With over 800 million users and 58 million registered companies using LinkedIn, there has never been a better way for candidates to connect directly with brands they love and seek out work opportunities. The ways in which people are using the social media platform has also changed rapidly with it becoming an invaluable recruitment resource.  But with so much noise on the app, how can candidates get noticed by companies or fellow professionals?

Here are 7 ways you can effectively use your LinkedIn to make sure you’re head and shoulders above the rest:

1) Fill out all your key information and make sure you have uploaded a recent, professional photograph. Be sure to include where you studied, your recent workplace, additional qualifications, and your current title.

2) Use the ‘experience’ section as you would a CV.  In the ‘description’ section add bullet points detailing your career achievements and milestones like you would in your CV.  Remember to keep it snappy and use numbers or stats to explain your points when you can. Also be sure you have correctly filled out your key career information, such as your title, company name, the dates you worked there as well as the location of the company.

3) Switch ‘creator mode’ on in the resources section. This will enable you to list up to five hashtags explaining what content you are interested in and can contribute to. People use these hashtags to find like-minded individuals so make sure you think carefully about what will serve you best.

4) Update your job-seeking preferences (also in the resources section).  This is a handy tool to let recruiters know if you’re actively looking for work and it’s also good to have switched off if you don’t want recruiters on your case for new opportunities. In this section, you can signal your interest to recruiters at companies you’ve created job alerts for as well as determine how much of your LinkedIn profile you’d like to share when applying for jobs through LinkedIn.

5)  Take a ‘skills quiz’ and be 20% more likely to get hired. Decide what you want to be assessed on and then showcase those skills in your endorsement section.

6) Ask your colleagues, friends and family to endorse your skills. All you need to do is list your skills and then ask a fellow LinkedIn user to visit your page and tick that they endorse the skills you’ve listed. This is a great way to get your profile found easily by recruiters and companies who will be searching for users who match the skillsets they’re looking for in their job descriptions.

7) Start posting your own content or comment on others. According to LinkedIn, only 10% of users are active which means the door really is wide-open still for you to make your mark and get your name out there. We recommend posting about who you are, what inspires you, your insights into your specialist field or best of all share the work you’ve been doing. However, if you’re not ready to post publicly yet start by liking and commenting on others’ posts. Commenting is a great engagement strategy that will soon see you getting noticed.

8) Bonus point: Use the ‘open to work’ banner on your profile picture. Recruiters can use this option to search for those who are actively looking for a new opportunity, helping to speed up the process to your next dream hire.

We hope this helps! Before you go, take a look at our latest property roles here.