How to craft a discoverable LinkedIn profile

At Deloitte, we are always looking for top talent to join our firm. In addition to considering candidates that apply directly, we continuously scout the market for the best and brightest. For those who are open to being “discovered,” LinkedIn is an excellent forum to showcase your experience and expand your professional network. To help you construct the type of profile that will catch our attention, I’ve compiled a list of tips to help increase your chances of being discovered.

1. Languages

List any languages in which you are fluent. Speaking multiple languages, especially French and Spanish, is increasingly becoming a key criteria for many roles. You would be surprised how often this can make a difference.

2. Professional Photo

You've heard this a thousand times but take some time to think through your photo. Is this the picture you would attach to your resume? There is a fine line between whimsical and silly that you don’t want to cross.

3. Education

For many of our roles, certain designations are mandatory (usually a CPA, CA or MBA). If you don’t include your full education on your profile, we may assume you’re missing a credential we’re looking for and will pass you by.

4. Separate work and volunteer experience

List your board experience under the "volunteer" section. Volunteer experience is always nice to see, but including it among your actual job experience makes your profile look confusing and jumpy. There is often an overlap in dates and we’re left wondering if you had two jobs at once, was one a volunteer position, basically, how does this all fit together?

5. Showcase your career progression

I want to see your career progression. If you have been at the same company for 10 years but only include your current title, I am going to assume that you have been in the same role for 10 years. When you include the dates of all your positions, I can see that you have progressed and can also ensure I understand your seniority when matching you to our own openings.

6. Add a specific location

When you leave your location as "Canada" instead of including a city, you may get missed when we search by city in order to narrow the pool of candidates. In the same vein, if you are looking to move to a different city, put the destination city as your location and write a sentence at the top of your profile saying you are looking to move to that city and are open to opportunities. If you are willing to relocate either broadly or specifically, include this information in your profile introduction.

Implement these tips and you’ll be popping up in our searches for the ideal candidate in no time.

Lesley Gibbons is Team Lead for Sourcing & Research within our Talent acquisition group. The group supports requisitions for all of Deloitte’s service lines.