Prioritise the sections on your LinkedIn profile
Yesterday, I listed 60 different mistakes that I come across when I analyse the LinkedIn profiles of clients. However, there is one other thing that I look at and that is the order in which the sections are displayed. The reason for this is two-fold:
many people don’t realise that you can change the order in which the different part of your profile are displayed
consequently, as more sections are added to their profile, the most relevant information is found so far down their profile, that unless you were looking you wouldn’t see it.
The first thing any person viewing your profile will see is your thumbnail section. The sections that you choose to display after your thumbnail will depend on the strengths of those sections and their relevance to the reader. What most people want to know is: are you skilled, experienced and qualified for the job? With this in mind, I would normally suggest that you have your summary first, followed by your skills, and then work experience and education, however, if your skills section hasn’t been endorsed very much, then move your skills section below your work experience.
In terms of the other sections that you can use, some post-education qualifications such as certifications, especially in the IT industry take priority, so these would appear above your education section. Alternatively, there may be something specific that you want people to know about for example, if you published a book, then you’ll want that to appear higher than, say, your education section. When you think about the order of your profile, think in terms of the priorities of your audience. What do they need to know most about you? Which aspects of your profile reflect this?
How to change the order of your profile
To move sections around, in the [Edit profile] screen, on the right hand side of the section is an up/down arrow. Drag and drop sections by clicking this icon.
Activity
Review your profile.
- Does the order that your sections appear in make sense?
- Do they prioritise what your audience needs to see first?
Make any changes you need.
In this post, I wanted to highlight a feature of LinkedIn profiles that not everyone is aware of. If you’d like a second pair of eyes to review your profile, then consider me. I wrote the book on optimizing your LinkedIn profile.
Take care for now
Karen x