How you think you look on LinkedIn vs what recruiters see

A reissued podcast this month a year ago asked the question, “Is That What I Look Like?”

Well, contractors ought to ask themselves this question, too, because it’s an unfortunate truism that none of us look like we think or hope we look.

It’s the same on LinkedIn, writes Matt Craven of the CV & Interview Advisors.

How you THINK you look on LinkedIn…

In fact, according to ‘Pat’ my go-to tech recruitment person (a former director of the most well-known staffing agencies and their boutique executive-tier equivalents), we often have an overly flattering impression of how we appear on the site.

Largely, the gap between how you think you look and how you actually look to hiring decision-makers is because recruitment agencies on the world’s largest business networking site use ‘LinkedIn Recruiter,’ or the stripped-down version of that premium product, ‘LinkedIn Recruiter Lite.’

What it REALLY takes to get noticed on LinkedIn

My conversation with Pat was eye-opening for contractors as it pulls back the curtain on what’s really required to get noticed on LinkedIn, by agents using one of these two products.

And so I’m going to share a few pointers from my chat with Pat here, exclusively for ContractorUK.

It’s a teaser, if you like, of what I’m planning to be even more eye-opening -- my webinar this Wednesday for ContractorUK readers, ‘What Contractor Recruiters See on LinkedIn & How to Create a LinkedIn Profile that Attracts Top Roles.’

The Recruiter license

The first thing to consider is that recruiters don’t see what the average (registered) user sees when looking at profiles on LinkedIn.

The full Recruiter license version of LinkedIn is designed to give its premium service users an initial snapshot of a potential hire rather than a full profile. So it’s not until the LinkedIn Recruiter chooses to see more info that the full profile comes into visibility.

Interestingly, Pat makes most of his longlisting decisions based solely on this snapshot; it’s therefore critical for contractors to stand out at this snapshot stage.

LinkedIn priorities as a job-seeker: Photo, Headline, Job Title

Success hinges on ensuring that what the recruiter sees aligns with the role's requirements.

To give a sneak preview of what we’ll be discussing in our Wednesday webinar, the key elements at this stage of the process are:

• Your LinkedIn photo;
• Your LinkedIn ‘headline,’ and;
• Your LinkedIn ‘job title.’

If your photo is off-putting, or if the job title and headline don’t form some connection between your capabilities, experience and the role -- all in a few lines of text, you’ll be instantly rejected.

LinkedIn About section: delete words for word’s sake

If your browsing recruiter stays with you past this ‘snapshot’ stage, the recruiter is likely to view your full LinkedIn profile.

And, according to Pat, it’s now the turn of your ‘About’ section to make or break the application.

Words for word's sake just don’t cut it here.

Recruiters are looking for a succinct but dynamic biography, explaining how you, as an individual, can add value to the role.

The recruiter is looking for strong indicators that the contractor in question perfectly meets the contract spec or job brief.

What Paul says (is paramount when optimising this 2,600 character-space)

It’s not just Pat I’m drawing on here about the importance of LinkedIn About!

Another headhunter contact of mine is very vocal about job-seekers who are unable to ‘nutshell’ their value to a potential employer.

‘Paul’ says it is incumbent on any professional job seeker to be “market-ready” and he says the same rings true of interims and contractors.

So having a clear, read-to-articulate picture of what you do and how it creates value – in the eyes of an organisation, is central to writing a strong ‘About’ section on LinkedIn.

In short, use the About space and its 2,600 maximum character limit to convey your value to the potential end-hirer.

Are the ways to contact you on LinkedIn clear, numerous and faff-free?

I’d like to wrap this insight into what LinkedIn Recruiters see when viewing your profile with my own top tip, plucked from my days as a contract recruiter.

Contactability is too often overlooked and is key.

The contract market moves very quickly so if a recruiter reaches out to you, try to make your modes or channels on how they can get in touch visible, clear, numerous and easy-to-use.

And then get back to the interested party asap!

Should you put your phone number on LinkedIn?

There’s also an ‘Open for Business’ point to be made here. While I wouldn’t necessarily expect every contractor seeking an assignment or other professional job-seeker to list their telephone number on LinkedIn, I would expect any salesperson within a company to do so.

If being an ‘Open to Business’ contractor is more akin to being a business than a job-seeker (especially so if you’re the former and seeking outside IR35 assignments), then I would be inclined to apply this logic.

In short, being easily contactable by potential clients and their agents seems like a smart move.

Further help in getting an outsider’s view on how you look online

Aside from the upcoming webinar on what you look like on LinkedIn in the eyes of agents, recruitment consultancies and hirers, if you would like my team to confidentially evaluate your LinkedIn, you can take advantage of a complimentary LinkedIn profile review here.