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Tips for Recruiter’s LinkedIn Profiles

By Drew Rogers, Vice President of Business Development, Sails-Up

Establishing credibility with candidates is one of the most important things we do as Recruiters, and no tool is more vital to establishing that credibility than LinkedIn. Some candidates will look up your LinkedIn profile when contacted, and it can be the deciding factor to whether that candidate responds to your inquiry, or ignores your correspondence. To increase the chances that your profile attracts the candidates you’re trying to reach, it should be the best reflection possible of you as a professional. 

Luckily, it’s easy to tweak your profile to make you look more credible and interesting to potential candidates. These 7 changes lay a great foundation to your professional presence online, and help open doors to the challenging candidates you’re trying to find.

Have a Professional Picture

Your picture is one of the most important parts of your profile as a professional on LinkedIn, and having a bad one can be worse than not having one at all. First impressions are priceless, and a picture says a thousand words. It’s the first thing someone will see on your page. 

Remember, it’s about being professional. As a recruiter, you should aim to present a picture of yourself in business casual attire at a minimum.  Evaluate your picture; if you were a candidate, would you trust your career to the person in the picture? Do you look like you know what you’re doing? The answer should be a firm yes, 100% of the time. 

Have a Summary

Imagine you’re sitting down for an interview, and the first question you’re asked is, “Tell me a little bit about yourself?” The answer to that question is what should go in your Summary. 

Your summary should be a brief generalization of you and your professional career. Speak to your professional passions, and mention your goals and best accomplishments. You want to provide a good snapshot of who you are and why someone should listen to you. Avoid being long-winded or wordy; the space to elaborate is in your Career History. 

List your positions just like on a resume

When you go through your career history, it should read exactly like a resume. Every past position should follow the same basic 3-part format and be as accurate as possible. 

First, list a brief summary of the organization that employed you. Don’t assume that a visitor has knowledge of your employers and their industries. Just provide a quick snapshot in a couple of sentences so your position with the company can be put in perspective. 

Next, list your responsibilities. Again, you don’t have to be extremely detailed. The idea again is to provide a good overview of your day-to-day operations across your time at a given company. You can dig deep and put a lot down for these sections if you want. Just be consistent across your profile. 

Finally, I suggest you finish by discussing any accomplishments during your tenure. Maybe you lead a team, or finished multiple projects? Perhaps you had an incredible sales cycle, or record-breaking revenue. Everyone loves highlights, and this is the best place to list them. 

List your contact information

This is a small but crucial piece of having a good profile as a Recruiter. You want candidates to be able to get in touch with you.  At the very least, list your work email address and phone number. Some will also list their cell phone, but it’s a matter of personal preference.  It should be listed in the Summary section at the top of your profile as well as in the Contact Information section at the bottom. Never, ever miss out on a candidate because they don’t know how to reach you. 

Connect With Everyone

The number of connections you have in LinkedIn is a direct reflection on your credibility as a Recruiter. A good recruiter is expected to be well networked, and in our vocation it is easy to build a good network of connections. 

First, you should be connected to all your coworkers. Those in your immediate sphere should be happy to connect with you. Next, connect with colleagues and professionals from companies you’ve previously worked for. These two groups should build a good foundation for your network to grow from. To keep it growing, send a request to connect to every candidate you talk to.  Even if they’re not interested in the immediate position you’re talking to them about, most will still want to connect on the chance of future opportunities. 

Lastly, if you’re still eager to quickly build a bigger network, take a look through the people LinkedIn thinks you may know or be interested in.  LinkedIn updates this group every day based of your current connections and may suggest a professional that you had forgotten about but would be eager to connect with. 

Get Recommended

Recommendations are like another great way to build credibility through your LinkedIn Profile. They serve a similar function as a digital reference check. If you have a good relationship with previous managers, clients or co-workers, these reviews will convey credibility to other professionals evaluating your profile.