Skyrocket your career: Best LinkedIn practices to be head hunted

The evolving job market of the 21st century, characterised by cut throat competition, demands a lot more than just domain-specific skills. The modern job seeker needs to adeptly navigate job search portals and engage in effective networking too, if he wants to stand out. LinkedIn is a pivotal platform where 8 people get hired every minute, suggests data from a 2020 survey.Harshad Bhagwat, a top job search strategist, highlights that job searchers with extensive LinkedIn profiles have 71% higher chances of getting a job interview.
Using LinkedIn the right way can significantly enhance employability for. Crafting a professional profile with a clear summary, detailed work experiences, and relevant skills is crucial. Active participation in industry-specific groups, sharing insightful content, and engaging with connections can build a robust professional network. Endorsements and recommendations further validate one's expertise and reliability. Additionally, following target companies and staying updated with their posts can provide valuable insights and job leads. Here are the best LinkedIn practices that will help you be the most head hunted employee.
A LinkedIn profile can be your digital resume. Ensure it highlights your core competencies and is engaging to capture the attention of the recruiters. Start by uploading a professional profile picture, and add a compelling headline that describes your job profile.
Write a comprehensive profile summary that can help your connections walk through your professional journey in a few seconds. Add all the relevant keywords, achievements, and areas you are passionate about. Elucidate your work experience in detail, and always try to add quantifiable data for your accomplishments. For instance, instead of adding achieved remarkable growth in traffic numbers, you can add accomplished 2X growth in traffic numbers by implementing the optimum SEO strategies in the blog.
Do not miss out on updating about your major career milestones on LinkedIn. If you have switched your job, ensure notifying your connections about the same. You can also update the courses that you have completed to showcase your skills and your commitment to learning and growth to have an edge over your competitors. Having an updated profile will help the recruiters know about your current job status and key responsibilities, and will also help them analyse how you can contribute to the present role.
More than a job portal, LinkedIn is renowned for its ability to provide opportunities for connecting with seasoned professionals in the industry. You can get in touch with them to gain insights into the career prospects and know about the ins and outs of their job profile. It’s good to send personalised messages to professionals before requesting them to connect. Touching base with industry experts will allow you to engage with them through their posts as well. If you have a strong LinkedIn network, your chances of landing your dream job through referral also go up by quite a few notches.
Your LinkedIn profile should resonate with your professional candidature. Add your core skills and competencies that you have learned during each role. Include both hard and soft skills that are relevant to your profile and are usually highlighted in the job descriptions shared by the recruiters. Take this section as an opportunity to perfectly showcase your professional journey. Choose the skills and adjectives that align with your Unique Selling Point (USP), and best describe you.
According to LinkedIn, the most in-demand skills in 2024 are communication, customer service, leadership, project management, analytics, management, teamwork, sales, problem-solving, and research skills. It has mentioned adaptability skill as the skill of the moment. You can mention these skills in your profile to make it stand out and attract the attention of the recruiters.
You can effectively demonstrate your experience in the domain by regularly sharing articles and insights related to the industry. This will also help you to increase engagements on your profile. You can add infographics, images, and videos with your posts to further engage your audience and explain your content well. LinkedIn data demonstrates that about 79% of working professionals frequently publish content on LinkedIn to enhance their visibility and attract more connections.
For example, if you want to highlight how AI is revolutionising the job market, then you can create an infographic that better describes the content. This will help you catch the immediate attention of the readers towards your content and in turn enhance your chances of driving more engagements.
You can request endorsements and recommendations from your seniors and previous managers. This will help in enhancing the credibility of your profile. LinkedIn Learning is a special feature offered by LinkedIn for taking courses and earning certifications. “Open to Work” is another beneficial feature of the platform that highlights you are looking for job opportunities.
In addition to the LinkedIn features, you can also utilise various AI tools to polish your resume and give it a professional look. You can create some professional images for your content or infographics with the help of various AI tools.