LinkedIn is a great platform for showcasing your skills and experiences to potential employers. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn offers unmatched access to professional contacts and job opportunities. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability to highlight your skills on your profile.
Adding skills to your LinkedIn profile allows recruiters to easily search for and identify candidates with the qualifications they are looking for. Showcasing relevant skills on your profile can give you a competitive edge in the job market. Here’s how to add skills to your LinkedIn profile and make yourself more discoverable to recruiters and hiring managers.
Add a Skills section
The first step is to add a dedicated Skills section on your LinkedIn profile. This provides a place to clearly display all of your most relevant professional abilities. To add a Skills section:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile
- Click on the “Add profile section” button
- Select “Skills” from the dropdown menu
- A “Skills” section will now appear on your profile
Enter your skills
Next, enter all of your professional skills within the Skills section. To do so:
- Go to the Skills section of your profile
- Click the blue “+ Add skill” button
- Type in the skill you want to add from your work expertise
- Select the appropriate skill from the dropdown list
- Repeat this process to add all relevant skills
When adding your skills, focus on abilities that align with the types of roles you are targeting. Technical skills related to your industry and profession are especially valuable. Soft skills like communication, teamwork and leadership are also worthwhile to include.
Prioritize top skills
Within your Skills section, you can drag and drop skills to prioritize your top abilities towards the top of the list. This ensures recruiters immediately see your most relevant and impressive skills. To do this:
- Click and hold the three-line icon next to a skill
- Drag the skill higher in the list
- Let go to drop the skill into its new position
- Repeat to order all skills appropriately
Aim to highlight both broad skill categories and specialized abilities related to your niche. A mix of technical hard skills and soft skills is ideal.
Endorse skills
Another great way to showcase skills on LinkedIn is by getting endorsements from your connections. This provides social proof of your abilities from professional contacts:
- Go to your Skills section
- Hover over a skill and click the “Ask to be endorsed” icon
- A pre-populated endorsement request will be sent to your connections
- Connections can click to endorse you for that skill with one click
Accumulating endorsements from past coworkers, managers, clients, and classmates can significantly boost the credibility of your listed skills.
Take skill assessment tests
LinkedIn provides over 150 free online skill assessment tests you can take to prove your expertise. After passing an assessment, you can proudly display the associated skill badge on your profile:
- Click into your Skills section
- Click the blue “Take skill quiz” button
- Select the quiz you want to take for a specific skill
- Pass the quiz by getting a high enough score
- The skill with a verified badge will now appear in your Skills section
These short multiple-choice quizzes validate your proficiency across a wide range of professional domains. Passing assessments can boost your credibility as a candidate.
Add multimedia examples
You can further illustrate skills by adding rich media examples to your profile. This provides concrete evidence and social proof of your abilities in action:
- Documents: Upload work samples like presentations, reports, and articles you authored.
- Photos: Post pictures showcasing you demonstrating particular skills and expertise.
- Videos: Add short video clips highlighting your skills in your own words.
- Portfolio: Create a Portfolio to showcase work samples and accomplishments.
Multimedia elements make your skills come alive. Recruiters can click through and engage with vivid examples of your capabilities.
Customize your LinkedIn URL
To make your LinkedIn profile even easier to discover, you can customize your public profile URL. This creates a clean, professional URL that leads right to your skills and experiences.
To do so:
- Go to your LinkedIn Profile
- Click “View profile” to see your public profile view
- Click the “Edit public profile & URL” button
- Enter a customized URL name you want
- Check availability to confirm it’s unique
- Click “Save” to create your new custom URL
Now you can confidently include your professional LinkedIn URL anywhere online, like your resume, portfolio or website.
Join relevant LinkedIn Groups
Becoming an active member of industry-related LinkedIn Groups is another excellent way to showcase your skills:
- Search for and join Groups focused on your profession or skills
- Engage in Group discussions by asking and answering questions
- Share advice, resources and insights valuable to the Group
- Post about your skills and expertise when relevant
Participating in niche professional communities highlights your passion and knowledge. It also expands your network with more industry contacts.
Follow influential companies
Following leading companies in your industry also exhibits your interests and skills:
- Search for and follow companies you want to work for
- Engage with company content by liking and commenting
- Share company posts and write recommendations as applicable
- Turn on job alerts to be notified of new openings
This shows you are up-to-date on important news and innovations in your field. It can help grab recruiter attention for roles at those companies.
Grow your network
Expanding your LinkedIn network provides greater visibility for your skills and profile. Building connections allows you to:
- Join more niche interest and alumni Groups
- Engage broader audiences with your posts
- Be endorsed by more contacts for key skills
- Access more job leads and insider information
Search for professionals working in your target companies or industry. Send personalized invites asking to connect. A larger network amplifies your skills and presence.
Complete your profile 100%
To fully showcase your skills, be sure your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete. This includes:
- Professional headshot photo
- Header background photo
- Compelling summary statement
- Detailed work experience descriptions
- Education qualifications listed
- Volunteering and awards mentioned
- Profile sections like Skills, Accomplishments, Courses etc
A completely filled out profile makes your skills stand out. Recruiters take candidates with complete profiles more seriously.
Conclusion
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile with relevant skills is invaluable for your job search and career advancement. By following the tips above, you can effectively showcase your top skills and qualifications to grab recruiter attention.
Proactively adding a Skills section, taking assessments, growing endorsements, and filling out your entire profile will position you as an ideal candidate for hire and promotion. So be sure to keep your LinkedIn profile skills current and comprehensive at all stages of your career journey.