How do you feel about your professional profile on LinkedIn? A friend once described people as falling into one of three categories: ‘LinkedIn Luddite, Lurker or Lover.’ When I’ve asked audiences in workshops which best describes them, many fall into the Luddite and Lurker categories. (Lurkers are those who ‘like’ posts but don’t comment).
Some of you, academics in particular, may be reluctant to promote yourselves. However, if you want others to recognise your unique capabilities and experiences, LinkedIn remains the main professional platform through which you can achieve this. The (current) algorithm favours those who post regularly and who comment on others’ posts. The more frequently you share content and engage with others, the more LinkedIn is likely to share your content to a wider audience.
What’s a good way to update your profile?
I’ve recently been refreshing my own LinkedIn profile. Like the 4th Road Bridge, it requires constant tweaks and updates to keep it fresh. It can be time-consuming. I was therefore after some short cuts and turned to some of the many useful suggestions I found (unsurprisingly) in posts on LinkedIn. Some posts recommended using AI to appraise and critique your profile in order to improve it. I experimented with the following suggestions to see how I might improve my own profile.
Step 1
First, cut and paste your LinkedIn URL into AI. I used the free version of Chat GPT.
Step 2
Here is the prompt I used to rework my profile.
I asked Chat GPT: “Look at my LinkedIn profile. I would like to focus more on career change in my posts. What do I need to change in my profile to reflect this?”
Chat GPT then scanned my profile and posts and provided a rationale for a number of changes I’d need to make, to reflect my interest in supporting career changers.
Chat GPT offered different approaches, depending on the impression I wanted to make. Chat GPT then addressed each section of my profile in turn, suggesting specific improvements.
Key tips
- Chat GPT suggested that the strongest LinkedIn profiles can answer “Who is this content for?” in under five seconds. If your profile is clear and consistent, then the people who you want to attract to your content are more likely to find you.
- Your visual banner should reinforce the content and your key messaging on LinkedIn. Chat GPT provided some useful suggestions on the kinds of imagery to use, given my particular niche (something I know I still need to work on).
- The most useful tip was on my ‘About’ Section. Rather than describe what I do, Chat GPT suggested emphasising how what I do helps others. This is a more compelling way to demonstrate your skills and experience than simply listing your credentials, awards and publications.
What I did next
Having taken on board most of the advice, I then updated my profile and went back and asked Chat GPT “How does my profile look now I’ve implemented your recommendations?”
What I liked was AI’s encouraging feedback (note to self…”AI is not a sentient being…”) before suggesting further improvements.
The algorithm favours the brave
Chat GPT also gave me some tips on the kinds of post likely to engage others. Apparently the tone of my posts, while encouraging and with practical tips is positive, expressing my opinions more strongly would apparently increase engagement. The algorithm clearly favours the brave. I recently took the advice and posted about an article I’d seen in ‘The Times’ about the extortionate amount of money some career coaches were charging unemployed graduates- up to an eye-watering £30,000…I shared my thoughts about this along with the article. That post has enjoyed more than 100,000 views and multiple comments and reshares. So if you feel strongly about something, try expressing your opinion.
A bit like eating the proverbial elephant, approach updating your profile one bite at a time. Focusing on one section makes the process more manageable. Using AI, while not a magic bullet, can save you time. Regular posting and engaging in discussion with posts relevant to your specific areas of interest means LinkedIn will start to share your content more widely. Your connections with grow, along with your sphere of influence. That’s when you’ll discover opportunities starting to appear.