For fresh graduates, education plays a considerable role in determining whether or not you score a job. But after a few years in the workforce, your experience counts for much more than your degree(s). What’s the best way to present yourself to potential employers? Let’s take a closer look at how to optimise your LinkedIn profile!
Profile writing hacks
Given the volatile job market as the pandemic persists into 2022 and beyond, maintaining a well-groomed profile means that you’ll be minimising downtime if you are let go or decide to seek a change… but how should you present your work experience? “It seems there are hundreds of articles written on LinkedIn headlines, the about section, photo tips, and skills, but it seems no one stressed how to create an impactful work description section,” points out Robin Ryan, a Forbescontributor specialising in careers and job searching.
A Resume Lab survey found that 45 percent of workers in the United States reported that they had outdated information on their LinkedIn profiles – with 46.3 percent of users only ever adjusting their profiles when they were actively searching for a new job. This means a significant chunk of people are blissfully unaware that they’re putting themselves at a disadvantage when looking for their next role.
To maximise recruiters’ impression of your work experience, Ryan suggests the following:
· Be relevant
When we think relevancy, we immediately think about describing our most recent position and everything it entails. However, Ryan suggests going one step further – consider the job you are (or want to) apply for and try to connect your work experience with the prospective job requirements. For example, if you want to join a company the deals in annual reports, your prior experience working with annual reports needs to be stressed.
You can still write about job experience from other positions, but keep those short and towards the back. Recruiters are more interested in what you did recently!
· Open strong
“The first few sentences are highlighted on your profile,” Ryan explains. “After that, the reader must click the ‘see more’ button to read the rest of this section. You must captivate readers without them having to click on the “see more button”. If you keep valuable details towards the latter sections and no one clicks to read them, they’d be wasted!
To create a condensed and heavy hitting opener, immediately highlight major accomplishments and relevant experiences. Perhaps you were part of the team that executed a very successful campaign – name the campaign and emphasise your contributions. Or perhaps you helped create an excel template that optimised data entry for the company – don’t go into detail about how you did it, emphasise that your template is being used across the company and the value it created.
Ryan also stresses to use past tense while writing. “It means you have done it, which is the right message to promote.”
· Show presence with action words and keywords
Since impact and speed are key, we don’t have the luxury of going through background and context like we’d normally do with storytelling. Instead, treat the work experience section as a summary of your major accomplishments.
“Start each sentence with an action verb like directed, created, drove, headed, implemented, etc. A great formula to use as you develop your sentences is: Actions = Results. Specify what your actions were and conclude with what the result achieved,” she recommends. This way, recruiters can quickly determine what your contributions were and what they achieved. Save the nitty gritty details and storytelling for interviews!
Furthermore, you’ll want to use specific keywords throughout your copy. These keywords represent the desirable traits and essential skills that employers and recruiters are looking for from their new hires. Think generalist words like self-starter and industry-specific ones like Python programming. If you’re not sure what to include, Ryan suggests looking at various job descriptions for positions you’re interested in. Give employers what they want!
· Be vigilant and accurate with details
After you’ve written everything, go through it again several times to ensure that the details are accurate. You wouldn’t want to mix up a title or responsibility you had for company A with one from company B!
Proofread everything as well – a random misspelling of a company, skill (or any misspelling for that matter) makes you look careless. “This is critical so there is no confusion about your work history, and an employer can easily see your career progression,” writes Ryan. “Recruiters hate typos and spelling errors, and any reader notices them… Always ask someone else to proof this before it goes live.”
Last but not least, do make a habit of updating your profile regularly. Once a year and within a few months of taking on a new role or position would be ideal.
Assuming we’re a senior English copywriter with 10 years of experience, here’s an example of how content differs from a CV versus a LinkedIn work experience section:
CV:
Senior English Copywriter, Mega Writing Inc. | Hong Kong
2017 – present
- Led a team of ten to launch Esmerelda, the company’s first campaign in Australia regarding early reading, which earned over one million impressions and $250,000 in sales within a week
- Landed creative pitch for ABC Catering with a 5-year campaign contract
- Managed relations between clients, contractors and other stakeholders
- Collaborated with other copywriting teams to provide deliverables for Big Rig Co.’s annual reports
- Led teambuilding exercises between copywriters and designers
LinkedIn:
As a Senior English Copywriter for Mega Writing Inc., I led the team responsible for launching Esmerelda in Australia, which achieved over one million views and $250K sales within a week. I secured a 5-year contract with ABC Catering and am the key contributor for Big Rig Co’s annual reports. Facilitated relations between the company and external stakeholders.
It’s easy to treat the work experience section as an afterthought. However, with social media profiles now the first source of information for recruiters, cutting and pasting content from your CV may be too formal and lacking in pizzazz. So put some time into polishing up your LinkedIn profile. Your future dream-job-having self will thank you!