LinkedIn Skills How to Add the Right Skills to LinkedIn (Examples)

LinkedIn Skills How to Add the Right Skills to LinkedIn (Examples) If you’re like many job seekers, chances are that you overlook the important role that LinkedIn can play in your job search. While you probably have some type of profile page, you may have underestimated how skills can impact your visibility. Unfortunately, that could mean that you’re missing out on some key job search leverage! In this post, we will discuss LinkedIn skills and how adding the right skills can enhance your job search effort. We answer the most frequently asked questions from our clients like how many skills should I add? and what are LInkedIn skills endorcements? Well also show you a LinkedIn skills hack for landing more interviews. If you need help on optimizing your LinkedIn profile from one of our profesisonal resume writers, click the graphic below to go to our service page. How to add skills on LinkedIn You would first click on the drop down menu under your profile picture and select view profile. You would then scroll down to Skills Endorsements and click on Add a new skill. You will then be able to add and remove skills: You can add up to 50 skills. How do you pick the right skills for LinkedIn? Obviously, different people will define relevant skills in different ways. Essentially, the best skills are the ones relevant to your industry or the position youre targeting. You also want to add skills that you are actually skilled in. For more general advice, lets turn to a list compiled by LinkedIn for some insight: The Skills Companies Need Most in 2020â€"And How to Learn Them. The top sought-after soft skills were creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptibility, and emotional intelligence. The top sought-after hard skills included blockchain, cloud computing, analytical reasoning, artifical intelligence (AI), and UX design. If these skills match your skills, you might want to add them to your profile! Of course, that list may do little to help you. In the end, the LinkedIn skills you choose to include should reflect your skill set and experience. You can use the following steps to help you create your own set of LinkedIn skills: Think about your education and experience, and your ultimate career destination. Consider the skills you use in your current position, and ones you’ve used in the past. Add these to a blank page or your flexible resume. Then add skills that you are working on developing.Now, ask yourself what type of job you want. Once you have that answer, think about the skills needed to fill that role.Look at the skills you already have and compare them to those needed for your desired job. Those are the LinkedIn skills you want to include on your page. Add them to your LinkedIn page, prioritizing them by relevance for that desired position. Hack: How to land 2x more interviews with LinkedIn skills LinkedIn uses an Algorithm when ranking your profile. It alsos use an algorithm when you apply to a position posted on LinkedIn. If the system sees you as a good match for the position, it will rank you higher and increase your chances for an interview. The best way to show LinkedIn that youre a good match for the position is to include relevant skills. Heres how! Review the job posting on LinkedIn and scroll down to How you match. The job posters will list the skills theyre looking for on the job description page! Example: You want to make sure that your profile lists all of the skills theyre looking for. Also, remember that most companies today use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to automatically screen your resume. These systems automatically screens your resume to see if youre a good match for the position. Make sure that you use a standard resume format so that the ATS could easily read the resume. You should also include keywords and hard skills that are relevant to the position. Why LinkedIn skills matter First, it’s important to understand why your LinkedIn skills are so important. You might assume that those skills help to complement your resumeand you’d be correct! Still, that’s only one of the reasons why they’re so critical to your job search. An even more important reason is that those skills can help make it easier for potential employers and recruiters to find you. More than half a billion people use LinkedIn around the world and it hasbecome one of the best sites to search for jobs. Obviously, the sheer volume of users can make it difficult for anyone to single you out from the crowd. The good news is that LinkedIn skills are searchable, to help recruiters and others find people with the exact skills they need. By choosing the right skills and using optimized keywords, you can improve your chances of being found. We wrote a good post here on tips to finding jobs on LinkedIn. How many skills should you list on LinkedIn? LinkedIn skills help to highlight your qualifications and can shape your personal and professional brand. The LinkedIn platform allows users to add as many as 50 skills to their profiles. Just as important, other users can validate these skills through skill endorsements, bolstering their relevance. The question is: do you really want to add 50 skills? Probably not. The reality is that an overabundance of skills can be just as bad as not listing enough. So, where’s the middle ground? Focus on including relevant skills that employers in your industry want to see. In addition, order those skills according to their importance. LinkedIn skills should always be added in order of relevance, since only the top three show up on your profile. Keep in mind that those three visible skills are also the ones people are most likely to endorse. As time goes by, those skills may need to be adjusted to reflect your current career progress. About skills endorsements Finally, a word about endorsements. Some people might be tempted to go ask others for endorsements of their LinkedIn skills, but there’s a better option. Go to your contacts’ pages and start endorsing their skills. Most of those contacts will reciprocate on your page, and you’ll soon have the endorsements you need to increase your searchability. Summary LinkedIn skills remain an underused tool for any job search effort. Fortunately, a minimal investment in time and effort can quickly help you leverage this powerful feature to your advantage. So, take the time to find the right skills for your LinkedIn profile and then enjoy your newfound visibility and increased job opportunities. Remember to make your resume as easily scannable as your LinkedIn! Take our free review tool for a spin, and learn how an ATS will view your resume within 48 hours. Related posts: The Difference between Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile (+ Examples)Writing Your LinkedIn Work Experience Section (Examples + 3 Tips)Top 15 Skills Employers Are Looking For In 2020 (Updated)