There are three mistakes that people are making on LinkedIn right now that are costing them job opportunities, and I bet you haven't heard them before.
LinkedIn changed its algorithm once it reached one billion users. The algorithm used to search profiles and give recruiters the top 50 people that matched their keyword search based on skill sets. But people weren't filling out their profiles, and some profiles were outdated, so it no longer was giving recruiters what they needed. LinkedIn also realized that it wanted to be a social media platform. They saw what was happening with TikTok, and they realized that they had to start to incentivize people to participate on the platform on a regular basis. The new LinkedIn algorithm rewards the people who are most active on the platform.
That's the thing you need to understand. It's not enough to set up your profile and forget it. You actually need to be active on the platform in order to show up in more recruiters' search results.
If you're somebody who used to be found by recruiters all the time and now you're not, it has to do with your LinkedIn strategy. Here are the three mistakes you're making...
1. Not Updating Your LinkedIn Profile Every Two Weeks
The first mistake is not updating your profile every two weeks, especially the headline. I teach all my clients to make a calendar reminder to update their LinkedIn profile once or twice a month. All you have to do is change a couple of keywords in your headline.
Now, it's important that your headline has all the keywords that you want to be found for by recruiters. So, you have to select the keywords carefully, and then swap them out every two weeks. Why? Because when you make a headline change, the algorithm rescans your entire profile and you'll start to show up in more search results. Don't do this every day because LinkedIn will realize what you're doing, but every two weeks will work really well for you.
2. Not Posting Daily
The second LinkedIn mistake is not posting on a daily basis. Your feed is that social media aspect of the platform, and LinkedIn wants to see that you're posting articles or videos or even your own thoughts as it relates to your area of expertise. They want you to serve your network by providing them with information and value.
So, you should be curating and creating content on LinkedIn every day. Pull together some really insightful stuff and share it in your feed. That way, the people who follow you will learn from you. Also, if you're posting every day, it will show recruiters what you care about. You want to be really intentional about what you put in this feed in order to be found by those recruiters.
3. Not Sharing Original, Quality Content
The final mistake job seekers are making on LinkedIn is not focusing on posting quality-driven content. It's not enough just to repost somebody's content. It's not enough just to comment on somebody else's stuff. That's not quality engagement in LinkedIn's eyes. The platform wants to see you putting original content out there, too.
For every piece of content you post, whether it's a video, an article, or a graphic, you have to share your point of view, and you also want to use the right keywords to optimize your posts. Again, the algorithm is reading everything in your feed and figuring out what you talk about the most, what your area of expertise is. Quality content is now the key to showing up in recruiters' search results.
If you're not updating the headline in your profile every two weeks, posting every day, or posting quality content on LinkedIn, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to have recruiters find you. This is what I teach my clients every single day, and it's unbelievable. They go from not being seen at all to having recruiters contacting them. And with these tips, this can happen to you too.
Good luck, and go get 'em!
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