Even in 2024, LinkedIn remains one of the most trusted platforms for career advancement, networking, and job hunting. With users in more than 200 countries and over a billion users worldwide, it’s clear by now that a plain, basic profile just won’t cut it if you’re looking for a job on LinkedIn. Simply put, you need to use your LinkedIn profile to build strong personal branding for yourself.
Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your personal branding. Think of it as a personal marketing platform: if you can consistently showcase your abilities, capabilities, and motivations, you’ll be able to build strong branding. Here are 15 things you should know if you want to use LinkedIn professionally.
(1) Choosing Your LinkedIn Profile Picture
Your profile picture is like introducing yourself to others — it’s your calling card on LinkedIn. Put simply, when choosing your profile picture, which serves as your first impression, it should be a recent photo of you, with your face taking up around 60% of the frame. So a photo taken from far away where your face barely shows won’t work well.
(2) Add a Background Photo.
Your background photo is another highly visible spot on your profile page. It should catch viewers’ attention while briefly conveying some context about what you do. A well-chosen background photo also makes your page stand out more.
(3) Don’t Limit Your Headline to Just a Job Title.
There’s no rule saying your headline has to be just a job title. In the headline field, you should include your role, what you do, and what motivates you to do it. If you know sharp senior colleagues in your field or network, take a look at their headlines — chances are, they’re not just a job title either.
(4) Add a Name Pronunciation Recording.
To avoid your name being mispronounced, you can add a recorded audio pronunciation to your LinkedIn profile. That way, there’s no chance of it being mispronounced.
(5) Turn Your Summary Into a Story.
You shouldn’t skip the LinkedIn summary — it’s worth filling in. The summary is a space to tell your story. Instead of just listing skills and job titles there, prioritize describing how you’ve applied your skills and what impact you’ve made.
(6) Use Buzzwords.
Buzzwords are the most commonly used words in LinkedIn headlines and summaries. Some examples include Specialized, Leadership, Focused, Strategic, Experienced, Passionate, Expert, Creative, Innovative, and Certified. Describing yourself and your skills using buzzwords like these makes your LinkedIn profile more powerful.
(7) Build Lots of Connections.
One of the easiest things you can do here is to seek out connections to grow your network. LinkedIn’s auto-suggest feature for people in your field makes this quite convenient. There’s nothing to worry about either, since connection requests can’t be sent without the other user’s permission. Having plenty of connections keeps you up to date and benefits your career advancement.
(8) Highlight Relevant Skills.
One of the best ways to land a job on LinkedIn is by listing relevant skills. Doing so also makes your headline, summary, and buzzword usage feel more credible. That said, having too many skills listed, making your skill list too long, isn’t great for your profile either. You should review and update your skill list regularly.
(9) Recommendations
Beyond describing your own work, recommendations from colleagues, seniors, and superiors about your skills also make your LinkedIn profile more complete. It’s best to think carefully about who to ask for a recommendation before making the request.
(10) Showcase Your Eagerness to Learn.
Since you can add a course certificate to your LinkedIn profile every time you finish a course on LinkedIn Learning, don’t forget to add it each time you complete one.
(11) Share Content.
Having connections on LinkedIn matters, but it’s even more important that your connections actually notice you. That’s what the LinkedIn feed is for, and you can use it to share your own content, images, and videos.
(12) Follow Influencers in Your Industry.
Following influencers in your industry means your LinkedIn feed will show interesting, up-to-date content and information.
(13) Spotlight the Services You Offer.
Many consultants, freelancers, and small business owners showcase their services on their LinkedIn Service Page. The LinkedIn Service Page is a landing page where you can describe your services and business at no cost.
(14) Join LinkedIn Groups.
Joining groups relevant to you lets you take part in discussions and share content, just like groups on other social media platforms, which increases your visibility.
(15) Turn On Creator Mode.
Creator Mode, similar to Facebook’s Professional Mode, can help your content reach more people and increase your influence. Using Creator Mode to access creator tools beyond a standard profile, and growing your content and audience, is a genuinely worthwhile move.