If you’re looking to make a career move, one of the best things you can do to help improve your chances of landing a new job is completing your LinkedIn profile. 

LinkedIn is used by 95 percent of recruiters to find and vet candidates for jobs. Plus, 35.5 million people have been hired by someone they connected with on LinkedIn. 

Making your LinkedIn profile the best it can be will increase your chances of being found by a hiring manager or recruiter. Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job, you never know when a recruiter for your dream job is scouring LinkedIn for candidates like you. 

Here’s what you should do with your LinkedIn profile to ensure you’ll be found by recruiters.

Write Your “About” Summary with Hiring Managers in Mind 

Don’t disregard the About section on your profile. This is a great opportunity to quickly state your qualifications and entice recruiters to continue scrolling through your profile.

When you sit down to write your About summary, do it with recruiters and hiring managers in mind. Find a handful of job descriptions for positions that interest you and write your About summary to reflect the responsibilities and qualifications for those positions. Be sure to include your top skills and software expertise. Including these keywords will pay off when recruiters search for people with your skills. 

Choose a Professional Profile Photo

Choosing a photo for your LinkedIn profile is a lot different than picking one for Instagram or Facebook. Party pics, group shots, and anything even mildly inappropriate won’t fly. Your LinkedIn profile picture should convey professionalism, so choose a photo of yourself in professional attire. 

Men can’t go wrong with a portrait of them in a suit and tie. Women should wear a professional top and avoid any gaudy jewelry or loud patterns. 

Highlight Accomplishments 

Like your resume, your LinkedIn profile shouldn’t just be a list of past responsibilities. Instead, you should highlight exactly what you accomplished using stats or numbers to back it up.

For example, instead of saying “Managed company budget,” you could say “Managed $400,000 budget with a reduction of costs totaling 18% over three years.” 

Adding stats will help quantify your accomplishments and make you look more impressive to recruiters.

Tell Recruiters You’re Job Hunting 

LinkedIn recently introduced a new feature called Open Candidates to help job seekers let recruiters know they’re looking for a new job. When you turn on Open Candidates, it privately signals to recruiters that you’re open to new opportunities. 

This is great for anyone who is currently employed but looking to make a move. To turn it on, go to “Preferences” on the LinkedIn Job home page to access the tool.

Add Licenses and Certifications 

To demonstrate your expertise beyond what’s in your Experience and About sections, add any licenses and certifications you have to your profile. For example, if you’re a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Financial Analyst, or a Certified Internal Auditor, you’ll want to highlight it on your profile. 

Navigate to the bottom part of your profile to find the Licenses & Certifications section just below your Education and add anything you think is pertinent to your job search.

Start Making Connections Now

Now that you know what you need to do to get your LinkedIn profile up-to-date, it’s time to start making connections with recruiters in your industry. If you’re an accounting or finance professional in the St. Louis area, connect with Burchard & Associates today. We’ve helped countless professionals like you find the next step in their careers. 

Check out our available jobs or contact us today to get started on your job search.