As a career goes from entry-level to increasing levels of seniority, the recruitment process inevitably changes. Junior-level candidates are expected to apply for jobs and in some cases managers and executives in senior roles expect to be approached by executive search firms. We often approach c-level executives who would be a great fit for open roles, and we constantly review LinkedIn profiles to match experience and compatibility with live roles. A major recommendation we would make to c-level executives is to optimise their LinkedIn profile profusely in order to ensure that they appear in search results.
When we are searching for the best candidate for a particular role within an organisation, we have access to a database of more than 800 million potential candidates. If you want to appear prominently on our radar, we have some quick wins and best practices to share.
We understand that in many situations, executives want to move on to the next opportunity in different ways, for example going from a CFO role to a CEO role. Alternatively, the executive owns their own business and wants to return to the corporate world. As a result, the broader content in your profile helps us find your ideal opportunity rather than relying on your present position. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If you want to be a CEO, CFO, COO, or CISO, then we recommend that you build that "picture" into your profile. It is possible to do this subtly to avoid making it too obvious that you are seeking a new job.
Here we deep dive into all aspects of your profile and suggest recommendations of strategies and actions you can take:
Examine other profiles: you should look up executives in similar roles to the one you are seeking. Observe how they describe themselves, their skills, and their endorsements, and try to emulate them.
Job Descriptions: See what's available that interests you. You can embed terms from the job description into your profile to support a match between yourself and these types of roles.
Keywords: Once you have a list of keywords, prioritise them and think strategically. In looking for a CFO, we won't look for "Excel" as a skill, since every CFO knows how to use Excel. Rather, we'll look for strategic skills like M&A experience or P&L experience.
You must complete your Tagline, which is the small text box at the top of your profile. To convey your priority skills and abilities, you have 120 characters (including spaces). Avoid spelling out your job title in this space and there’s no need to mention your current employer. Example of a strong keyword-rich tagline: CEO | Technology & AI | Cloud | SaaS | Digital | Data-Driven
Summary: take advantage of the key words in this section by creating a concise elevator pitch that sells your skills and experience (write it in the first person) - be sincere and relevant.
As with employment history, you should leverage the science of SEO by including phrases and keywords that resonate with the audience. Using your last two to three roles to demonstrate you've delivered the key skills you need will set you apart as someone with more experience and qualifications than someone without. Your job title is a great way to showcase your experience by writing more than the title itself. For example: VP of Sales | eCommerce | B2B | Payments | Omni-Channel
Make use of the Open to Work frame on your image and the hashtag #OpenToWork. If you prefer, you can let us know more discretely by going to the "Open To" profile section > Open to > Finding a job. If you only want recruiters to see that you're open to new opportunities, select your career preferences.
Skills: you can add up to 50 skills in this section of your profile. Make sure they reflect the job you want, not the one you have. Leverage the choices offered by LinkedIn.
Visibility and Engagement: make sure you’re an active user of LinkedIn and growing your network – join groups, write comments on content and like/share posts that are relevant to you. Make sure your profile is public and you’re accepting InMails so we can get in touch.
If you’ve found this helpful, please be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to ensure you don’t miss any of our future blogs.
