Everyone knows that looking for a job can be a real challenge. Looking for a job, without a profile is mission impossible. So, whether or not you have worked before, having a great LinkedIn profile significantly increases your chances of finding the perfect job. Not only does it work when YOU are looking for a position; when your profile is set up and updated regularly, your profile will also appear when recruiters are looking for a profile like yours. As a result, THEY will get in touch with you and you won’t miss out on any job opportunities.
However, it is a bitter-sweet situation when you approach a recruiter to find the right opportunity. In the majority of cases, the first question you will be asked is “Do you have any working experience?” Using “No” as a response may not give you the chance to move forward and land an interview.
You will then enter the endless vicious cycle of “needing experience to land a job” and “needing the job to acquire the experience.”
Are you finding yourself in this same situation now?
Yes?
Well, don’t you worry! In this article we share our 5 tips to succeed and create a great Linkedin profile, regardless of your work experience.
1. Be frank about wanting work experience
As a recent graduate, use your Linkedin profile to your advantage and let recruiters know you are ready to start this new chapter of your life. Use a headline or title such as “Graduated with honours at SSBR with a BBA in Business Management.”
Additionally, LinkedIn now has various ways in which a person actively seeking employment can make this known, such as activating the tag “Open for work” which appears in green underneath your profile picture.
2. Include any activities, social work or other responsibilities
If you think that non-paid jobs are not actual jobs, you are WRONG! Any project, unpaid internships, volunteer work or extracurricular activities that you have done count as real-life experience. The responsibilites and duties you undertake show teamwork, leadership, autonomy, passion, ambition and dedication to a recruiter.
So be sure to specify the non-paid activities you have done in detail so that headhunters can learn more about your background. Your LinkedIn profile will be rich and appealing to many, even if you have no paid work experience.
3. Showcase your skills, abilities and interests
Through your LinkedIn profile, you have the opportunity to share with recruiters your unique set of skills, abilities and areas of interests and hobbies.
Are you an amateur writer? Don’t hesitate to include that in your profile. Link your written work to your profile, create posts about writing (eg. How to use formal writing for your LinkedIn profile), publish your work and share with your 1st and 2nd degree connections.
4. Join online communities and groups
Don’t let your LinkedIn profile get forgotten by the platform: engage with communities that are of interest to you or are important in your industry. Follow people, companies and associations in your field, engage with them, comment on their posts and share your (professional) opinion.
Join groups, where you can have debates with other, take workshops, participate in webinars, and a long etcetera.
Be active so that your LinkedIn profile appears at the top of the search results; crafting a great LinkedIn profile is not just about the content on the profile itself, but also about your engagement within the platform.
5. Pay attention to the details
Last but not least, this point is very important.
When setting up your profile, pay attention to every little detail – from the title used to your description to your profile picture – everything needs to be carefully chosen.
Avoid long texts with many useless words and adjectives; instead, go straight to the point in your title, showcase your skills in the description and include a portrait photo in which you come across as professional. (No, a selfie won’t do for the profile picture).
Don’t forget: just by being on LinkedIn shows that you are interested in getting hired.
And to finish off, keep in mind that, even if you hand in your CV physically, the recruiter will, in many cases, google your name and go through any type of social media profiles you have (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), so be careful with the content that you share on them as well.
Keep your LinkedIn profile alive: when LinkedIn is part of the mix it will highly play in your favour.
So it’s time for you to overcome your fear of creating a LinkedIn profile with no experience and use these tips to help you get the job you deserve.
Open up your profile on LinkedIn today: https://www.linkedin.com/home
