As I’m searching for potential candidates in LinkedIn I have noticed several things that people do or don’t do in their profiles that as a recruiter become very frustrating.  Now here is my disclaimer.  If you have no intentions of ever getting a new job then please ignore this posting.  To digress,  I was once asked by a manager of mine “Would you ever consider relocating?”  My immediate answer was no, never.  He said don’t answer that too fast.  I’m offering you double the salary and the location is the Bahamas.  Point being even if you think you will never look for or consider a new position, never say never.  🙂

Tip Number 1:
Always have a profile photo uploaded and displayed.  When I’m searching for candidates I skip over any profile that does not include a photo.  There are several reasons why I do this.
1.  Most of the time I will find that a profile without a photo has been inactive for a very long time. The profile has been abandoned and I will not waste an In-Mail message on this person.
2.  A lot of recruiting these days happens remotely and it is great to be able to put a face to a name.
3.  I don’t care what you look like.  I do care that you are confident enough to put a picture of yourself in your profile.

Tip Number 2:
I have attempted to send people InMail messages and get a response that this person has turned off the ability to receive InMail.  Remember that when someone sends you an InMail message they actually pay to be able to do that.  A recruiter is reaching out to see if you might have interest in an open position he or she is recruiting for.  You have two options, ignore the message or respond and say you’re not interested.  (We get an InMail credit if you respond so it is always appreciated when you do.)

Tip Number 3:
If you get a connection request from a recruiter don’t just blindly accept the connection.  Review the person’s profile who is asking to connect and confirm they have other connections in your industry and are legit.  Side note on this:  I will send a request to someone who I think is qualified for a position I have open.  I will say in my request “Hey I have a position open that I think you may be a good fit for” and if you accept I will send the details and add you to my candidate database.

Tip Number 4:
Make sure you go through all your LinkedIn notifications and confirm you are notified via email at least once a day for any Connection Requests, InMail messages or Direct Messages.  I can’t tell you how many times I get a response 6 months later from someone and they ask if the position is still open.  I don’t check my LI messages very often.  9 times out of 10 the position has been filled.

Tip Number 5:
Sales Profiles – This goes for your resume as well as your Linked In profile.  Make sure in your profile to give a sentence or two on industry you sell for and the types of products you sold.  It’s amazing how many people don’t do this.