More than 175 million professionals currently use the professional networking and social media site LinkedIn, including top executives from the largest firms in the world and more than 2 million companies. Members represent more than 200 countries. By the end of this year, the site projects roughly 5.3 billion professionally oriented searches–up from 4.2 billion in 2011. Its size and scope is why Jeff Metzger, owner of Your Résumé Consultant, feels strongly that “100% of us need to be on the site, even if we’re not looking for a job.
It’s an audience you certainly couldn’t reach otherwise.†The breadth of contacts provides additional benefits to staffing professionals. “They have the widest possible audience, and they don’t have to pay anybody to source those candidates,†Metzger says. “It makes sense to start with LinkedIn.â€
Increasing your connections and keeping your content fresh also improves your chances of being found in a search, he explains. “If someone is Googling you and you’re on LinkedIn, there’s a very good chance that that’s the first thing someone would see–and not your Facebook page or something more casual or more social. It’s our professional presence on the Internet.†Here he offers several strategies to increase that presence and stand out to recruiters.
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Complete your profile.
Your LinkedIn profile should be 100% complete, which includes a photo. The degree to which it is complete is noted on the page, so there’s no guesswork. If your gauge indicates less than 100%, follow the prompts to provide what is outstanding. According to LinkedIn, members are 40 times more likely to be identified through a search when the profile is at 100% completion.
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