Why is it important to have a LinkedIn profile?

I have been working in and around recruitment for the past 18 years as a recruitment consultant, an in-house recruiter and as a careers advisor and LinkedIn has had the biggest impact on the industry that I or anyone I know who works within recruitment has ever seen.

Here are some of the facts (there are literally hundreds of LinkedIn stats on the internet):

• LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 300 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
• Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second.
• LinkedIn is currently available in 23 languages
• There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn. They are LinkedIn’s fastest-growing demographic.
• More than 3.5 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages.
• More than 300,000 jobs posted on LinkedIn.

But it’s not just about having a LinkedIn profile and hundreds of contacts it’s about being discovered by other people. So how do you create the perfect LinkedIn Profile?

1. The section for your name should only contain your name.

2. Your headline should be catchy, and include key words and phrases that you would want to turn up in Google search results.

3. A professional photo.

4. At least 500 connections. Social proof is important online. It leads to credibility and authority on the Web.

5. All relevant contact information.

6. Daily status updates to provide value to your network. Share your latest blog post, presentation or content worth passing along.

7. Write in the first person.

8. Load your “skills and expertise”, “work history” and “experience” sections with key words and phrases.

9. Mention your volunteer experiences.

10. Join 50 groups.

Go forth and be found!