LinkedIn Redesign What You Should Know

LinkedIn Redesign What You Should KnowLinkedIn Redesign What You Should KnowBy far, LinkedIn is one of the best networking tools in your job searching arsenal. Used correctly, it can help present the best possible professional image of you, connect you to former (and future) colleagues and bosses, and be a great way for recruiters to find you- and help you get hired for a job.Earlier this year, LinkedIn went through a major redesign aimed at making the user experience more streamlined and efficient. But its up to you, as said user, to update your LinkedIn profile to adopt these changes and adapt them to your bio to truly make the most out of your LinkedIn experience.Heres what you need to know and do to get the most out of the latest LinkedIn redesignEdit your experiences. Since the goal of the LinkedIn redesign is to make things as seamless- and current- as possible, it makes sense that your profile should be as up to date as possible. But that doesnt just mean updating each section it means carefully curating each section, cherry-picking the top skills and experiences in order to give your profile as much pop as you can.So go through each section and remove any old job experiences (anything over 10+ years isnt going to matter much to a potential employer), listing them just by title, employer, and the dates you worked. Thats it.Specify your skills.Sure, youre a jack-of-all-trades, but that wont matter to a recruiter reviewing your LinkedIn profile. To him, it might look like you couldnt decide on a career, or that you just threw any ol skill into the proverbial kitchen skill sink.Although LinkedIn allots up 50 skills, dont feel that you have to tout that many. Instead, pick the skills that you possess that will reflect the career that you want, not necessarily the ones youve had. And be sure that the skills you list are true skills having a basic knowledge of something does not a skill make.Add up your accomplishments. Part of the LinkedIn redesign includes a new Accomplishments section meant to replace the Projects, Honors Awards, Patents, and other sections. Grouping all of this under one new umbrella is a great idea, since it makes reading your profile that much easier (and frankly, theyre all technically accomplishments, anyway).But again, dont just copy and paste all the info from the former categories and dump them into the accomplishments section. Be careful with what you list outdated awards (your award for mastering Commodore 64, for example) might classify you as an older worker and cut you out of the running for a potential job.Revisit the recs. Youve worked diligently during your career, and all of your recommendations reflect your years of hard work, your dedication to company and career, and just being an overall awesome person. Thing is, if your recommendations are from jobs that you held eons ago (or worse, come from an employer that went out of business), they might not hold as much weight as more current ones from wel l-known bosses/mentors/friends.Shine a spotlight on the recommendations that can help you land a job- today.Listen to LinkedIns advice. LinkedIn wants you to succeed on its site. Thats why its offering up advice about your profile. It might recommend updating your profile picture, or stressing the skills that recruiters are looking for. Consider it LinkedIn job coaching- for free.LinkedIns new redesign can be a great impetus to refreshing your stale profile. Make the most of the design changes so that you stand out to recruiters and hiring managers- and get a chance to interview for a job that you really want.Check Out More Advice on Social Media for Job Seekers