by Linda Castillo
With over 400 million members and 2 new members joining every second, LinkedIn is the largest professional network and has become one of the top recruiting sources for employers. At the recent sold out San Jose State University Latino Alumni Network (SJSU LAN) LinkedIn Networking Event – “Rock Your Profile” attendees were able to learn how to make their profile stand out from other candidates straight from the source.
Teresa Leija, Associate Program Manager, presented a step-by-step approach to build and expand your networks with your LinkedIn profile. During the presentation, she stressed the importance of how using every feature will increase the views to your profile.
- Adding a professional photo increases profile views by 14x
- Including a summary increases profile views by 10x
- Including work experience increases profile views by 12x
- Adding volunteer experience and causes increases profile views by 6x
You get the picture- the more you use LinkedIn’s profile features the more views to your profile. It is so important that you don’t leave anything blank or empty.
Here are a few more ways to really ROCK your profile:
- Spend some time really crafting your headline. It should explain what you do, show your passion and value. Spend just as much time, if not more, creating a compelling summary that focuses on your career accomplishments and aspirations. The summary should be less than 740 words and include keywords not buzzwords!
- Make your profile dynamic and visually appealing with presentations, photos and videos that tell your professional story. If you don’t have any media to share, Teresa suggested adding a general presentation about your company and utilizing SlideShare to get ideas for presentation decks and infographics.
- Add skills that are a mix of high-level and niche skills and try obtaining endorsements for those skills.
- Complete the volunteer experience section of your profile. Teresa stated that 41% of hiring managers see volunteer work just as valuable as professional experience.
- Be active and engaged on LinkedIn
- Join at least 5 groups in your industry
- Read Pulse to build your knowledge
- Follow LinkedIn influencers that resonate with you such as Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson, and Gwen Stefani to name a few
- Share links, articles and quotes at least twice a week. Try adding a question in your comment to spark conversation and reaction.
- Take advantage of the LinkedIn publishing tool to post your own articles. Kathy Goss, Diversity Recruiting Lead, noted that your posts are a way to deeply explore topics that matter to you and an opportunity for potential employers and recruiters to know more about you.
- Increase your skillset with Lynda.com an invaluable online learning platform to learn business, technology, software, and creative skills through videos.
On top of the networking and profile tips, another great part of this event was that the attendees had a glimpse of the LinkedIn company culture by being onsite and listening to the panelists from the internal employee resource group HOLA (Hispanics of LinkedIn Alliance) moderated by Sean Cevera, Diversity & Recruiting Champion. The panelists included Matthew Mendiola, Talent Solutions Support Specialist, Nicole Prairie, Customer Success Manager, and Andrew Trevino, Recruiter. They shared their unique experiences which in turn led to their current positions at LinkedIn. For example, Nicole discussed leveraging her Portuguese language skills as she navigated her career path including working abroad in Germany. Andrew talked about how he transferred his recruiting efforts at the UC Berkeley campus for a recruiter position at LinkedIn. Matthew shared the importance of being a part of the conversations about corporate culture and making connections in your career.
Your LinkedIn profile is not only a way for potential employers and recruiters to find you but also a great way to be known for what you do and strengthen your reputation. Be sure to take advantage of all the LinkedIn tools and tips in this article to ROCK your profile!
If you are interested in learning more about upcoming SJSU Latino Alumni Network’s events be sure to follow SJSU LAN on Facebook, sign up for their eNewsletter or become a member.
Linda Castillo is a San Jose State University Latino Alumni Network board member and the Founder and Executive Editor of www.ModernLatina.com. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.