Thread by @oliverjumpertz

Let's talk about how you can optimize your LinkedIn profile by using keywords.

This approach worked pretty well for me, and it might help you, too.

🧵🔽

1️⃣ Most Recruiters Search For Keywords

LinkedIn offers recruiters the chance to look for profiles of users by using keywords. If you ever had to search in Atlassian Jira, you know how that works approx.

If not, basically imagine it like this:

A recruiter can type in keywords and then use boolean logic, like ("engineer" OR "developer" OR "dev") AND "javascript" AND ("react" OR "vue").

LinkedIn will process this and then return a list of potential profiles for them.

And one place LinkedIn looks for this is actually your profile headline.

So, next to you listing your skills on your profile, you can attract more recruiters by explicitly listing keywords in your headline and get on the first page of results a little easier.

2️⃣ How-To

Don't make it a keyword clusterf***. This won't attract many more recruiters because although you show up in more searches, many recruiters will still take a look at your profile and notice that your headline is only a honeypot.

But if you do it cleverly, you may well become a potential candidate for them.

And here is the trick: There are two options. The first is to list what you are now. The second is to actually list what you WANT to BE.

Let's say you look for a frontend position working with React, then this could be a potential headline for you:

"Software Engineer | Frontend | 6 years of experience | JavaScript, Node and React."

It states everything a recruiter might want to know in the beginning. You are a software engineer, do frontend, you even list your experience and the most important skills. Awesome!

Only this headline can already help you a lot getting a better position in the search results.

3️⃣ What Else Is There?

Well, you can extend this strategy to your summary.

Once again, don't stupidly list only keywords. In your summary, you can get a little more creative but make sure to include the same keywords that you already have in your headline.

If your skills also match your selected keywords, perfect. This will boost your profile a lot!

4️⃣ How To Find Keywords

This one is actually pretty simple: Use industry jargon and simply look at job postings that require skills that are interesting for you. If companies list React.js as React, use React, and so on.

5️⃣ Conclusion

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile by using keywords and applying them strategically can give you an edge over other candidates. But it can also lead to a lot of spam in your in-box, especially by recruiters only using automated messages.

You have to decide whether you think it's worth optimizing your profile for keywords. But if you're looking for your next job or contract, it can pay off!