5 Tips to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Networking is important because it helps you build a collection of contacts you can leverage when you’re looking for a job, soliciting new business or looking for someone to hire. Although you may not see immediate results, it’s important to foster these connections because they may help you in the future.

LinkedIn is a great resource for building and maintaining your professional network. With more than 500 million users, according to Fortune, it’s important to have an impressive LinkedIn profile. Here are five ways to improve your profile!

1. Ensure Information Is Accurate & Current

The most important thing about your LinkedIn profile is the accuracy of the information.

Make sure that the job experience you list is correct in regards to the company name, when you worked there and your official title. The same goes for any volunteer experience, awards and certifications.

2. Choose a Professional Picture

When deciding which profile picture to choose, think professional. This is not the place to feature your most recent fishing trip or your favorite meme. The picture you choose should be of high quality and appropriate.

3. Create a Compelling Headline

A headline is featured at the top of each profile, where you can describe what you do in 120 characters or less. It’s one of the first things people see on your profile, and it appears next to your name in search results.

This is often overlooked, but a strong headline can captivate attention. Your headline should communicate what you do and how you add value to a company.

Examples:

• Aspiring social media manager equipped to launch new brands
• Experienced tax accountant helping businesses maximize their returns
• Sales by day. Songwriter by night. Bald by accident. [Headline of CTX alumnus]

4. Write a Realistic Summary

This is the perfect place to introduce yourself to potential employers, coworkers and others. Tell people about your values and passions in addition to your professional accomplishments. If you’re searching for a specific job, curate your summary to appeal to employers from that industry.

There are 2,000 characters available in the summary section, but try to keep your section concise. Most users, according to Jobscan CTX Blog, see the first 300 characters of your summary.

5. Highlight Your Accomplishments

Under each work experience entry, you have the opportunity to highlight your role and what you accomplished there.

While numbers are great (such as “increased sales by 10 percent”), it’s also a great place to share what you learned from the experience (such as “I developed a better understanding of the marketing funnel, and here’s how.”).