How to improve your LinkedIn profile so recruiters find you

1. Know how recruiters search

LinkedIn Recruiter filters people by job title, location, company, skills, school, industry and spoken language, and a recruiter can make any of them a must-have. So the title you want, where you are, your skills and your languages need to be real profile fields, not only words in your About.

• Use standard job titles. LinkedIn's own help center puts it plainly: standard titles may be boring, but they are what people search for. Put a standard equivalent next to a creative or internal one.
• Your location can include or exclude you on its own. Places you would move to belong in Open to Work.
• The Featured section is not searchable, so never rely on it for keywords.

2. Rewrite the headline

By default LinkedIn fills your headline with your current job. Rewrite it: you have up to 220 characters. A pattern that works is target title, then specialism or skills, then proof. MIT's careers office gives the example of "Software Developer, C++ Expert and MIT Computer Science Grad" over "Student at MIT". Avoid "Unemployed" or "Seeking opportunities" with no role named; say that in Open to Work instead.

3. Make the first lines of About count

About holds up to 2,600 characters, but only the first lines show before "see more". Open with who you are and what you do best, in the first person. Then your current role, two or three results you can back up, what you want next, and a closing line asking for it. Short paragraphs; roughly 150 to 300 words is plenty. It should add to your CV, not repeat it.

4. Results in experience, skills where you used them

Under each role, a line of context and three to five results, not a list of duties. Keep the same titles and dates as your CV: mismatches make employers wonder. Tag the skills you used in each role, because search now reads skills in context. You can list up to 100 skills; put the ones that matter most for the jobs you want first, and pick five to show at the top.

5. Photo, Open to Work and the rest

• Photo: LinkedIn says members with one get up to twice as many profile views. A clear, centred photo of you in good light; a phone and a plain wall are fine.
• Open to Work: show it to everyone (the green frame, which your employer can see too) or to recruiters only. LinkedIn reported the public frame brings 40% more messages from recruiters; some recruiters say it can look desperate. Recruiters only is the safe choice while employed.
• Verification: LinkedIn reports verified members get 60% more profile views on average.
• Recommendations: two or three short, specific ones from managers, colleagues or clients.
• A custom URL, so your profile link looks like you.

What not to do

• Do not stuff keywords. LinkedIn says more keywords do not automatically improve your place in search, and profiles that look over-optimised can be caught by spam detection.
• Do not claim what you cannot back up. Recruiters compare your profile with your CV.
• Assume your current employer reads it: leave out confidential figures and client names.

How Pip helps

Pip's LinkedIn review does all of this for the jobs you want. It reads your profile, scores it, and writes a better headline, About and experience in versions ready to paste, with the search terms your experience supports and a checklist for the rest. Every suggestion comes from your own CV and profile.

Questions

Related