LinkedIn. We all seem to have a love/hate relationship with the site. We can quickly update our resumes, connect and form relationships with others in our field, read interesting articles and even find potential future co-workers. While there are many positive uses for the site, we also have many negatives including staffing firms that spam you with canned messages (apologies – I love puns), connection requests from strangers, and a layout that may not be ideal for presenting engineering skills.
While LinkedIn has its ups and downs, we can all agree that it can be a helpful resource when you’re looking for a new job. In fact, our recruiters at hatch I.T. rely on LinkedIn a great deal. They have spent a lot of time looking at profiles and have seen it all. They would like to share a few helpful tricks for putting your best foot forward professionally while ensuring that your personality shines clearly.
Mark yourself ‘Open to New’ if you’re looking
There’s no better way to find out which companies are hiring than by changing your LinkedIn status to ‘open to new.’ If you find the prospect of applying to roles daunting and don’t know where to start in your job search, this is a great way to get your foot in the door. Our recruiters love working with those who are actively searching for a new role since we help take away a lot of stress that comes with interviewing.
Keep your Skills and Experience Section updated and professional
This section is crucial for hiring managers and recruiters who are looking at software engineer profiles. An updates Skills and Experience section gives you the opportunity to show off the languages you’ve mastered, or even just dabbled in, that you may not be able to share easily in a traditional resume. If there’s anything to take away from this article, go update your skills section.
Inject your profile with your personality
Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t need to be as cut and dry as a traditional resume. Hiring managers and recruiters definitely appreciate when you inject some personality into your profile. While we recommend keeping your job descriptions fairly professional, you can have fun with your Summary and Headline (enjoy some real-life examples below).
Keep your Job Descriptions short and sweet
Hiring managers and recruiters are interested in your experience but that doesn’t mean that you need to write a novel. Describe how you’ve been using your skills (i.e. Python, Javascript, etc) in your current role. Make sure it’s clear how much you’re using each skill and highlight the languages that you enjoy working with – you’ll notice that you won’t receive as many random job requests, but more targeted roles will be sent your way.
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Side projects and side hustles matter!
Arguably, there’s no other industry that expects and focuses so heavily on professionals continuously learning and practicing their craft out of the office. When you add a side project to LinkedIn, be sure to describe the project and your role. Side projects let hiring managers and decision-makers see your leadership and engineering skills that may not be seen in your current job. Feel free to include a link to your GitHub profile so employers can see real-time code you’ve contributed to. This is one way you can show your drive and passion for engineering and can spark more informal messaging with those hiring.
Good luck finding your next role!
We hope these tips and tricks help you as you explore new roles through LinkedIn. If you’re interested in finding a career at a startup in an emerging tech hub, view our jobs page to search open roles by tech stack, salary, remote policy, and more.
