Is it time for a new job? Here are three tips that you can implement today to make your LinkedIn profile more enticing to potential employers:

1. Writing an Eye-Catching Headline

95% of recruiters use LinkedIn as a sourcing tool to find potential employees. You're missing out on opportunities if your headline isn't optimized because you won't stand out or show up in searches if your headline is something plain like "developer".

Here are some tips for making sure your headline is eye catching:

• Use industry keywords: Include the exact languages and technologies that you're skilled in (for example: Java, C#, ReactJS, or Vue.js) as well as keywords related to the job you're searching for.
• Include other skills recruiters might search for such as full-stack developer
• Be specific about what you do and the experience you have. When you're writing your headline, ask yourself if it would be enticing to hiring managers. This is a perfect segue into the next tip.

2. Finding and Using Industry Keywords

Put yourself in your target audience's place. Since you're looking to land a job, think about the words that employers and recruiters would use to fill a position at a company. If they're looking for a developer, they might search something along the lines of ".NET web developer" or whatever fits their company's needs and technology.

Hashtags are also extremely powerful. First, brainstorm a few keywords that are related to your industry. Then, search them as a hashtag to see which ones have a significant following. Incorporate these hashtags at the end of your posts. While you research, you can also check out other posts that have done well and which hashtags were used.

You can also search for other people who are in similar roles as the one you'd like to work in to get ideas for other keywords to use. Pay close attention to the people who show up first.

Next, try avoiding buzzwords. The theme here is show, don't tell. Instead of stating you're an "experienced developer", you could showcase the specific projects that you've worked on and the languages you're skilled in. Recruiters and hiring managers want to see specific results.

Here are some other "filler" words that you may want to consider avoiding:

• Specialize
• Passionate
• Motivated
• Highly
• Results-driven

3. Posting and Engaging Regularly

The more you post and engage, the more you appear on the feed. This means that you stay top of mind for the people in your network. The bottom line is posting more increases visibility and credibility.

Most people know that they should post regularly but the challenge is knowing what to post. So here are some ideas:

• Reshare what other connections have posted
• Post about news within your industry. You can post an original article or someone else's and include your thoughts on it
• Post a recent achievement. Tons of people share things like a promotion at work, graduating a program, landing a job or getting a new certification. If you're a SDG student, you could post about the latest project you crushed.
• Share pictures and videos of what you're currently working on, networking events you're attending, a good book you're reading or something you're learning
• Helpful resources for people in your industry
• If you're actively looking for a job, post about what kind of position you're specifically seeking and be sure to use a few hashtags

Engage with others, too. LinkedIn makes this super easy by including reply suggestions. Congratulating someone on their new role can be done in a click of a button. But it might be helpful to take a few seconds to add to the reply suggestion and make it more personal.

Our full-time program teaches both the hard and soft skills (like we covered in this blog) that are required to succeed as a web developer. Ready to take on your tech career? Class starts February 10th. Learn more here.