Do you have a LinkedIn profile but don’t really understand how to use it? Or did you get one because someone said you should, but you’ve done nothing with it since?

LinkedIn is a valuable resource for people seeking new positions and recruiters alike. Your profile is a window into your professional persona for potential employers so it’s important you keep your profile up to date, add your experience and actively use the platform to your best advantage… but what is that and how do you cut through all the info to find the key facts?

This is where we come in, we have trawled through the statistics to pick out our top 4 facts that will make you consider how you use LinkedIn.

FACT 1 – More than 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn regularly. (In our office 100% of Recruiters use LinkedIn daily.)
If you’re seeking a new role then connect with the right recruiters, we post new positions on our Company LinkedIn Page nearly every day so make sure you’ve connected with us. Each of our team have a specialism so visit the Meet The Team page, you can connect to their LinkedIn profiles from this page.

FACT 2 – LinkedIn profiles with photos get 21 x more views and 36 x more messages.
We speak to many people who say that they won’t accept invitations from profiles without a photo. It doesn’t need to be a professional headshot but a picture of you looking professional is important. What’s the difference? An image of you at work, in your work uniform or simply looking smart on your leave time is a good image. Pictures of you on a wild night out or holding giant steins of beer is perhaps less desirable for a potential employer so think about the image your picture portrays before you hit save.
If you add a photo you will get more views and more messages, but you also need to put the legwork in.

FACT 3– LinkedIn has over half a billion users and continues to grow year on year.
Their current goal is to hit 3 billion active users, that’s a large chunk of the 7.53 billion world population. These users are spread globally across every industry, you will be able to connect with the right people on LinkedIn.

FACT 4 – 61 Million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers, 40 million are in decision making positions.
Talking of the right people – 40 million users are in decision making positions, such as our recruitment team. They’re the ones who assess your applications and decide if you’re suitable to be put forward for the positions they have available. Also consider that the head of the company that has the vacancy you’re applying for is likely to be on LinkedIn – does your profile represent the best professional version of you? Would you hire you?

Bear in mind all your new connections will undoubtedly look at your profile – is it looking its best or should you be doing a digital spring clean?

Our Tips to Spring Clean Your LinkedIn

• Update your profile, does it accurately demonstrate your experience? Have you updated your training?
• Add a picture. It doesn’t need to be fancy, a nice clear picture will do just fine. Make sure it represents your professional image!
• Add your previous colleagues & Companies – use the search bar to build your network. As you build your network your home page will start to show interesting news, posts and articles.
• Identify companies you would like to work with and follow their updates. Commenting constructively on posts of interest will get your name known for the right reasons. Be aware of your online persona, are you projecting the right image?
• Use the search bar to find key individuals in the industry that you would like to connect with and hit the button to say hello.
• Share posts and articles that are relevant to your job. Get to know Industry trends, technology and new developments.
• Share photos and videos from your assignments, people are always interested in this sort of content.
• Connect with Clyde Marine Recruitment on LinkedIn and our team too.

We hope this has been helpful, we are looking forward to seeing your new profile pictures soon!