One of the main ways recruiters and employers hire in the modern job market is via LinkedIn, but how often does your profile appear in their search results? Keeping your visibility increased is important, especially when job searching.  Making sure you’re using the right keywords across your profile is important, but with LinkedIn adding new helpful features all the time, ensure you’re on top of what’s available to help you secure your next career move.

Here are 5 steps to increase your visibility on LinkedIn, so you are always on recruiting and hiring managers’ radars!

Treat your LinkedIn profile like an online CV

First, you need to treat your LinkedIn profile like an online CV or your own personal website.  The more times specific key words and skills are mentioned in your profile, the higher your profile will rank in LinkedIn search results. Think about the key words that recruiters, hiring managers or potential clients will be looking for when they search for someone of your skill set, including technical skills and industry knowledge. These will be the key words they type into LinkedIn when searching for their ideal candidate.

Include all your career experience

Make sure you add every job, project, contract held within your ‘Experience’ section. You have 2000 characters for every experience listed. Unlike a CV which limits you to 2-3 pages, maximise this section by including achievements, key words and responsibilities and you will rank higher in search results. You can also add up to 5 ‘key skills’ for each role as well as the 2000 characters in each role description. So maximise that word count!

Add a skills section

A high number of recruiters will use a skill search filter to find candidates with skills that match their criteria on LinkedIn, so it’s important to list them on your LinkedIn Profile. Maintaining a relevant list of skills on your profile will help others understand your strengths and match you with the right opportunities. If you don't have any skills listed on your profile, the Skills section won't appear. Simply ‘Add Profile Section’ and ‘Add Skills’ and you have the option to add up to 50 skills to your profile. Make sure they specific to the roles you want to be considered for and go for quality over quantity. 

Look out for the new feature ‘Demonstrate Skills’

A brand-new feature on LinkedIn that may enhance future applications and differentiate you from other applicants is, ‘Demonstrate Skills’. LinkedIn’s skills demonstration feature enables you to respond to a standardised question in writing or video recording. When you apply for a job via LinkedIn, recruiters and hiring managers will be able to see your response when they view your application. At the moment, you can only ‘Demonstrate Skills’ in HR, Sales, Marketing, and Project Management when applying through LinkedIn Jobs. However, do be aware this is a new feature, and it is being gradually being rolled out to English-speaking regions.

Take skills assessments

To reinforce your experience, you can also show proficiency for your skills by taking ‘Skills Assessments’ that add a badge to your profile. Skills badges not only increase your visibility, but they also demonstrate credibility. They won't get you the job, but they will help you to rank higher in search results. There are now more than 100 Skill Assessments available covering hard skills in tech, design and business.