The best advice I have received from Top Recruiters, Industry Experts, and more…
LinkedIn is the number one professional social media platform. LinkedIn allows you to highlight your achievements, skills, experience, and showcase personal endorsements and recommendations. Users look to the personal brand you have created on LinkedIn to get a glimpse of what makes you unique. Here, it is key that your personal brand shines as your wow factor potentially impresses users.
You’ve heard it all before, use a professional headshot to stand out or develop your certificates through University Bootcamps, Google or Amazon Courses. After attending hours of LinkedIn branding and best practice seminars, Clubhouses, and Chez Jennings, a Senior Recruiter with Reddit reviewing my LinkedIn page herself, I’ve distinguished three unique ways to be more successful on LinkedIn.
How do you stand out from the crowd? How do you develop a personal brand that may entice recruiters to contact you?
I was recently pursued by a recruiter from Amazon for my dream role and accepted the position. All thanks to developing a strong personal brand on LinkedIn and staying active. Below I will share 3 Unique Ways To Stand Out On LinkedIn. Try these 3 techniques to take your LinkedIn profile to the next level.
1. Personalize Your Header Photo
First, I will focus on the first thing users will see , it is important to leverage this visual to enhance your first impression of your personal brand (Liu, 2019). Don’t overlook this section. As seen above, on the left is the default image that many users stick with versus on the right is an example of how I personalized the header photo which elevated my user brand significantly. This will take under 15 minutes but will help to distinguish you from the crowd. Liu, a Forbes Contributor, stated that it is important to leverage your LinkedIn Header Photo to reinforce your personal brand and act as a visual to support the content on your profile (Liu, 2019).
Many simply do not personalize their brand and revert to using stock images or worse, the default image. This is your chance to use a simple visual to show people a glimpse of who you are. Bonus points if you add current and passed company logos. No need to break the bank with Adobe, try free programs such as Canva to customize your profile.
2. Leverage LinkedIn’s New Audio Clip Feature
After extensive industry research, many recruiters note that very few LinkedIn users utilize the new audio clip feature. LinkedIn recently introduced an audio clip feature which has been marketed to allow users to pronounce their names correctly. A unique alternative that top FANG recruiters recommend is to leverage this feature to enhance your personal brand with an elevator pitch. This is highly under-utilized and loved by top recruiters as a key to standing out and leaving a lasting impression. Check out the audio clip feature in action in the above YouTube video.
3. Personalize Invitations when Connecting
Networking is key to utilizing LinkedIn and increasing your chances of gaining opportunities. According to Business Insider, you will never see upwards of 70% of job postings, as they are filled internally or through networking. Experts say upwards of 85% of open positions are filled through networking. As you can see through there these stats, networking is a key factor and increases your chances of landing or learning about relevant positions through your network. As you send LinkedIn connections to people you do not directly know, the personalization feature allows you to authentically connect and build stronger connections.
A proven unique way to increase your chances of connecting is by adding a personalized note when connecting (Michigan Technological University, 2016). Your personal invite can include, identifying commonalities, adding value, how you know/found them, and why you would like to connect (Martinez, 2021; Michigan Technological University, 2016). A template LinkedIn request example can be found on the left.
Enhance your personal brand on LinkedIn by personalizing your header photo, developing an elevator pitch for your audio clip, and personalizing your connection requests.
Honourable Mentions:
I selected the above tips specifically, as I found they are particularly unique. However, there are many other ways to stand out that are worth adding to this list. Here is a short list of honourable mentions:
Headline : This is key as it affects your visibility and are weighted heavily in LinkedIn search algorithms (Ryan, 2021). Users’ Headlines should focus on displaying their current position , key works of what they currently do, or what they want to do.
Experience (Job Title): Building and strengthening your experience section on LinkedIn is also weighted heavily (Ryan, 2021). Your experience should provide quantifiable context for each position (Ryan, 2021). When developing, this focus on highlighting what outcomes you achieved in each role.
Skills & References: This is a powerful component as it increases the strength and adds significant value to your personal brand. You can reach out to past and present colleagues and managers to ask for a recommendation on LinkedIn (Ryan, 2021). There is a function on the platform that makes it easy to make a request to a connection. It is important to add relevant skills to your industry or desired industry. Relevant skills effect the algorithm and the more endorsements the better.
Please feel free to send a personalized connection on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/vm2
References:
Liu, J. (2019, June 20). 10 LinkedIn Background Photo Ideas To Make Your Profile Stand Out. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephliu/2019/06/17/linkedin-background-photo/?sh=2c4d49e5501b
MacDonald, V. (2021). Connection Request Template. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/in/najia-habib-10b54154/
MacDonald, V. (2016). Victoria MacDonald LinkedIn Page. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/in/vm2/
Martinez, M. (2021, April 14). Get a 74% Acceptance On New LinkedIn Connection Requests. Retrieved from https://vengreso.com/blog/get-74-acceptance-new-connection-requests
Mars, B. (2018, August 2). Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/AndE50aaHn4
Michigan Technological University. (2016, March). LinkedIn Invitation Request Examples. Retrieved from https://www.mtu.edu/career/students/networking/linkedin/linkedin-invitation-examples-march-2016.pdf
Ryan, R. (2021, January 12). 17 LinkedIn Profile Writing Tips To Make You Standout. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinryan/2021/01/19/17-linkedin-profile-writing-tips-to-make-you-standout/?sh=3231e2b026c8
Gale, P. (2013, June 4). Your network is your net worth: Unlock the hidden power of connections for wealth, success, and happiness in the digital age. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Your-Network-Net-Worth-Connections/dp/145168875X
