12 Steps You Cant Afford to Miss When Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

12 Steps You Cant Afford to Miss When Updating Your LinkedIn Profile Whether or not youre an active But even if youre not actively job searching at the moment, its worth your while to spend a bit of time ensuring that youre following best practices on LinkedIn. By taking full advantage of all of LinkedIns features and settings, you have the opportunity to land your dream job or, at the very least, to connect with someone who might one day help connect you with your future boss.Here are 12 1. If youre not yet a LinkedIn member, read up on (hint its a free way to search for jobs, grow your professional network, get career advice and build your brand).2. If youre building your If you already have a profile, that doesnt mean youre off the hook. Your profile should always be up-to-date, even if you arent actively looking for a job, and it should focus on your career highlights. (No, you dont need to detail your entire life history. In fact, here are four things you should remove from yo ur LinkedIn profile)3. Do you need a The headline should be a brief, concise description of who you are professionally think of it as a shorter version of your summary.5. Your photos matterDont leave them blank. Here are tips for choosing both a You may need to rework your 7. Leverage your connections by writing (and asking for) recommendations and by endorsing people in your professional network.If you take the time to do this for your contacts, theyre likely to return the favor. (P.S. Having 9. Join some 10. Make sure youre aware of how the There are different settings you can choose from, depending on how public or private you want your profile to be.11. If youre ever having an issue with a member or connection, and youd prefer that they not be able to find or access your professional information, you can 12. Finally, if you still feel like it seems impossible to actually grab the attention of a hiring manager or recruiters, youll want to follow these 10 LinkedIn tips recruiters swear by.