Avoid Making These 9 Big Mistakes on LinkedIn

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Navigate the pitfalls of LinkedIn with this handy list of 9 mistakes to avoid making on your profile.

1. No Profile Photo

Recruiters are much more likely to click on a profile with a picture than one without. LinkedIn backs this up; reporting users are 14 times more likely to click if you have a photo on your LinkedIn. Make sure you add a professional looking shot of yourself, no photos of you and your partner, or other people.

2. No Background Photo

So you have a profile picture, check, but no background photo. Adding a background photo makes your LinkedIn pop. Stick with something brand relevant and make sure it doesn’t stretch or look pixelated.

3. Generic or Outdated Profile Headline

Your headline is usually the first thing people see, so make sure it catches their attention and provokes them to read-on. Make sure recruiters know what you do and what sort of employment you’re searching for. Be descriptive and sell yourself professionally.

4. Not Interacting With Others on LinkedIn

You can’t just wait for people to come to you; you have to go to them. Network! Try getting into contact with those in groups you’ve joined. This gives you some common ground and is a good conversation starter.

5. Spelling Mistakes

Make sure you haven’t got any typos in your profile, or posts. This sort of thing comes across as very unprofessional and just doesn’t look good. Your profile won’t read well. One way to double-check is to install Firefox, Safari and Chrome browsers as they underline misspellings in red.

6. Linking to Facebook

No, just no. Do not link to Facebook, Facebook is for your personal life, LinkedIn is for professional. You don’t want recruiters checking out what you got up to on the weekend.

7. No Unique LinkedIn Profile URL

Ensure you make your own custom URL for your LinkedIn. The generic URL you are automatically given simply reads badly and looks unprofessional. You can edit your URL by pressing the ‘edit profile’ button. Click-through the gear symbol next to your URL and land on a separate page, then change your URL in the ‘your public profile URL’ box. Try and use your first and last name if not already taken (though that’s probably wishful thinking).

8. LinkedIn Connection Requests Are Not Personalised

When you connect with another person you ought to take the time to write a personal message instead of using the generic suggestion. It will be received better as you’ve put in effort and it will also appear less spam-like.

9. No Summary

Fill out the summary, recruiters don’t have time to trawl through your whole profile to figure out your deal. Also, it will make improve your chances of coming up in search results. Use a mixture of keywords including your job title and industry among other ideas.

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