How a Recruiter Evaluates Your LinkedIn Profile

An article was recently submitted to my LinkedIn Group: Profile Makeover: Optimization Secrets, that I found highly informative. This article highlights how a recruiter evaluates a job candidate’s social media presence to determine if they are worth contacting. If all is equal (ability, education, history and skill set), what aspects of a candidate’s social media presence would make them stand out from other candidates?

Read the article: Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? by Boris Epstein

Here is an excerpt:

What a Recruiter Wants to See When it Comes to LinkedIn

1. Has genuine recommendations from peers, managers and colleagues
2. Has the more complete profile
3. Is a member of more groups pertaining to their respective field
4. Has a picture
5. Lists interests, hobbies and other information related to their life outside of work
6. Participates and highlights their involvement in non-paid projects related to their field (open-source, community, volunteer, conference)
7. Updates their status more often
8. Asks and answers more questions
9. Links to their employer, blog and other projects of interest
10. Has the larger network

What I loved about the article is that it proves a recruiter isn’t looking to see a candidate’s resume copied and pasted into their LinkedIn profile. Instead, the recruiter wants to see drive, involvement, creativity, and personality.

In order to stand out from the crowd, it’s important to make sure your LinkedIn profile sells your value and portrays you as a polished professional. In fact, it’s not just your LinkedIn profile that impresses a recruiter. It’s your activity on LinkedIn that piques a recruiter’s interest. Are you involved? Do you have a strong network? Are you updating your LinkedIn status with informative, thoughtful content?

Thank you to Karen Huller for posting the link to this fantastic article!