First impressions are crucial when it comes to your professional reputation, and your LinkedIn profile is increasingly becoming a key part of making that impression. In today’s digital world, people share the same habit of Googling people they haven’t met, or those they’ve recently interacted with. This increasingly common habit has an effect on how people see you and the success you have achieved in your career. However, with a little effort and attention you can craft a compelling and professional LinkedIn profile that creates the right first impression to those that look you up.
Chances are that when someone googles your name, your LinkedIn profile will be one of the top search results. Taking the time to polish your profile and ensure it’s up to date is one of the easiest ways to make sure you present a positive first impression. Below are five key pieces that all great LinkedIn profiles have in common.
Make Sure Your Profile Is Complete
If your profile is missing important details about you, it implies that you lack attention to detail. Even worse, it could give the impression that you are deliberately trying to hide something. Spend the time to add your details to all the sections; your experience and summary are particularly important. This shows that you have an eye for detail and are thorough in what you do.
Write In A Consistent Tone
Your LinkedIn profile is part of your brand, so make sure the tone is consistent throughout your profile. If you are a structured and well-organized person, let your profile show that to the world. Make it as easy as possible for people to find out about you and what you’re like.
Grab The Reader’s Attention
When someone clicks on your profile, they’re only given a preview of the full content on your page. Make sure the content they can see is as attention-grabbing and potent as possible to get people to expand other parts of your profile and read more about you. This means your headline and the first few lines of your summary should be as compelling as possible to encourage readers to learn more about you.
Inject Your Personality Into Your Profile
People like to connect with other people. When someone checks out your profile, they will look at your qualifications and achievements, but they also want to connect with a real person with a personality. Insert some life into your profile by going beyond just listing your accomplishments and experience. Add what your passionate about, share your values, and make sure you bring some personality to your summary. Although you might think that writing in the third person makes you sound more professional, writing in the first person makes you more approachable and helps engage the reader.
Keep Your Profile Up To Date
After putting in the work to create a great profile, one that is compelling, authentic, and shows off your personality, it doesn’t require too much effort to keep it maintained and up to date. Nothing ruins a first impression like an out of date profile complete with an embarrassing old photo and a bare-bones summary that hasn’t been updated in years.
With over 500 million users worldwide and a focus on connecting professionals, your LinkedIn profile isn’t something that should be neglected. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so investing some time to craft a great profile is well worth the effort.
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