The first thing you should know is how to create a LinkedIn account and profile. After creating a LinkedIn account, you can start thinking of how to create an attractive LinkedIn profile. If you create anyhow Linked profile, people will not be easily attracted to your profile.
How To Create An Attractive LinkedIn Profile
There are up to thirty-two (32) steps you can use to create an attractive Linked Profile. See the steps below:
Create /Sign Up For A LinkedIn Account
Go to any web browser and log in to LinkedIn’s official website. Then open a professional social media profile on LinkedIn. Once you are on their official website, you will see a platform that will enable you to open your account by typing your name, email address and password you will always use to log in to your account. You will see other options where you will be required to select the zip code, job title and to select the type of industry where you work.
Get Started
Before you start, ensure that have a soft copy of your latest CV OR resume handy. You will then complete your LinkedIn profile using your resume as a guide. Make sure you add your contact details such as telephone number, Twitter account, email address and up to three websites. If you have a personal blog, website or employers website,
Personalize Your Headline
One of the ways to create an attractive LinkedIn profile is to personalize your headline. The default headline will always show your current job title and the name of the company where you work. But you can choose to personalize and customize your headline in such a way that it will be different from the headlines that others are using.
You can also provide a summary or more specific insight about who you are your uniqueness and your key skills. The first impression they say matters so ensure you make a strong first impression by mentioning the things that make you stand out from others and using searchable keywords that will make you to be easily found by people on LinkedIn.
Profile Photo
One of the ways to create an attractive LinkedIn profile is to ensure you upload a smiling professional headshot photo that has a smile that radiates warmth. Your profile photo is where you will showcase your best because that is the first thing that attracts people to your profile. Don’t use pictures with busy backgrounds and don’t leave the profile photo space blank.
Background Image
Make sure you select a good background photo that brings out your personality and your style. This is a way to create an attractive LinkedIn profile. The background image on LinkedIn always appears at the top of your profile. It acts like wallpaper to your profile photo.
Professional Summary
Writing a professional summary is one of the ways to create an attractive LinkedIn profile. Make sure you write a good professional summary that will bring out your brand and style. Write a professional summary that brings out all you have done in the past, your strongest accomplishments and accolades. What you can do presently and state all the areas you are good at.
This is the section that will help you to show what you want to do in future, the credentials you have, your years of experience, the best way and word you can be described, your skills, your passion and every other thing that makes you unique from others.
In describing yourself, make sure you use relevant keywords in this section. There is an option that will enable you to add a document, website, link, photo, slide or video presentation if you want to showcase your work portfolio on your professional summary.
Work Experience
This section will help you to list the job positions you have held both current and past positions. While listing this, include the job title, employer or company name, city and state, start and end dates of the positions you stated and show your major accomplishments in each position you have held.
Write all these in bullet points so that it will be readable. You can decide the number of jobs you want to include which depends on your career goals.
You may decide to include all the jobs you have ever done or select a few jobs that will align with your current career objectives.
Write a brief 1-3 sentence overview before listing your accomplishments. This will outline or description will summarize what your specific role was in a brief thereby providing relevant background and context. In describing your achievements, use power words such as developed, facilitated, implemented, invented, innovated, led, managed, negotiated, redesigned, spearheaded, sold etc. Make sure you quantify your accomplishments.
You can showcase your work portfolio under any job that you have listed by adding a document, photo website link, video or slide presentation to back it up. You can add a few of the high-quality work samples or examples of work you have done in the past that you are proud of. While doing this, be careful not to violate any non-disclosure agreements with current or previous employers or your clients.
Education
Create a list of all your educational qualifications showing the colleges and schools you attended with the degrees or certificates you obtained and indicating the starting and ending dates in years. You may decide to add the grades, skills acquired in extra curricula activities and a description of what your educational qualification calls for. Adding your educational history will help you to connect with alumni from the school you attended on LinkedIn.
Honour And Awards
Write out the list of any relevant honours, certifications and awards you have received in the past.
Customize Your Public Profile URL
URL means Uniform Resource Locator. LinkedIn always has a URL attached to every name so you can choose to customise your public profile with your name like this https://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. You can get more details about it by searching for the term “Customizing Your LinkedIn Public Profile URL”. You can add your customized LinkedIn URL to your resume for easy connection.
Edit Your Profile
After filling out the necessary information as required, ensure you proofread your online profile and check for wrong spelling and any grammatical errors and make the necessary corrections before you save.
Networking /Add Connections
One of the ways to create an attractive Linked profile is by reaching out to people you have worked with or attended the same school with and adding them to your professional network. Consider personalizing your connection request or the email you send out to people.
Seek Recommendations
You can send out requests for recommendations to former colleagues, supervisors or business partners. You can also tell them about what you want them to recommend you for.
Recommend Others
While other people are busy sending out recommendations on your behalf, ensure you also recommend others sincerely like your bosses, former colleagues, classmates and partners.
Include Your Interests
If you want to create an attractive LinkedIn profile, you need to add your interest or hobbies to your profile. Adding this can help you connect with others that have similar interests and make it easier for you to relate with them.
Add Your Language Skill
Adding your language skills is an added advantage and an asset to you. People might connect to your profile because of the language you added. It can be bilingual or multilingual languages.
Follow Influencers
Search for a few influencers you know can inspire you and add follow them on LinkedIn.
Introductions
Ask people to introduce you or make referrals to you if you need such services and in turn return such gestures to others who may need your assistance. One good thing about LinkedIn is that it shows how you are connected to people either through mutual connections such as first-degree connections, second-degree or even third-degree connections.
Voluntary Experience
Create an attractive LinkedIn profile by adding all the voluntary or community services you have done or the experiences you had. Mention the voluntary gigs and courses that you care about.
Add Key Skills
To make your profile attractive, add at least three or more of the topmost or specialized skills you have.
Endorse Other People’s Skills
Endorse the outstanding skills of the people you are connected with on LinkedIn. The best way to do this is to endorse people for only the skills you know they possess because it adds to the value of the endorsement.
Join Groups
Look for groups in your niche area or your areas of interest and choose a few of them to join.
Find Jobs
LinkedIn has been described as one of the professional networking platforms you can use to find jobs. Go to the menu and search for jobs. You can restrict your search by finding a job using a job title, keyword, company name, or location- like city, state or country.
You can also use the dates the jobs were posted to search for jobs to get the ones relevant to your search. Save the jobs you have an interest in one place so that you can view them later.
You can also set up preferences for the kind of jobs you will like and LinkedIn will help you recommend potential jobs that you may be interested in so that you can view them in one place.
Share Like And Comment
Share, like and comment on other people’s posts, articles and discussions that you are impressed with. Share your updates on your home page.
Share The Love
Share the love by congratulating others you are connected with for a milestone reach such as anniversaries, new jobs and promotions.
Read Posts
Read articles, content or posts published by other people. This can help you with both your personal and professional growth because you will learn one or two things from them.
Publish Posts/Articles
Publish articles on your page on topics that you have an interest in and that you know will also add value to others.
Discover Channels
Search and find any channel that features the articles and topics you are interested in such as entrepreneurship, management, technology and leadership etc.
LinkedIn SlideShare
You can learn many interesting topics and slide presentations through SlideShare. You can use LinkedIn SlideShare to share and upload your presentations.
Routine Maintenance
One way you can create an attractive LinkedIn profile is by updating your professional social media profile regularly. Ensure you synchronise your LinkedIn profile with your resume to ensure consistency of your professional experience. Then save the final copy of your profile on a PDF.