COULD LINKEDIN MAKE NETWORKING EASIER FOR INTROVERTS? SOME ACADEMIC RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT WHILE EXTROVERTED PROFESSIONALS NATURALLY DO WELL AT TRADITIONAL NETWORKING, TOOLS LIKE LINKEDIN CAN LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD – EVEN IF ALL YOU DO IS SCROLL. HERE WE’VE CURATED SOME OF THE BEST TIPS FOR POLISHING YOUR PROFESSIONAL BRAND.

A 2020 article from The Journal of Vocational Behaviour examined the relationship between networking on LinkedIn, extroversion, and benefits to your career. The study surveyed 322 US graduate business students who were working 20 hours per week or more. Participants were asked about their use of social networks and their attitudes about their careers. Responses were compared to data on their LinkedIn profile.

The result? When it comes to building a professional network, extroverts still have the advantage – but extroversion is no longer a necessity to meet networking goals. Being self-directed, driven, or goal-oriented was a mediating factor that made introverts more willing to use LinkedIn. It was networking ability, not extroversion, that was the best predictor of their success.

Introverted participants who were motivated and willing to engage with the platform found the same positive career benefits as their extroverted peers. Using LinkedIn led to higher networking ability, which led to more benefits for the participant’s career. Simply scrolling through other profiles or reading the news feed had positive benefits – which is all the more reason to update your profile!

To get you started, here’s a must-have checklist with some tips, tasks, and tools we’ve pulled from the “LinkedIn episodes” of 3 popular career podcasts: The Goal Digger Podcast, Bossed Up, and The Career Contessa. 

1)        Are you making the most of your LinkedIn headline?

“The most important by far in terms of getting the most weight in the Linkedin algorithm is that little headline,” says LinkedIn expert Jeremy Schifeling in a guest slot on The Career Contessa podcast. “Just 220 characters, that means it's harder to game, it's more authentic and it's a more important signal for the algorithm. So that's really where you want to start.”

Using “[your job title] at [your organization]” isn’t necessarily the best use of the space, unless those fields are something like “Marketing at Facebook” or “Physician at Mass General.” Focus on critical skills or competencies instead, for example, “Software engineer | Site Lead | Builder of Happy, High Performing Teams.”

The first two points target search keywords, while the last point alludes to an interesting (and very intriguing) interpersonal skill. Even if you aren’t ready to branch out too far, don’t miss the chance to add a few ‘selling points’ to your page. “Accounting Manager @ Big Firm” is the basics, but “Accounting Manager | CPA | Compliance Professional” gets you more value from your headline space and makes your page more visible to recruiters. 

2) Have you chosen a great photo?

Your photo is often the first impression recruiters will have, so it’s a good area of your profile to invest some time. Your best LinkedIn photo is:

• Shot by someone else or a timer. No selfies or cropped group pics!

• Taken with a professional looking background or a neutral one. If you can’t find the right shot, you can try out services like Fotor, which sometimes offer trials for free. 

• Relaxed and professional, but not stuffy. You want to share a warm, friendly facial expression, if not an outright smile.

• Well-lit, and taken at an angle that shows you taking up at least 60% of the frame. Ideally, you should be shot from shoulders up. Pictures taken too close or too far away can make your face or profile hard to see in search results, which people glance at while they scroll.

Pro tip? Corporate shots are often taken from below to provide a more striking view of the subject. 

3)   Have you updated your skills?

LinkedIn is effectively a skills based search engine. Recruiters looking for talent use the search fields to pull candidates that match a role, and the key to meeting the search criteria for this role is these skills. 

“The skills that are formally tagged and attached to your profile determine what search results you will turn up in,” says Emilie Aries of Bossed Up. “If you have a ton of project management related skills on your profile, like project management, project management certification, team management, agile management, project and program management, whatever they might be, [...] you are more likely to show up for project management positions when they're recruiting for those specific skills, particularly if they're also searching on LinkedIn for candidates within your geographic area.”

Aries suggests going through and removing old skills or skills no longer relevant to your current role. LinkedIn has a maximum of 50 skills, so make sure the ones you have listed are put to use. She recommends attaching skills to prior work experience, using trial and error to search from LinkedIn’s drop-downs to find the skills you’d most like to be known for.

4)        Have you customized or created a banner?

LinkedIn is becoming a more visual platform. The Goal Digger’s Viviano says links to websites, social media profiles, or other assets associated with your brand can break up the page and add visual interest.  Match your header, photo, and any other images on your page (such as video interviews or articles) to create a cohesive visual experience. 

Many LinkedIn header or profile picture templates from Canva are free, and matching them in the same colorway gives the viewer a more defined impression of your personal brand. If you have a website, social profile, or contact information to bring attention to, the header is a valuable source of extra space. 

You can even add a mission statement that complements your goals or your brand, like “I turn customer insights into actionable goals” or “I Iead record-setting teams.”

5)        Have you polished your “about” section? 

The Goal Digger podcast’s Jenna Kutcher says LinkedIn is more active than other social media platforms, like Instagram. LinkedIn users scroll, read, and search for people or opportunities instead of scrolling past – so make sure your profile is polished and ready to go. “It’s totally okay to share your personality,” insists career coach and podcast guest Jena Viviano. “That’s your main differentiator.”

Your about section should clearly identify what you do, who you are, and reflect your personality (or at least feel natural to you). If you have a personal website or bio, there may even be content you can reuse. Jenna Kutcher says when redoing her LinkedIn profile, she updated its ‘professional robot’ language with copy from her website to better reflect her personal brand.

Career Contessa Lauren McGoodwin suggests giving some thought to how you focus your profile overall. Be prepared to tie your career narrative together in a few sentences: “I put myself through business school by working in sales. When I graduated, I took a job in project management. Now I’m using those skills as an entrepreneur, but I’m open to new roles if they match my current goals.”

If you’re stuck, tools like ChatGPT or ChatPDF can help you summarize your resume. You can even prompt these tools to look at the summary the way a recruiter would!

LinkedIn is, and continues to be, one of the better tools for promoting your professional self. Simple tips and tools make your profile easier to find and better for hiring managers to use, while research on LinkedIn engagement suggests networking benefits are available for those who stay engaged.

Happy Networking!

Podcasts mentioned:

The Career Contessa: “5 Lesser-Known LinkedIn Profile Tips and Hacks for 2024” with Jeremy Shifeling

The Goal Digger Podcast: “3 Things You Need To Do on Your LinkedIn Profile Right Now” with Jena Viviano

Bossed Up: “Job Search Success: How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Skills Section”

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