Agents looking to start a career in new home sales should be aware that most employers will look to your Linked in profile to learn more about you as a person, and your experience. With this in mind, here is a quick guide to help you optimize your LinkedIn profile to ensure that potential employers are impressed by what they see.

Create a Complete Profile

Most people create a profile with very little thought or detail just to have a presence on LinkedIn, but a presence is not enough. Having an incomplete profile is probably the same thing as not having one in the first place.

The more complete your profile is, the higher you will appear in searches by sales managers, and the better chances of you getting hired.

LinkedIn has a great tool called “Profile Strength” that guides you through how robust your profile is and what you need to fill in, so you can rely on that.

Here are 3 things you should know to have a complete profile:

Update your headline: Your headline is the first thing that people see. It’s the 2 second overview that states who you are and what you do. You can add any certifications after your name and you can also include your title, the company you work for, and any other highlights about what you do.
Fill in the Summary Section: The summary section gives a more detailed synopsis about what your current responsibilities are, as well as what you’ve done in the past. This is your elevator speech – your 60 second ad about who you are. After the headline, the summary is the second-most viewed part of your profile, so make sure you invest some time in creating a compelling overview.
Use Keywords: Search engine optimization is very important on LinkedIn. All those targeted keywords that describe who you are and what your skill set consists of must be scattered throughout your LinkedIn profile to provide it with some SEO beef. Focus on optimizing your profile by including a wide range of keywords that relate to you and your skill set. You should use your targeted keywords in your headline, job titles and skills, as doing so will help searchers find you amongst the millions of other LinkedIn users.

Upload a Professional Photo

Your photo is a very important part of your LinkedIn profile for a number of reasons. When you meet a LinkedIn contact in person for the first time, they will be able to recognize you because of your photo.

When you send a LinkedIn invitation to connect with someone you already know, they will feel comfortable accepting the invitation because they recognize your face. Finally, a photograph humanizes your profile, and makes you appear more approachable.

Incorporating a quality photo into your LinkedIn profile will help you make the right impression and maximize the number of people who view your profile.

Make as many Connections as you can

One of the best things you can focus on in growing and engaging your LinkedIn network is to always look for connection opportunities. LinkedIn recently enhanced its People You May Know feature.

Take advantage of this opportunity to review whom you may know and send them a personalized invitation to connect right there from the People You May Know tab.

Invite as many colleagues, friends and people you have a working relationship with to your professional network. You want to have as many connections as you possibly can, because a high number of contacts will help you find a job.

Use Endorsements

Endorsements are a popular feature that allows anyone who is viewing your profile to quickly see your top skills based on how many endorsements you have for each. While a single endorsement taken in isolation may not provide a ton of insight, if someone is endorsed for a single skill 99 times, that becomes a very powerful way to understand their key strengths and the strength of their network. Builders will want to see that other people are vouching for your skills.

Optimize Your Linked In Profile