Whether you’re a College Student, a young Professional or a industry master – we’re sure you have a LinkedIn profile, but have you ever thought about optimizing it for the mobile phone? More than half of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Even more, over 50% of LinkedIn users use the mobile app. It’s safe to say that recruiters will look at your LinkedIn profile from a mobile phone at some point. But have you looked at your profile from a mobile? If not, the risk is that you’re going to find unwanted truncation and that some information isn’t even showcased on the mobile.
LinkedIn Recruiter App
Before we go into how to optimize for the phone, we want to emphasize the importance of maximizing your mobile visibility. Earlier this year SocialTalent listed the top five apps for recruiters and LinkedIn Recruiter made it to the top of the list. LinkedIn has about 400 million members in their network which you can tap into with this app. The lite version is free, available on both iOS and Android. The app allows recruiters to stay up-to-date with candidates editing their profiles and new applicants for a job position. It’s also possible to save searches, share them with a co-worker and get updates based on new hits on the search terms. Once a recruiter has spotted an interesting candidate, a direct message can be sent. The free version includes 30 InMail messages per month.
Optimize for Mobile
When optimizing your mobile LinkedIn profile, move from the top to the bottom of your profile.
- Check that your photo has the right size and resolution to fit the circle
- As with everything on the mobile, the banner (the red square in the picture) is small so really think about what you want the first impression to be
- The headline will only display the 58 first characters, which is why you have to get to the point quickly on who you are and what you do
- Only the first education entry will be displayed, so choose the most impressive one
- The visible summary is 78 characters long so take advantage of these characters. Here’s your chance to shine!
- If you have published posts they take priority. Remember you want good looking posts
- Finally the top one or two activities will be included above the fold. This one can be hard to keep optimized but be conscious about what you like and comment upon on a regular basis since it’s another way for people to get to know you.
When you make these changes, you can do it on the desktop version but make sure that the changes show up on both the desktop and mobile.
Checklist for Students
We have a soft spot for students, which is why we them a free SIM card, and why we continue with tips specific for students. We get that you may be struggling with what to fill your LinkedIn profile (especially if you don’t have work experience) but we hope that this gives you some guidance:
- Post a profile photo – a photo makes you human and is another way for a recruiter to get you know you better (this goes for all LinkedIn users)
- Include course work and extra curricular activities – if you lack a lot of work experience, this will help you build your personal brand. Also,things like President of a club or team captain help exemplify leadership skills and commitment
- Visualize your work – include images and videos of your projects, especially if you’re in the creative field
- Ask for recommendations – professors and classmates could add another angle to your profile, endorsing your work or special accomplishments
- Grow – build your network of classmates, and colleagues; having more connections makes it easier to get recommendations for other people, and for jobs
- Engage – saw an interesting news story about your field? Share it! Engage with your connections by sharing your own content and engaging with your theirs
We hope these steps help you no matter what stage of the job search or talent search you’re in. Now that you have an extra app, we have some tips on how to save battery as well.
