Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of activity in the local UX job market. Perhaps it’s the economic uptick, or a recent increase in general awareness of customer experience, but something seems to be leading to a ripe job market for information architects, user researchers, content strategists, and the like.
Having recently been recruited into a new consulting gig, I’ve been fascinated by how the whole recruiting process works in this digital era. A friend in the staffing industry told me recently how important LinkedIn is for identifying candidates. Unsurprisingly, he said that LinkedIn has eclipsed job boards like Monster.com as an online recruiting tool.
Like any social media junkie, I’ve been on LinkedIn for years. In fact, I’ve even recommended LinkedIn’s “profile completeness” banner as a great way to challenge users to get more deeply engaged with a community. But it wasn’t until recently that I actually learned about the value behind “100% profile completeness” on LinkedIn.
Blogger Walter Feigenson claims that “you are 40 times more likely to get found in a LinkedIn search if your profile is complete.” I’ve never heard this elsewhere, but it makes sense from the data perspective — the more data you provide, the more “matchable” you are.
How do you reach 100% LinkedIn profile completeness?
The LinkedIn Help section discloses only the following.
Some of the items that make a profile more complete are:
- A current position.
- Two past positions.
- Education.
- Profile summary.
- A profile photo.
- Specialties.
- At least three recommendations.
My question for you
Here’s my question for you: Has a recruiter ever contacted you because of your LinkedIn profile? Does profile completeness even matter to you? Please share your comments.
See also
I agree that those on the job market would be well-advised to be as complete as possible. But LinkedIn can also bring unexpected opportunities to those who aren’t looking, so I definitely recommend keeping your presence fresh.
There is not good excuse not to have a 100% complete LinkedIn profile except for laziness. If your work is so bad that three people can’t recommend it then I will not hire you anyway.
If you have no specialties you can list then – again – you’re not who I want to hire.
Chris, your skillset is very much in demand these days. I bet you could have your choice of jobs!
I've actually had a person ask me to submit a resume for a job opening they had. I didn't because the job description wasn't something I was interested in doing, but it was certainly a surprise since I don't think I've filled out my profile more than 60%. I've seen the percentage there but always considered it out of reach if for no other reason that I don't take good photographs.