An old adage says you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Today’s equivalent might be to dress up your online profile – and that applies particularly on LinkedIn. While there are occasional career opportunities to be found on social sites such as Facebook and X, the Microsoft-owned professional networking platform remains one of the best and most appropriate forums for shopping your skills to potential employers.
As with every online service, though, getting the best from it means understanding how to take advantage of its key features. Let’s take a look at how you can stand out, improve your discoverability and build connections on LinkedIn. This should strengthen any applications you make on the site, and increase the likelihood of an active approach from potential employers who browse your page.
Get started today
LinkedIn is best approached proactively. If you leave your profile blank until you see a promising opening, you risk missing out on unadvertised opportunities. Think of yourself as a product, and LinkedIn as a storefront: you can increase the likelihood of a passing employer making an impulse purchase – or job offer – by ensuring that your skills are kept regularly up to date, responding to posts and seeing if there’s anything you can contribute off your own bat.
As long as it won’t risk your current position, you should also make it
