How to turn your LinkedIn profile into an attention magnet.

Love it or hate it, LinkedIn is part of modern business. And if you are building a career, your LinkedIn profile can act like a magnet, attracting the attention of the people who are looking for you. And if you haven't been giving your LinkedIn much love lately, you're not alone.

A lot of my clients tell me that they just don't really know how and why to use LinkedIn, so they set it up and try to add new jobs when they happen, but otherwise, they don't bother.

But that's a missed opportunity, whether you're looking for a job or not. And if you are looking for a job, you are making a huge strategic error. 

In this job market, you have to rely more and more on your LinkedIn presence to attract attention.

Your goal is to be seen as much as possible and people with an active presence get rated higher in algorithms and come up in more searches.

When your profile has the right elements, it will attract attention from recruiters, hiring managers and other people who might have the great next career opportunity for you. 

In fact, in some professions, like enterprise software sales, if you’re not on LinkedIn, it’s like you don’t even exist. I mean, how could you be successful in many kinds of corporate sales if you don't have a strong network already. 

Even if you're a tailor or a farmer or a general contractor, a strong LinkedIn presence will show your professional approach to your business and can affect your success.

Who’s looking at your LinkedIn profile? All kinds of people. 

• Recruiters looking for candidates 
• Recruiters screening applications and resumes for a job you applied to
• Hiring managers, both before or after your interview
• Candidates considering working for you or for your company
• Prospects considering doing business with you or your company 
• Career climbers researching jobs and career paths like yours
• Former coworkers 
• Current and potential clients, vendors and consultants
• That person you met in the coffee line at Starbucks and maybe your neighbor

Every visitor to your profile is an opportunity to share who you are professionally in an inviting way so people see you the way you want them to see you and what you do.

Here are a few quick ways to make your LinkedIn profile draw people in:

Put up a great photo.

Profiles with photos get 14 times more views than profiles without, and I guarantee that profiles with a great picture get far more engagement than the ones with boring photos.

Look awesome in your picture, like someone who likes who you are. 

Use a head shot where you look happy and confident. Wear something neutral that you might wear to work, not too formal, not too casual. It's not about your clothes. Crop the photo so that your face is easy to see. 

A solid background works best; I like white backgrounds but black works too - you can do this by just having someone take a bunch of shots with your phone standing against a solid wall. Be authentic. Smile, laugh, relax, be playful, have fun.

If you are an executive or in a public-facing role, your photo is so important that I often recommend investing in a professional headshot so you put your best face forward to business world, including clients, colleagues and hiring managers.

You want "I like that person" the be the first impression of visitors. 

Customize your headline.

If you don't write your own headline, LinkedIn will autofill in as "(your current job title) at (your current employer)." That means if you are the Assistant Trainer at ABC Company, that is all your headline will be.

Not customizing your headline is a waste of an opportunity for your career branding.

Your headline is seen every time people see your profile in a list or a comment where it's right under your name. Those first words tell them what you are.

And you are much more than your current job title or company, so instead of that default, you can (and should) change your headline to something that describes you.

If you had a tagline for your career, what would it be? Use that. 

Or a summary of what you want to be doing next? Use that. 

For example, your current title might be “Training Assistant” but that doesn't really capture it because you do a lot of things and bring a lot of new ideas.

It might be much more accurate to describe yourself as an “Learning and Development Innovator and Trainer."  You can use that for your headline, because it's descriptive of you, not a specific job title. 

You get 220 characters in the headline to highlight what you are, so you can add more of your specialties, too, so it you might make it "Learning and Development Innovator and Trainer | Training Design and Program Management for Growing Tech Companies." 

But wait... don't you have to put your company name in the headline?

Nope, it's not required. You can if it's good for your branding, but if you work for an unknown or unpopular company, you don't need it in your headline. 

Use what works best for you, and don't be afraid to stand out. Standing out is the whole point!

Create an inviting and interesting About summary section.

The "About" section on LinkedIn is your chance to talk about yourself in a bigger-picture way. Use a conversational first-person voice and tell people what you’re all about.

Never write in third person like it's someone talking about you; that's weird because this is your personal LinkedIn page. (And if you're an executive, get a ghost writer if you need, but it has to be authentic and told in your voice).

Write in natural sentences like you talk, so it feels like you. Avoid resume-speak so it stays both readable and personal.

It's fine to use pronouns (I, me, my, our) to make it feel more personal. 

Introduce yourself the way you want people to see you. Tell them who you are, in the context of your career.

A quick summary of what you’ve done to date is good and if you're a leader, share a little about your philosophy to make you stand out and position you from the start.

Just make sure it sounds inviting, friendly and like you.

Tell a story with your experience.

Writing a LinkedIn profile is different than a resume. It's in more natural language, and not just a list of responsibilities or whatever.

Definitely don’t just cut and paste from your resume. This is the simpler, more human version of you.

Instead, in each job, summarize a little about the company and what you did there that you’re proud of.

A short paragraph or two with the overview is fine for each entry. Keep it simple and in natural language. Make sure it sounds like you. 

Include all the right keywords. 

Don't be afraid of keywords, they're simple to get right.

LinkedIn and other computer application systems automatically compare and match the words in your profile (or application) to the words in the job posting to rank how well you fit the job.

That means you need to make sure the right keywords are found in your title line, summary and job descriptions.

This shouldn't be difficult if you have the right experience for the jobs you're going after... just include these key words from the job descriptions in how  you describe your work on LinkedIn.

You can also create a subsection in your About summary that lists your keywords, which is helpful for technical people who have a lot of skills that people might be searching for, and for executives who have a truly broad range of skills and experience in their toolbox. Put it at the bottom of the About section and you can easily update it during your search.

And be aware that just dumping random keywords in your profile will backfire if your experience doesn't back it up... they work best when they are woven in organically in how you describe your work and your job. 

Build your network before you need it.

Put time into expanding and developing your connections before you try to hit them up in a job search. 

For your most important connections, you can be more visible to them by following them, reading their blog, liking their posts, sharing some appropriate news, and being active in similar groups. 

Once you begin connecting with people, LinkedIn’s algorithms will suggest more for you. LinkedIn’s platform will walk you through checking who you might know; here’s a link to their help page for that.

Ask more people to write you recommendations.

LinkedIn's recommendation function allows first-hand testimonials from verifiable sources to share about their experience working with you. 

This was a breakthrough in hiring, to be able to see recommendations without talking to them directly, and these words of praise can be powerful... whether it's from a former coworker, boss, subordinate or client, recommendations are very persuasive to the recruiters, clients and hiring managers who are checking you out.

Here’s a link to LinkedIn’s instructions on how to ask for recommendations.

Ask people who will say good things about you and who you can see have written strong recommendations for others. Prompt them a little by suggesting what to write about, like “I’d love if you could talk a little about that ABC project we worked so hard on together,” so they reinforce the things you want them to.

Also, you have to approve a recommendation before it appears on your page, so if it needs a little work or has typos, you can ask them to edit it if you need to, and if you don't like what they say, you can choose not to approve it, so you're in control.

Write recommendations for people you’ve worked with in the past. 

Be generous and descriptive with your words, and feel free to show lots of personality since that will stand out. Spend time with what you write and proof well, since others will see it, too. 

The recommendations you give will reflect your own values and show an important side of you as an employee, client, boss, or whatever the case is.

Join some groups and connect with people.

 LinkedIn groups can be a fantastic place to meet new people for job seekers and career climbers. It may take a little time and wandering around to find the right groups for you. See what you can find in your industry, your profession, your local or regional area.

Join groups where you find people you’d like to know or learn from.

Don’t be afraid to ask for entry into closed groups, since these may have the best conversations and you might be able to establish an online awareness and find yourself connecting with some movers and shakers in your field.

Start sharing carefully curated posts that reflect you. 

LinkedIn also encourages posting and commenting on other people's posts and newsletters, and this is a great way for you to show your expertise and interests. You don't need to create your own content, unless you want to.

Look at your home page feed to see who of your connections is posting, and what, and to keep up to date with the pages and thought leaders you follow. 

Your activity will raise your visibility to the algorithm and the perception of your credibility to the humans.

There is a lot more you can do on LinkedIn, of course, but hopefully you found a few places you know you can up your game, and that's a great place to start.