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December 11, 2017

Are you leveraging LinkedIn in your job search? On November 28, over 70 jobseekers gathered at the North City Campus of San Diego Continuing Education for Rock Your Profile where they learned about the power of creating a professional LinkedIn profile. The San Diego Workforce Partnership’s TechHire program partnered with Microsoft and LinkedIn on this live training for job seekers looking to boost their personal brand. Attendees learned how to make their profile stand out to employers, best practices for searching and applying for jobs via LinkedIn and received free professional headshots courtesy of Microsoft’s Fashion Valley team.

Ready to join them? Here are six ways to rock your LinkedIn profile:

1. Take a professional profile picture

Uploading a profile picture on LinkedIn leads to 21x more profile views. Increasing your visibility on LinkedIn promotes a stronger network, including more eyes of recruiters. Select a photo that represents you professionally—your Facebook profile picture will likely not work for LinkedIn. Put on a business-style shirt or blouse and have a friend or family member snap a photo of you in front of a clean, plain background. Crop the picture to focus on your face and upload it to your profile.

2. Write a great headline

The first thing employers and recruiters will see on your LinkedIn profile is your name and headline. Use keywords a recruiter in your field would search for. Be specific and professional in describing your specialty then add a little personality by thinking about what sets you apart from the competition, while staying true to your skill set.

3. Talk about your education

Members who have education information on their profile receive up to 11x more profile views than those who don’t. Degree type and fields of study are must-haves, while grades you received and the years you attended school are optional, but encouraged.

4. List your experiences

Here’s your chance to describe your major wins or projects and the value you brought to your team in 2–3 sentences. Start with your current position and work backward. Adding compelling projects to your profile will demonstrate experience relevant to your professional goals. Add a link or other media to showcase your success.

5. Get endorsed

Including five or more skills on your LinkedIn profile can lead to 31x more contacts. The more skills you have endorsed, the bigger your network grows. As you add skills to your profile your network can endorse you with a simple click, which adds credibility to your profile. Remember to give back and endorse your connections as well. Similar to clicking “like” on Facebook, an endorsement acts as a spark for further engagement on LinkedIn.

6. Start networking

Did you know that 9 out of 10 recruiters use LinkedIn? LinkedIn Learning Relationship Manager Nikki Capellini encourages job seekers to explore topics of interest, share important content with status updates and even “stalk” favorite influencers’ profiles, such the CEO at your dream company. As in the “real” world, LinkedIn is about relationships—connect → stay informed → get hired!

The next Rock Your Profile event is happening on Wednesday, December 13. Care to join us?

TechHire San Diego is a valuable resource for adults interested in pursuing a tech career. The program matches participants from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) fields with training and employment. Qualifying residents can receive access to internships, career-readiness preparation, and gain exclusive access to TechHire events. To see if you qualify for TechHire, click here and apply.

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