From the wrong profile photos to a use that looks too much like that of Facebook, the mistakes that candidates make using LinkedIn are numerous
ALI SpA , founded in 1997 as a Employment Agency and today an Italian consulting and services company active in every field of Human Resources, has identified the ten most committed, to avoid in order to make the most of the potential offered by the platform.
The mistake at the bottom of the top 10 of the ten most committed on LinkedIn is not entering the right details in the information section , such as the sector to which it belongs, company function, geographical location, among the most used filters by recruiters. Not entering or updating them excludes candidates from many searches, and too general a location greatly reduces the ability to appear in territorial searches.
In ninth place those who do not include the description of the activities carried out and the responsibilities in the field of experiences are wrong. The same role, in fact, has different denominations depending on the company in which you work. Inserting only the job title can be of little significance, it is better to describe activities, projects carried out, responsibilities, results obtained in the appropriate field.
This is followed by the insertion of discordant information with respect to that reported in the CV. What is reported in the “experience” field must be consistent with what the recruiter will then find in the CV.
Not writing a summary is another mistake that reduces the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile. Telling a short story (in less than 15 lines) that goes beyond the experiences reported on the profile and in which to talk about yourself and your professional goals helps recruiters to get a better idea of the candidate.
In sixth place there is not asking and not giving references to colleagues, superiors and customers. This precludes the possibility of giving credibility to the profile and being recognized for one’s strengths. To obtain them, you can start by releasing them to people closest to you or professionally respected.
eadv
In the middle of the table, another mistake often made on LinkedIn is due to the rush to immediately submit your application as soon as you get in touch with someone. Before proposing, it is better to create a relationship with the person you contact, trying to understand with a few questions the reason for the contact and if there are opportunities in line with your profile.
Having too small a network of contacts is the fourth mistake identified by ALI. On LinkedIn, too small a network makes a candidate difficult for recruiters to reach. It is therefore important to identify and connect with a target of profiles with which you have professional interests in common and interested in the content to be proposed.
At the lowest step of the podium, the use of LinkedIn only as a showcase of one’s CV . Using social media passively does not distinguish it from classic recruiting channels. What substantially increases one’s visibility is active use: participate in discussions in groups regarding the professional context of interest, comment and share other people’s posts and publish at least two posts a week.
In second place, a mistake that can cost a lot is to make a mistake in choosing the photograph. LinkedIn is above all a professional showcase. Having a photo allows you to make yourself immediately recognizable. But he must be professional, with his face in the foreground and smiling. Avoid photos that do not concern your professional context, with sunglasses, selfies, group photos.
Finally in the first place, use LinkedIn like Facebook. The two social networks have completely different characteristics, audiences and purposes. LinkedIn allows you to make your personal sphere known and recognized, so shared content must remain relevant to this aspect.
