How to organise your LinkedIn account

We give you a few tips to make sure you are ready for the search for your new job. 

Update your LinkedIn account 

When you create a LinkedIn page, first and foremost, use a professional profile picture. Preferably one that clearly shows your face, in business or smart attire. 

You can upload a background picture on your LinkedIn page, but make sure it is not too specific and can give the wrong impression. 

It goes without saying that you should add as many relevant work experiences as possible to your profile. For each work experience, you can succinctly indicate what your most important tasks or projects were. Mentioning your results in the description can be a plus. 

Write a short summary 

Give a short description of your specific characteristics in the summary at the top of your profile page. Keep the reader in mind; what do you want to tell a recruiter or future employer about yourself? 

Complete your contact details 

Be sure to complete your contact details so that companies without a LinkedIn Premium account can easily approach you for a job. Check your profile’s hyperlink, which will appear when you click on ‘Edit public profile & URL’ on the right-hand side of your profile page. Adjust the URL if it is not corporate enough. 

Check your public LinkedIn profile 

If you have completed your profile, or want to check in between how others see your LinkedIn account, click the ‘Edit public profile & URL’ button. 

If you choose 'Public' instead of 'Connections', you can check in the right-hand column which elements everyone can see. This also means that if someone looks up your name in a search engine, your LinkedIn profile will come up that way. 

Don't underestimat your skills 

What a large number of people do not know (or forget), is that you can fill in your skills. 

Skills also surface if a recruiter uses the advanced search function of LinkedIn. So, this is a very handy way to be found for certain keywords. Therefore, be sure to fill in your skills and ask others to endorse you. 

Request recommendations from (former) colleagues 

It is certainly advisable to ask a number of people for recommendations. 

On your profile page, under your introduction, you will see a button called ‘Add profile section’ with a small arrow. Clicking on that will bring up a number of options, including ‘Additional information’. If you click on it, the button ‘Ask to be recommended’ will appear.

This allows you to easily select the right people in your network. However, you must have a first-degree connection with each other. 

Nice insights 

With the option 'Who viewed your profile' on the left-hand side of your timeline, or on the dashboard of your profile, you can see how many people have viewed your LinkedIn account in the past week. But also who those people are and which company they work for. 

Another interesting LinkedIn tool is the ‘Social Selling Index’ (SSI). It shows how your LinkedIn profile ranks compared to your LinkedIn network, or the sector you currently work in. Click here to view your SSI. 

Get your free CV template or learn more about preparing for your job interview.