Searching for a new job looks very different in this era. Instead of hand-delivered CVs, an always-on LinkedIn profile now notifies recruiters when you’re open to new opportunities. You have options to add links and rich media, connect to other professionals at the click of a button and do updates in real time. Your LinkedIn profile is your CV, your portfolio and your networking tool all in one.
And it pays to know how to set your LinkedIn profile up to put your best foot forward. Optimising your LinkedIn profile for when you’re in the top 10 results of a recruitment search is crucial to land an interview and a potential new job. Other than the basic requirements – ensuring your profile is complete, writing a compelling summary and listing all your verifiable skills – LinkedIn has just launched one new and very useful trick to make you stand out from the other candidates: Skills Assessments. With this tool, validating and emphasising your professional skills is simple.
Before Skills Assessments, LinkedIn users relied on endorsements to prove they weren’t just ticking boxes. But recruiters aren’t easily fooled; they know how easy it is to ask your mom, brother or partner to endorse your skills. Skills Assessments draws on the professional knowledge LinkedIn has accumulated for their Learning video course platform to create industry-standard multiple-choice quizzes as a reliable measure of how competent you really are.
The list of professional skills you can validate is growing and includes key skills such as Adobe Photoshop, Java and Microsoft Excel.
It’s easy to complete. Here’s how it works:
- Opt to ‘Take skill quiz’ in the Skills & Endorsements section of your LinkedIn profile
- Choose from the recommended quizzes, or search the full list of skill quizzes available
- Complete a multiple-choice quiz based on the skill set you want to verify
If you pass the test, a verified badge is added to the skill on your profile. If you don’t pass the test, this isn’t reflected on your profile at all. What’s more, you’re able to brush-up on that skill and take the test again. It really is that simple.
Simplify careers
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