LinkedIn is one of the best social networks for job seekers. Whether they are passively or actively looking for a job, it is much easier to attract executive recruiters on a social network.
LinkedIn has become the number 1 hiring tool with over 90% of all recruiters using it to search for management talent. Below are some tips that will allow you to attract an executive recruiter to your profile.
Show Up in Searches
You can’t attract an executive recruiter if your profile doesn’t show up in LinkedIn search. Keeping this in mind you should use the best SEO practices on the platform. Complete your profile and include keywords that recruiters might use when searching for executive talent. It is also important that you get endorsements and recommendations for your keywords that can improve the rank of your profile in search results.
Another way to show up in searches is to use LinkedIn just like Twitter. Build up a large network with many professional contacts so that you and your work will be seen on the platform. However, this might not work for everyone. There are executives who only want contacts on LinkedIn who they know in real life. But if you want to show up in search results, consider a more liberal approach by adding more contacts on the platform.
Use a Professional Profile Picture
The first thing that an executive recruiter will see on your profile is your photo. When a recruiter reviews your profile they will spend almost a fifth of their time looking at your profile picture. According to LinkedIn profiles that have a photo are also 21 times more likely to be viewed by a recruiter than profiles without one.
Make some effort to find an appropriate photo. It should look professionally and representat the position you are looking for. Vacation photos and selfies tell executive recruiters that you can’t make yourself to look more professional, and turn them off. You should also avoid photos with low resolution, including pets or other people, or poorly cropped.
Be Up to Date and Stay Active
Once the executive recruiter has looked through your profile, you should make sure that they like what they see, and can tell that the profile is up to date and accurate. Write something in the summary section because it is what that recruiters look at after your profile photo.
The summary section of the profile is the best place to show your professional goals and achievements. An executive recruiter sees it as one of the prominent sections of the profile. Use it to talk about your motivations, skills, interests, and experience.
And to ensure that your profile is active post articles related to your industry in your homepage feed, post your own articles on LinkedIn, like and comment on articles that others have posted. This will ensure that you have an active presence on the social network.
Include Your Location
It is vital that you include your location in your LinkedIn profile. Executive recruiters often screen potential employees by their location.
When the location is off, you might be out of the running for a lot of jobs. When you add your city to your LinkedIn profile, it improves your chances of being seen by a recruiter by 23 times.
Display Your Educational Background
Another way to attract executive recruiters to your LinkedIn profile is by adding your educational background. That way former fellow students, hiring managers and executive recruiters are more likely to find your profile in searches. Profiles with complete education fields have a higher chance of being noticed by recruiters and receive 17 times more messages.
Indicate Your Industry
Profiles searched on LinkedIn are filtered through their industry. By listing the industry you belong to, or the one you want to break into, you can attract recruiters to your profile. It also helps the social network to connect you with the right job listings, trending articles and events.
Display Your Current Position
By indicating your current position in the profile executive recruiters will know that your LinkedIn profile is up to date and active. They will not hesitate to send you messages because they know that you are active on the platform. It also shows that you take your online presence seriously. Updating your position only takes a minute and is a good way to show your professionalism. Make sure that your LinkedIn profile indicates your current company, title, and start date.
Start networking with executive recruiters
These are the things that you can do to optimize your LinkedIn profile and attract executive recruiters and hiring managers to it. However, you should avoid posting updates that you are looking for a job or the position that you want to get. It is important that you are discreet about testing the waters or job hunting.
Many executives still don't leverage the full potential of the professional network and are worried that their current employer will realize their activity and know they are looking for a new opportunity. But if you don't get active, you will hardly get in touch with an executive recruiter and miss out on some great career development opportunities.
Last year LinkedIn introduced a new feature called Open Candidates for users who are quietly looking for new opportunities. Candidates can create a signal that will only be viewable to executive recruiters with a premium recruiter account. Using this feature makes it easier for executive job seekers to connect with recruiters i discreetly.
You can also express your interest in new professional challenges through an email or LinkedIn message. But remember that recruiting professionals receive many unsolicited applications every day and building up a personal relationship with a few selected executive recruiters before you actually need them would be a better choice.
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