LinkedIn is probably your least preferred social network as a software engineer. You prefer to spend your time on Reddit, Dev.to, or Hacker News, as everyone knows. However, LinkedIn is perhaps the most crucial platform if you want to find a programming job before 2022, despite the fact that it doesn’t rank well in your favorite social networks. Despite the many drawbacks of using LinkedIn every day, this post will concentrate on the benefits of networking there and how to enhance your profile.
We’ll talk about how to swiftly update your resume, network with other software engineers, developers, and other professionals in the IT industry, meet hundreds of recruiters without ever leaving home, read enlightening tech articles, and discover intriguing job chances, to name a few topics.
It’s crucial to note that almost all tech job listings are first posted on LinkedIn, which is the top source for prospective applicants for recruiters and hiring managers.
How can LinkedIn be used to find employment?
You need to build an amazing LinkedIn profile that will grab the attention of recruiters and employers. And how precisely do you distinguish your profile?
The following LinkedIn best practices for software engineers will help to make sure that your profile is seen by hiring managers and recruiters and ranked highly by the LinkedIn algorithm.
- Finish off your LinkedIn profile.
All-star profiles on LinkedIn have a 40 times higher chance of receiving possibilities than profiles that are only partially filled out. This is because LinkedIn’s proprietary algorithm ensures that finished profiles rank higher, increasing your chance of being found.
The following is what you need to do to make your LinkedIn profile stand-out:
- An image for a professional profile picture
- Your summary should include your location and area(s) of interest.
- Work Background (include your current position and two previous posts, ideally)
- Complete list of your Skills (these will help you show up in search results)
- Details about education (these can also help you show up in search results)
- Over 500 connections (take it slow and work on making connections as often as you can)
- Select the proper Keywords
On LinkedIn, keywords play a crucial role. As we previously noted, recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn’s own search algorithm to find candidates.
You must put emphasis on the specific tools and languages you intend to use, such as frameworks, in order for these businesses to find you. You can include terms like Python, Sass, Angular.js, etc. in many places on your profile, for instance.
At the same time, you must be careful to downplay abilities and frameworks that you are no longer eager to use. You can prevent recruiters who could have approached you for the above talents by limiting these terms.
- Make the summary section more effective
You can only write freely on LinkedIn in the summary section. So please make the most of it. This is your chance to share your motivational narrative and background. However, take cautious not to sound like every other narrator.
Use phrases like “motivate” sparingly. Rather, give concrete examples of your motivation.
Include the technologies and languages you wish to use as well.
Use first person when writing (I did this and that). As you describe what you do, pretend that you are speaking to a person. Sounding natural and using your own voice are crucial.
Additionally, try not to overuse the buzzwords. Your attempts to game the system will be detected by LinkedIn’s algorithm.
Make sure your summary is at least 40 words long. This will make sure that it is better indexed in LinkedIn’s internal search results.
Add some individuality to your profile.
It’s not necessary for your LinkedIn page to be as straightforward as a conventional resume. The addition of personality to your profile is definitely appreciated by hiring managers and recruiters. While maintaining a professional tone in your job descriptions is advised, you can have fun with your summary and headline.
- Incorporate a call to action
Consistently incorporate a call to action (CTA). The goal is to pique the interest of hiring managers and recruiters so they will visit your LinkedIn profile and learn more about you. The summary section is where your CTA should be placed.
Here are some instances of CTAs you could use:
- You may reach me at name@example.com.
- Check out my design samples at portfolioname.com.
- Visit mygithub.com to view my GitHub repositories.
- Call attention to your most noteworthy accomplishments
These experiences will bring employers right to your email. Make sure to move these outstanding qualifications and experiences up the hierarchy of your profile.
If you are currently employed in a position unrelated to software development, for example, web development recruiters are unlikely to be interested in your “Experience” part. However, if you have completed any courses or solo projects, be sure to highlight these abilities and experiences.
Don’t delete your unconnected experience, though; instead, edit your profile to highlight the noteworthy experiences.
Side jobs and projects are important!
There may be no other field where professionals are expected to learn and practise their expertise on a constant basis outside of the office. Make sure to include a description of the project and your role when you post a side project to LinkedIn. Employers and decision-makers can recognise your leadership and engineering talents through side projects if they aren’t evident in your current position. Include a link to your GitHub profile if you want potential employers to be able to see the current code you’ve contributed to. This is one method you can demonstrate your enthusiasm for engineering and spark more casual communication with people recruiting.
- Point out your transferable skills
Your technical talents might not be all that impressive if you’re a newer software developer. If this is the case, be sure to emphasize any transferable talents from both your present and prior non-tech roles. Do not forget to demonstrate rather than only state. This can be accomplished by using examples and supporting documentation.
The following are some highly valued transferable talents for all roles:
- Communication expertise in the form of writing, speaking, negotiating, coaching, and teaching.
- Collaborative or teamwork. Mentioning teamwork techniques you’ve utilized will demonstrate your ability to work well with others. You can also provide examples of how you’ve collaborated well with clients, teams, etc.
- Ability to solve problems. Show them how you can identify problems and find creative approaches to solve them.
- Organizational and planning abilities. Your thought, communication, and workflow are all ordered as a result of these abilities. Show the procedures you’ve created to illustrate this.
- Self-discipline. This will demonstrate your ability to manage various obligations and multitask without becoming overwhelmed.
Additionally, keep in mind to consistently list the applications and technologies you are familiar with, such as Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Asana, etc. You might be shocked to learn how useful some of these talents can still be in other occupations.
- Show your work
The abilities and experiences you have listed on your profile will be supported by examples of your work. If you don’t have a lot of experience, this will raise your profile.
The summary, education, and experience sections can all be enhanced with material to demonstrate your work. Documents, images, links, videos, and presentations are a few examples of this material. Additionally, you can demonstrate your abilities by including links to your blog, Codepen, GitHub, or portfolio.
- Complete the educational part
If you don’t have much experience, the education component is crucial because it shows that you have learned about software development, acquired it, and been tested on it. This area might help demonstrate to hiring managers your value of personal development.
Additionally, it has been demonstrated that those who complete the education area receive ten times as many profile visits as those who choose to leave it blank.
The benefit of this area is that you don’t have to fill it out exclusively with formal college education. So, if you lack a degree, don’t worry. Include any further educational experience you may have had.
9. Expand your network.
Most LinkedIn users simply add random persons to their network. At all costs, avoid this. As an alternative, choose your LinkedIn invitees carefully and deliberately.
Additionally, you are not required to accept every invitation someone gives you to join their LinkedIn account. Look for profiles that intrigue you or that you think would be most interested in communicating with you.
Share your profile on the social media sites where you already have a loyal following if you want to accomplish this.
When creating your network, take into account the following profiles:
- Profiles with accreditations comparable to yours
- CTOs in your community
- Authorities in your area of expertise
- Tech bloggers
- Attendees of the same events you did
- Stay active
A dormant account is less likely to be viewed by hiring managers and recruiters. You should post content and engage with other users on LinkedIn to increase your reach because it is a really engaging network.
It’s crucial to keep in mind, though, that LinkedIn differs from other social media platforms in terms of how material is received there. People use LinkedIn to locate jobs, acquire new skills, market their services, find job candidates, and take advantage of networking opportunities.
This means that your material should be carefully chosen in a way that benefits your network and is pertinent to your sector. It would be beneficial if you also made a conscious effort to interact with the articles in your feed.
By posting a few blog posts directly on LinkedIn, you can also choose to add the “Author badge.” Because you will now stand out from the competitors, this badge will increase your profile’s popularity and even attract extra prospects for you.
On LinkedIn, you may begin your coding career.
These LinkedIn best practices will improve your profile, elevate it to the top of the IT niche, and bring the best opportunities right to your inbox. However, even if you aren’t looking for work on the platform, practically all other job applications will need the URL of your LinkedIn page, so having it prepared will make the application process much simpler.
We hope that these pointers and strategies will be useful while you search for new positions and networks on LinkedIn. But we do understand if all of this is too much of a tedious task for you to do that is why you can choose to opt for Linkedin Profile writing services from professionals.
A strong LinkedIn profile might be utilized for branding objectives and achievement tracking. Therefore, be sure you follow these tips to create the best LinkedIn profile possible for your area of expertise.
Many resume writing services in India offer Linkedin Profile writing service from professional writers that are skilled and certified. Investing in LinkedIn is a great choice, so go ahead and do it!
