LinkedIn always seems to be changing — from its user interface to new features and products, there’s always something to keep track of. It’s hard to find time to keep up with the latest and what’s worth checking out. So U.S. News spoke to LinkedIn consultant Petra Fisher to get her insights into what’s new and hot — and what’s not. Her responses have been edited for clarity.
In the past year, LinkedIn changed its format. What have been the biggest changes that professionals should be aware of?
LinkedIn is bringing its desktop experience more in line with the LinkedIn app. At the moment, around 58 percent of LinkedIn users use the app. Even if you are not using the app, be aware that most visitors to your profile are using it. On the app, you only see a handful of words in the first sentence of the summary (on the desktop you can see almost the full first two lines). Make sure these words still make sense wherever the cutoff appears. On your mobile, under work experience, you just see job titles and people need to tap to see the description. People often skim read, so make sure your job titles are descriptive. You have 100 characters to play with. You can use a conventional job title and then expand. For example, “Business Controller: specialized in hospitals and other medical facilities.”
[See: 7 Excellent Sales and Marketing Jobs for 2017.]
Are there future changes you’re aware of that LinkedIn plans to implement? If so, what are they?
LinkedIn never spills its beans, and prefers to surprise its users. If you keep an eye on their blog, you will always find out quickly when changes have been implemented. In the recent big change we lost some features, though quietly some of these have come back. For example, if you have multiple current positions, you can reorder them again. When you look at a connection’s contact details, you can see once again when you first got connected.
What are the benefits and disadvantages to the job finder mobile app?
For training purposes, I’ve tested the “Let recruiters know you’re open” option. The drawback is that this is only visible for recruiters who are subscribed to the “LinkedIn Recruiter Package.” Due to the price, only corporate recruiters in global companies and recruiters in large recruiting agencies would have this. The advantage is that you really do come to the attention of those recruiters. I saw a screenshot from a recruiter. Their search yielded 13,000 profiles, and next to it you could see that 510 were open to being contacted. My guess is the recruiter is not going to explore those other 12,490 profiles.
[See: 10 Ways to Perfect Your Personal Brand.]
If you think about the people you know who receive the most messages from headhunters or recruiters, what specifically have they done in their profiles that makes them show up often in searches?
They have thought carefully about their future desired job title. They make sure that the work experience they have that matches the requirements for such a position is listed with that job title. Make sure your most recent position is very relevant to your goal. Use words in the job description that show you’ve got what it takes for the role you are after. Also, make sure those words are used in your headline.
What do you tell people who are concerned about security and having their information publicly available on LinkedIn?
It is not Facebook. You are not sharing party pictures or information about your children. LinkedIn is all about your work history, your skills and your professional development. As far as I am concerned, it is information you can print on the front page of the newspaper. In other words, the information you are sharing should not be confidential.
[See: The 25 Highest-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree.]
Is there anything else you think is vital for professionals to know about using LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a network. Networking is a verb — an active, “doing” word — it really helps to actively engage with your network. Comment, like and post interesting updates yourself. Again, this is not Facebook; don’t “like” everything that sparks your interest. Focus on two or three areas that encompass your professional expertise so people really get to know you for that.
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The Latest LinkedIn Tips From an Expert originally appeared on usnews.com