7 Mistakes That Destroy Your LinkedIn Profile

Hey there 👋 - it's Abbhi

Welcome to Career Confidence.

If you're new here, every week we dive into the juicy details of the job search process and how to get you hired.

Today we’ll be discussing 7 mistakes that destroy your LinkedIn Profile (and how to fix them).

This one’s a 3 minute read.

Let’s dive in.

My Weekly Spotlight:

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Abbhi's Weekly Aces:

🤖 AI Tool: Ace your interviews with AI 

🎯 Job Board: Top 100 employers in Canada

⛏ Job Search Tool: Transform your LinkedIn Profile in 5 minutes

📚 Resource: Use LinkedIn Group’s to build relationship & get referrals 

 🧲 Lead Magnet: Get your free AI job search guide (save 100s of hours)

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Now… never make these 7 LinkedIn mistakes again and hiring managers will message you all day.

Mistake #1: Weak Headline

Your headline follows you around everywhere you go on LinkedIn.

It’s arguably the most important part of your profile.

So what’s the mistake (most) jobseekers make?

You guess first…

See a trend… It’s all “job title at company”

This is a weak headline.

Instead use the format: “Job family, 3 keywords, unique value prop”

Example - “Data Analyst | SQL, Excel, PowerBI | Driven about solving complex business problems through data”

Why is this better?

1. It highlights your value (be as specific as possible here)

2. It highlights keywords recruiters search for

3. It highlights your job family

Since recruiters filter by keywords to find candidates you gotta make sure you have relevant ones in your profile.

Which leads to your next big mistake…

Mistake #2: No keywords

Don’t just throw in keywords randomly.

Keywords are relevant skills needed for your target job. You wanna sprinkle them throughout your profile to get recruiters to message you.

For example if you’re a data analyst, some keywords may be SQL, Excel, Python etc.

Find keywords from job descriptions in your target role or use the LinkedIn resume builder feature to grab keywords.

This is easier if you target 1 role vs. multiple.

“okay I have the keywords but where do I add them?”

Great question.

• In your headline

• In your experiences

• In your skills section

• In your about section

There’s even a new LinkedIn feature that lets you upload resumes to LinkedIn so recruiters can search from keywords from your resume (but can’t actually see the resume itself).

I’ll dig into this next week.

These keywords need to be for your target job (not your current one).

This leads to the next mistakes jobseekers make…

Mistake #3: Not forward looking

This is especially important if you’re switching careers.

Moving for data analyst to marketing manager? Your profile needs to reflect marketing experience (not completely data experience).

“But I don’t have marketing experience yet?”

If you’re hoping to transition careers you gotta have some transferrable experiences & skills. Those are what you want to highlight.

Then find those skill gaps and fill them with freelancing or independent projects.

And add your new skills to the skills section of your profile.

The skills section is extremely under used.

Which leads to mistake #4…

Mistake #4: No skills

Recruiters filter for keywords.

And your skills section is a great spot to add them. You can add up to 50 skills. And prioritize up to 3-5 (order matters).

Put your most important skills at the top. These skills should be the most important for your target role (e.g., SQL for data analyst positions).

Then get 5-10 endorsements from friends, family, and former coworkers.

This will boost your profile.

Great now that you’ve solved that issue, let’s move on to another under used section.

The featured section.

Mistake #5: No featured media

“But only content creators use the featured section”

Nooooo jobseekers can use it too!

“But what for?”

• Personal portfolios

• Independent projects

• Articles you’ve written

• Anything relevant to the job

This is THE section to show not tell.

A resume and LinkedIn profile are lots and lots of words.

About what you’ve done in the past. But doesn’t really show what you’ve actually worked on.

Well… this is an opportunity to do just that.

Your headline, about, experience, and skills will get recruiters to your profile. The featured section will get them to stay and pique their interest.

Now I’m sure you’ve dreaded updating your about section for some time.

Most about sections are vague blobs of writing that confuse the reader. Or just a long long list of skills.

Let’s discuss how to get yours to stand out.

Mistake #6: Vague about section

Most people’s about section:

• A longggg list of skills

• A vague paragraph filled with soft skills (e.g., “I’m passionate, determined etc. etc.)

My recommendation:

• Make it specific / result oriented

• Hook people into it

• Add a call to action

Here’s an example of one I like:

Structure:

• Job experience overview / intro

• Specific results

• CTA

It’ll take you 5 minutes to write.

But its benefits will last for months. And one last thing…

Integrate those pesky keywords we mentioned earlier. That’ll help your profile come up and get recruiters to your profile in the first place.

Now best for last.

The headshot.

Mistake #7: No headshot

Headshots won’t get recruiters to come to your profile.

But they will help your profile appear more ‘real’ and ‘friendly’. And while your networking with others it’ll increase your response rates.

So don’t overthink it.

Upload a shoulders up headshots where you’re smiling and your picture is clear.

And please be the only one the photo…

We don’t wanna be guessing which one you are (like making a group photo your first photo on hinge)

Wanna go above and beyond?

» Get your LinkedIn Profile Guide and transform your profile today

P.S.

If you’d like more help, I’ve got your back:

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