Your Professional Story

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.”

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.

DO
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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Personalize your profile.
Metzger suggests telling your story on LinkedIn by writing in the first person. “The print medium and the online medium are totally different, so their styles should be different. On the Web you have the opportunity to add more personality in a slightly more informal tone than you would on a résumé.”

Engage with the community.
“There are thousands of groups online, and that’s where the networking begins, because if you can offer your expertise, you can reach out to people who aren’t currently in your network.”

Use the tools that share your expertise.
One is the Answer section, which allows you to answer a variety of questions posed by the network. “If you have been selected as giving the best answer, it moves you up in the search rankings. You never know where the next person with a job is going to come from. Make use of all the services.”

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DON’T

Send invitations without an introduction.
“Someone once said to me, it’s like dropping your résumé off at the front desk of a company and walking away.”

Take the time to explain why you would like to connect with this individual. “If I don’t know them and I don’t see a note, then it seems as if they are just clicking everybody they see.”

Set it and forget it.
LinkedIn offers a variety of tools, apps, and communities to help optimize your experience. Don’t just create a profile and then let it sit dormant. Metzger recommends updating your page by posting interesting links that relate to your work as well as to your personal interests. “It depicts you as a well-rounded person–it keeps your content fresh and it will keep you strong in searches.”