any recognition from them. In some cases, you may want to make connections with people interested in the same projects. In other cases, you may want to consider a career change or pivot. The more you can relate to someone else or show your different skillsets, the more likely you will get opportunities aligned with that passion project. Who knows, maybe you’ll even be able to earn extra income from a passion project or replace your 9-to-5 with what you genuinely love to do.

Who Are You?

Having information in your About section gives insight into who you are as a professional, and in some cases, as a person. You don’t have to write your life’s memoir here. If you have no idea where to start, focus on what you do, some of your core values, and key professional and volunteer interests.

Surprisingly, some people read the About section. Although it’s not nearly enough to make a significant impact, you never know what could resonate with someone with whom you’re looking to connect. This also helps LinkedIn understand that you’re actually a human being and gives you more leverage toward achieving that all-star status.

Connect With People

Make sure you’re connecting with everyone you know on LinkedIn, especially if you have a good relationship with them. Endorse them for skills you know they have or have seen them develop. Write recommendations for your connections and ask if they can write any for you. The possibilities are endless, and the saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is absolutely true.

When you have a second, third, or fourth degree of separation, it’s the people in your network that help give you credibility. It might even be helpful to lean on your network for introductions to people you don’t know directly, but they might. If you’re looking for a job, they can also vouch for you and may be a factor in you getting a great role.

Be kind and remember your network is made up of people, and nobody likes being used all the time. Keep your asks to a minimum, and be sure to check in on the people in your network from time to time and let them know you care. They’ll appreciate it.

Go Out and Conquer – Improve Your LinkedIn

Check out the LinkedIn official blog for an [exhaustive list of ways to update your profile]. Combining all of these tactics should be sure to improve your LinkedIn in no time. The recruiters will be knocking down your doors soon!