Nowadays, we all find ourselves online constantly scrolling. There is a platform for everything. Facebook for socializing, Instagram for pictures and of course LinkedIn for professional connections. The difference between LinkedIn and the other platforms? LinkedIn can lead you to opportunities within your career. That’s pretty huge if you think about it. One career change can be life changing. So why not make sure that your profile is great?  That can make it more likely that your profile will grab the attention of life science recruiters and hiring manager.

Your Personal Brand:

  • Try to vary your posts to keep your audience entertained. The same type of post over and over will make your page lose attention because there is nothing “new & interesting.”
  • Try polls, videos, inspirational quotes, blogs, etc. Vary the type of content you post.
  • Share industry articles to let others in your network know your interests and expertise.
  • Engage with other people you follow; engagement causes engagement. You cannot expect people to interact with your page if you don’t interact with others.
  • The more engagement you have on a post, the longer people will stay to look and maybe even look at other things on your page. It’s a snowball effect
  • Utilize free resources like Canva to make eye catching posts. They have free options that can improve the way your posts look.
  • Make original posts about your company directly to your page versus not sharing a post from a company page. This will be prioritized in LinkedIn’s algorithm.

Your Visibility to Recruiters:

  • Use the “open to opportunity” setting to let people know that you may be more interested in talking. Also note that it will go away after a set amount of time so you may have to add it again if you are continuing your search for a new role.
  • Break down your job or role summary to main skills and responsibilities. I personally am looking for keywords to look at what your background is. It’s nice to have a detailed idea of what you do, but it makes it more difficult to find what your true role is behind all of the fluff.
  • Add skills to your page. These are things that recruiters will be able to see when we are looking at a profile and will help confirm if you would be a good fit for a role.

Take advantage of the great things that LinkedIn has to offer. Network with other professionals within the industry. Set yourself up to increase the chances of being contacted for a new opportunity. Start with making a great profile and see where LinkedIn can take you and your career.

-Written by Abigail Cherry: Researcher for Life Science Recruiters and Animal Health Recruiters