How to get your dream job on LinkedIn

My dream job gives me an easy commute, intellectual challenge, flexible working, great people to work with, decent tea in the kitchen and a good salary that allows me to book my dream family holiday.

What about you – what does your dream job look like?

How close is it what you’ve got right now?

If you don’t yet have your dream job and you’re job hunting (or thinking about it), let me tell you about the 7 things you need to prioritise to get your dream job on LinkedIn.

How to get your dream job on LinkedIn

1 – Keywords

Before you get started on the obvious stuff like headline and photo, first take time to think about the keywords that you need to use.

When I say keywords, I mean the words or phrases, that a potential employer would use to find you.

For example “data protection specialist” or “digital transformation” or “user engagement”.

Then everything else you do on your LinkedIn profile, you need to sprinkle in these keywords.

2 – Your headline

Your headline needs to tell us WHO you are, WHAT you do and HOW you do it.

Think of it as a movie trailer – it’s got to grab our attention so that we get curious to look at the rest of your profile.

Your headline doesn’t need to be the same as your job title.

Make it as simple as possible for recruiters to identify WHO you are, WHAT you do, and HOW it benefits i.e. what are the results you get.

Help the recruiter see quickly and easily whether you’re a good fit for their vacancy.

For example:

Global Head of IT Service | Service Delivery | Digital Transformation
4xSalesforce Certified Advanced Admin, Community & Non Profit Cloud Consultant
Scrum Master | Agile coach | Agile trainer | SAFe consultant.

3 – Your LinkedIn photo

Your LinkedIn photo needs to reflect you in the workplace. You want to look like you’d fit right in. That might mean a suit and blouse. Or maybe something less formal.

It needs to be a headshot.

It needs to be you. Not a logo, or a cartoon, or your dog.

You need to be looking at the camera, smiling and looking relaxed.

This is one time that it’s worth investing in professional headshots. If it helps you get your dream job with a bigger salary, it’s well worth the investment.

4 – Your summary

Your summary is your opportunity to properly showcase your skills, talents and expertise.

Always think about it from the potential employer point of view.

What will they want to know? What will impress them? What will they be looking for? What problems will you solve? What are the keywords you need to use?

THIS is the time to big yourself up. It’s not time to be modest or shy.

Take ownership of your achievements and successes.

Be OK about name dropping clients and previous employers. Yes it’s further down in your profile … but what if I don’t read down beyond your summary?

5 – Your experience

What people often don’t realise … you don’t have to stick to your actual job titles, if they don’t mean anything outside of your company or sector.

Make use of active words e.g. ‘managed’, ‘directed’, ‘organised’.

Don’t just talk about responsibilities. That doesn’t tell me what you achieved.

Use active words such as ‘developed’, ‘coordinated’, ‘organised’ etc.

Write about your quantifiable achievements – in other words £, % and numbers.

For example:

“managed hardware budget” becomes “managed £3m hardware budget for the whole firm of 1500 employees across 5 offices”

“negotiated hardware contract” becomes “renegotiated existing hardware contract to reduce costs by 17%“.

And make sure you’ve got more detail on your more recent and more senior positions.

6 – Recommendations

Your recommendations are your social proof that you are who you say you are and you do what you say you do.

Three or four well-written ones which highlight your skills and talents will have a bigger impact than 100s of recommendations which say “Sherry’s a great coach“.

Notice how much more powerful this wording is:

“Sherry has a natural ability to pick up on someone’s strengths and when you work with her she will help you get clear on what those are so you can really focus on what you are good at doing (even if you are not sure what these are).“

If your last recommendation is more than a year old, get some more.

When you ask for recommendations, make it easy to respond. Ask the person to comment on a specific skill or a particular project.

Ask for recommendations on a regular basis i.e. every year and it no longer becomes obvious that you’re asking because you’re job hunting.

7 – Network

LinkedIn is a networking site. So if you’re not actively networking, you’re not really making the most of it to get your dream job.

Your network is incredibly valuable.

Connect with people you know. Connect with people you meet at events. Connect with people you work with or used to work with.

But it’s not just about getting connections.

It’s also about actively networking by posting comments, sharing your ideas, writing articles, highlighting industry news.

And finally to get your dream job on LinkedIn (and it definitely can be done because my last three roles have come through LinkedIn), the final step (and often the hardest for women) is to leverage your network.

By that I mean, ask for advice. Ask for help. Ask for informational interviews. Ask for introductions. Tell people you’re looking for a new opportunity.