Having a strong LinkedIn profile is crucial for anyone looking to advance their career or find new job opportunities. With over 800 million users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform and a go-to resource for recruiters and hiring managers screening candidates.
To stand out on LinkedIn, it’s important to showcase the top skills that are in high demand across industries and most likely to catch a recruiter’s eye. But with hundreds of skills to choose from, how do you know which ones are the most important?
This article will examine the 5 best skills to include on your LinkedIn profile in 2023 to attract recruiters, land interviews, and get hired. We’ll provide tips on how to optimize your profile with these in-demand hard and soft skills.
The 5 Best Skills for Your LinkedIn Profile
Here are the top 5 skills that every strong LinkedIn profile should highlight:
1. Communication Skills
No matter what industry or job you’re pursuing, communication skills are universally valued by employers. Strong written and verbal communication skills allow you to clearly convey ideas, connect with colleagues and clients, market yourself or a brand, and more.
On LinkedIn, you can demonstrate communication skills by:
– Writing an engaging, error-free summary statement. Summarize your career highlights, skills, and goals for future roles.
– Sharing written content, like published articles, on your profile. Display polished writing samples.
– Listing “Communication” as one of your top skills. You can also include related areas like “Public Speaking.”
– Getting great recommendations that cite your strong communication abilities. Ask managers, colleagues, clients, etc.
– Participating actively in LinkedIn Groups to showcase thought leadership. Share advice and join conversations.
2. Leadership
Every employer seeks candidates with leadership potential to manage teams, projects, and operations. No matter your industry or current job level, spotlighting leadership skills indicates you have initiative and management capabilities.
Ways to emphasize leadership skills include:
– Listing management roles and accomplishments in your experience section. Showcase times you successfully led teams or projects.
– Earning endorsements for skills like “Leadership” and “Team Management.” Ask colleagues to endorse you.
– Completing LinkedIn Learning courses in leadership topics like “Becoming a Leader” or “Leading with Emotional Intelligence.” showcase certificates.
– Volunteering as a leader for nonprofits or community organizations. Display on your profile.
– Getting recommendations from past managers praising your leadership qualities. Ask managers to write you LinkedIn recommendations.
3. Sales Skills
Sales skills are highly valued across every industry – even non-sales roles. Employers want people who can build relationships, persuasively communicate, and close deals. Highlight sales abilities whether you’re pursuing sales or non-sales opportunities.
Ways to showcase sales skills include:
– Listing past sales roles, accomplishments, and certifications in your experience section. Provide stats and metrics.
– Earning endorsements for sales skills like “Sales”, “Business Development”, and “Account Management.”
– Publishing articles on LinkedIn that demonstrate sales thought leadership and expertise.
– Completing online sales courses and certifications via LinkedIn Learning, Salesforce, HubSpot and more. Add certificates to your profile.
– Volunteering sales skills through fundraising initiatives, events, nonprofits etc. Add to experience section.
– Getting recommendations from past sales managers or clients. Ask them to recommend your sales abilities.
4. Digital Marketing Skills
Digital marketing is one of today’s most in-demand fields, and related skills are valued across every industry. Showcasing knowledge of areas like search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and Google analytics can make you stand out.
To highlight marketing skills:
– List past marketing roles and accomplishments on your profile. Include stats and results.
– Earn endorsements for skills like “Digital Marketing”, “SEO”, “Social Media Marketing”, etc.
– Share marketing content you’ve created or published on your profile. Demonstrate expertise.
– Complete digital marketing certifications online via programs like Google Analytics Academy, HubSpot Academy, and more.
– Volunteer to manage digital marketing for a community organization or nonprofit. Add to your experience section.
– Ask past clients or managers to recommend your marketing skills in a LinkedIn recommendation.
5. Data Analysis Skills
In today’s data-driven business environment, recruiting managers highly value experience with data analysis and management. Demonstrating proficiency with tools like Excel, SQL, Tableau, Python, and more can help you stand out.
To highlight data skills:
– List past data analysis roles and measurable accomplishments on your profile.
– Earn endorsements for relevant skills like “Data Analysis”, “Excel”, “Business Intelligence”, etc.
– Showcase data analysis projects or coursework completed. Share examples or links on your profile.
– Complete online certifications in data analysis tools and showcase certificates on your profile.
– Ask past managers or co-workers to recommend your data analysis skills in a LinkedIn recommendation.
– Publish articles on LinkedIn showcasing your expertise in data analysis.
Optimizing Your Profile With These Skills
Here are some key tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile with the above in-demand skills:
– **Prioritize The Top Skills That Match Your Goals:** Don’t try to cram every skill on your profile. Carefully select your top 5-10 skills that align with target roles.
– **Showcase Skills In Multiple Sections:** Include key skills in your LinkedIn headline, summary, experience section, endorsements, etc. for maximum visibility.
– **Get Endorsed And Recommended:** Proactively ask managers, colleagues, and clients to endorse or recommend your top skills on LinkedIn. This adds credibility.
– **Demonstrate Skills With Examples:** Don’t just list skills. Include measurable accomplishments, stats, certifications, content samples, and other proof points that back up your expertise.
– **Use Skill-Focused Keywords:** Incorporate skill keywords into your profile sections and content to help with recruiter searches. For example, “Implemented SEO strategy driving 25% increase in organic traffic.”
– **Refresh Your Skills Regularly:** Review your profile skills every few months and update based on your latest accomplishments, training, goals, etc. Skills need to stay current!
Conclusion
Mastering in-demand skills like communication, leadership, sales, digital marketing, and data analysis can significantly strengthen your LinkedIn profile and career opportunities. Focus on showcasing these abilities through specific examples, endorsements, recommendations, certifications, and content. With a strategic skills-based profile, you’ll catch more recruiter attention and stand out from the crowd. Regularly refresh your skills for maximum impact. Use LinkedIn as an ongoing platform to develop and demonstrate the top skills that drive employer interest and hiring in today’s market.