LinkedIn profile tips: how to showcase your LinkedIn profile and stand out

Your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important tools for personal branding and career growth. Whether you're job hunting, networking, or building your professional reputation, having an optimised LinkedIn profile can make all the difference.

LinkedIn allows you to develop your professional and personal branding, network with like-minded professionals, increase company exposure and assist you with your job search. Whether you are already working within a business, looking to increase brand awareness, or are actively seeking a new job, the LinkedIn profile tips below will allow you to be a step ahead of your competition, without taking up too much of your time!

In this guide, we’ll share essential LinkedIn profile tips to help you stand out and attract the right opportunities.

1. Choose a professional LinkedIn profile picture

Your LinkedIn profile picture is the first impression you make on recruiters and potential connections. A high-quality, professional headshot can significantly boost your profile views. When selecting your photo:

• Use a clear, high-resolution image.

• Dress appropriately and ensure good lighting.

• Don't be afraid to show a little bit of personality and smile!

2. Make sure you can be found

You may already think you have a good LinkedIn profile, however, you could be missing a trick if your profile can't be found in search results when people are searching key terms. There are a couple of ways that you can make your profile friendly to search engines and be found by lots of relevant people. These include:

• Headline: this can be found directly under your name and profile picture and can be up to 220 characters long (which is around 50 words). You should try to use all of these characters to maximise the chances of being ranked higher in a search. The algorithm will pick up a number of key terms used in a profile and will consider the key terms used in your headline. Your headline could include your job title, sector, key skills (using snappy two-worded examples, where possible). You can separate the words with a vertical line to keep it formatted (feel free to copy and paste this one): |
• Other areas: you can include keywords in your summary (directly below the headline) and in your experience. Some of your keywords may be mentioned organically whilst describing your company or job role, but you can include further keywords by including ‘specialities’ and a list of your key skills, separated by a comma. You can copy and paste this section into your job description under ‘Experience’. Another way to add keywords to your profile is to add your key skills to the ‘Skills & Endorsements’ section which is mentioned later in this piece.

Examples of both your headline and summary can be found below. 

3. Examples of attention-grabbing headlines

Your LinkedIn profile headline should be more than just your job title. Use this space to showcase your expertise, skills, and what makes you unique. For example:

• Legal Professional | Specialist in Employment & Commercial Law | Advocate for Justice
• HR Specialist | Talent Acquisition & Employee Engagement Expert | Driving Workplace Success
• Finance Professional | Chartered Accountant & Risk Management Expert | Strategic Business Advisor

4. Optimise your LinkedIn summary 

Your summary should highlight your experience, skills, and professional achievements. Use this space to tell your story and make it engaging for LinkedIn profile viewers. Keep it concise, include relevant keywords, and add a call to action.

Examples of a LinkedIn summary: 

"Experienced [job title] HR specialist with a strong background in [skills] talent acquisition, employee engagement, and workplace culture. I’ve successfully led [example] recruitment initiatives that [results] helped businesses secure top talent while enhancing employee satisfaction and retention. I’m passionate about building inclusive workplaces where people thrive. Looking forward to connecting with like-minded professionals!"

"Results-driven finance professional with a proven track record in financial analysis, risk management, and strategic business planning. With over eight years of experience in corporate finance, I have successfully led budgeting initiatives that improved profitability by 20% and implemented financial strategies that enhanced operational efficiency. Passionate about helping businesses achieve sustainable financial growth. Let’s connect!"

5. Amend your privacy settings

You may have already amended your privacy settings on your other social media profiles, in order to stay private, but have you considered the settings available on LinkedIn? You might want to think about the below LinkedIn privacy settings, particularly when you are looking for a new job opportunity:

• You can let recruiters and employers know that you are 'open to opportunities'. You can do this under your profile picture by clicking on the 'Open to' button, this allows you to share that you are open to: 
  • Finding a new job
  • Hiring
  • Providing services
  • Finding volunteer opportunities 
• You may want to also hide your connections if you have been connecting with various recruiters, which can also be amended in the ‘Privacy & Settings’ tab.
• Take time to familiarise yourself and figure out what you're happy with doing. 

6. Showcase your experience and skills on your LinkedIn profile

Adding skills to your profile and getting endorsed by your LinkedIn connections can set you apart from your competition and increase your credibility. Make sure you think about the terms that people are likely to search for or key skills relevant to your role and the industry you work in.

When listing your work experience, use bullet points to make your achievements easy to read. Focus on measurable results, such as:

• Led financial planning and analysis for a £XX+ portfolio, improving cost efficiency by 15%.
• Managed risk assessment and compliance, ensuring full regulatory adherence.
• Advised businesses on commercial contracts, mitigating potential legal risks.
• Spearheaded financial modelling initiatives that supported strategic decision-making.
• Developed complex risk models for insurance firms, enhancing predictive accuracy.

7. Use LinkedIn profile examples for inspiration

If you're unsure how to structure your profile, look at LinkedIn profile examples from industry leaders and professionals within your sector. Analyse their headlines, summaries, and how they showcase their experience.

You can also take a look at what their engagement is like on LinkedIn, what they are posting or sharing to provide other ideas. 

8. Get some recommendations

Here are some tips on when to ask for recommendations and how you can do it:

• Ask for a recommendation straight away. People are most likely to give feedback straight away if they have had a positive experience.
• People may not know what to write or have limited time to compose a recommendation so you could draft a message for them and ask them to approve it. This can be done when selecting ‘Ask for a recommendation on LinkedIn’, or you can send them a list of questions to think about e.g. 'what did I do for you?', 'why would you use me again?' and 'what did you like about it?'.
• If you recommend someone, they are more likely to return the favour.

9. Make your LinkedIn URL friendly

Your LinkedIn profile URL needs to be as clean and simple as possible. Remember, this may be included on other platforms or materials such as your company website or business card. You may want to create a custom URL instead of the URL that LinkedIn automatically assigns to your profile. You need to choose something that is easy to remember without any numbers or dashes. If you have a friendly URL, you should also rank higher in Google searches, meaning people will be able to find your profile more easily.

• linkedin.com/in/yourname

10. Add a LinkedIn cover photo

If you work for a company, they may have already provided you with one to use. If not choose a suitable image (dimensions, 1584 x 396 pixels). Keep your photo simple and make sure it has some relevance to what you do as a profession. You may want to include your contact details or company website on your photo. 

Finally, make sure your profile photo does not cut off important information on the design. Try it out a few times before you finalise your cover photo!

11. The power of achievements

Compiling a list of your duties in your current role is unlikely to make you stand out from the crowd, in comparison to someone that on ‘paper’ does the same job as you. Listing your achievements on the other hand can demonstrate your successes that have really made a difference to a business. You can highlight your achievements in your summary and in your experience.

12. Make sure people can contact you

You can add up to three websites on your LinkedIn profile, so you may want to link your company page to drive traffic to the website. If you are currently in employment, use your work phone number, work email address and work address. In doing so you are increasing the opportunity of people being able to ‘connect’ with you, which is the objective of LinkedIn.

13. Engage with content and build your network

To increase your visibility, actively engage with posts, share industry insights, and connect with professionals in your field. The more you engage, the more your LinkedIn profile appears in searches. 

Final thoughts

Optimising your LinkedIn profile is key to standing out in today’s competitive job market. By following these LinkedIn profile tips, improving your LinkedIn profile picture, and learning from LinkedIn profile examples, you can create a profile that attracts more opportunities and connections.

Need further advice on personal branding or job searching? Get in touch with our expert recruitment team today!

Alternatively, you can view our Candidate page to find further advice and tips to help you with your job search.