6 Tips for Making Your Professional Nurse LinkedIn Profile Shine
By Laure Justice, Contributor
If you're looking for your next nursing job, this is a
great time to polish your professional nurse LinkedIn profile. Make sure your
profile shares your story and specific information about your career and
accomplishments. This gives recruiters a sense of who you are and your
capabilities.
Six important details for
your professional profile on LinkedIn
Take advantage of these easy tips to make your
professional nurse LinkedIn profile stand out when you're ready to find your
next nursing assignment. Start gently and choose one to try, or go all out and
combine several of the suggestions for maximum effectiveness.
1. Post a professional photo
While a picture of you playing ball with your pooch or
cuddling your cat may show your personality, a professional headshot will do
more for the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile. Casual photos and actions
shots are best saved for scrapbooks, framing or fun social media sharing.
LinkedIn is a professional networking site, so choosing a photo that lets
potential employers see your professional side is a winning decision.
2. Add a headline that
states who you are
You can set the headline on your LinkedIn profile to
say anything you want it to say, and it's one of the first things recruiters
see. That makes it an opportunity to get a hiring manager's attention. You
could make it fun and playful, or you could put your job title and the last
place you worked. One tip is to look at the keywords recruiters enter when
looking for someone exactly like you and make sure those words are in your
LinkedIn profile's headline.
3. Look at job descriptions
and postings
Job descriptions and nursing job posts provide a lot of
valuable information you can use when preparing your LinkedIn profile. Look for
common themes and recurring words that are directly related to the nursing
profession. Make a list of the words that relate directly to the work you do.
Places to find these descriptions include the Bureau of Labor Statistics and
the LinkedIn job boards. You can also get some great ideas by looking at the
job listings here on the OnwardHealth Care website.
4. Include keywords about nursing
After collecting a list of nursing-related keywords
from reading job postings and descriptions, make sure those words are scattered
throughout your profile. Then, when recruiters are searching the LinkedIn
website for workers with those skills, your profile is more likely to be pulled
for review. Using the terminology recruiters are hunting also helps them
picture you performing the required tasks and helps confirm your level of
expertise.
5. Call out your successes
Add some quantifiable, or measurable, successes to your
profile on LinkedIn. When you add details, like numbers, statistics or any excellenceawards you've received to your profile, it gives hiring managers
something concrete to cite as a reason for considering you for an open
position. Sharing this information in your profile may feel like bragging or
being vain, but it isn't. It's actually just a practical matter of helping
recruiters decide whether you're a potential fit for an open job.
6. Talk about me, myself and I
A lot of online profiles are written in third person,
so it looks as if someone else is talking about you. However, on LinkedIn, it's
more effective to write your profile as if you are talking directly to someone.
Imagine what you might say to a hiring manager when sitting across the desk
during an interview. You probably wouldn't say, "She won a Circle of
Excellence award for..." You would be more likely to use a personal,
conversational tone and say something like, "I won a Circle of Excellence
award for..."
Use these tips when writing or refreshing your profile to
make it stand out so recruiters can find you through LinkedIn. You can also
proudly share your updated LinkedIn profile with potential employers, and find
your next nursing job
through Onward Health Care.