How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Irresistible to Talent Acquisition Pros

Talent Acquisition professionals use LinkedIn daily to scout for top candidates, and if your profile isn’t optimised, you could be missing out on great opportunities. We recently sat down with two TA experts, Małgorzata Stanibuła and Alexander Oldewage (HiveMQ), to uncover what actually makes recruiters stop scrolling and take notice.

The biggest positive we took from these two discussions was that despite coming from different backgrounds, cities and companies, both Małgorzata and Alexander shared similar views. Allowing us to bring clear and actionable insights for you to implement within your own LinkedIn profile.

On top of this, when you strip your LinkedIn profile down, there is really only a few key sections recruiters are looking at. Get this right, stand out. Easy.

Nail Your Headline and ‘About’ Section

First impressions count. Both Małgorzata and Alexander emphasised the importance of making your headline and ‘About’ section work for you. A generic title like “Software Developer” won’t hurt your chances, but adding more detail makes your profile more searchable and gives recruiters extra context to encourage them to keep reading.

A stronger headline could be: “Software Developer | Python Enthusiast | Building Scalable Systems.”

The ‘About’ section is often an underutilised tool. Małgorzata recommends using it to tell your career story, incorporating metrics and data points to add credibility but this can also be added in your work experience. Alexander agrees but advises keeping it concise, ideally 3-4 lines. The trick is to give enough to engage the reader, but not so much that they lose interest or move on before reaching the key information.

Get Your Keywords Right

Recruiters rely on LinkedIn’s search function to find candidates, and keywords play a key role in how profiles are ranked. While LinkedIn Recruiter has multiple search options, both Małgorzata and Alexander highlighted that Boolean search within ‘keywords’ is often their primary tool. This means LinkedIn scans your profile for specific words or phrases, making it essential to include relevant terms naturally throughout your profile.

Alexander pointed out that recruiters won’t always search by job title, and endorsed skills alone won’t guarantee visibility. Instead, what you write about yourself within your summary, experience, and projects matters more than what others endorse for you.

Both our guests recommend weaving industry-specific terms and hard skills naturally into your experience section. A useful trick is to scan job descriptions for roles you’re targeting and mirror the language used… without lying about your skills of course.

When describing your work experience, focus on impact rather than just responsibilities. Saying “Developed applications” is vague, whereas “Designed and deployed a microservice architecture that reduced system downtime by 40%” immediately drives value.

Keep your profile focused. Listing every skill, tool, and technology might increase the number of searches you appear in, but it will also lead to irrelevant job matches. Worse, it might signal to recruiters that you’re unsure of what you want. Instead, prioritise your core skills and, if you work for a larger organisation, clarify the specific team you work in to help recruiters understand your expertise. Less is more.

Engage with the LinkedIn Community

Małgorzata shared that engagement expectations for her vary based on the type of role she is recruiting for. In a business function, a lack of activity such as not posting or networking openly might be a potential red flag but not necessarily a reason not to reach out. In contract, in the tech industry, engagement levels tend to be less relevant.

Alexander shared a similar perspective. Since LinkedIn’s advanced search tool, ‘Recruiter,’ does not display a candidate’s activity unless their public profile is viewed, he typically doesn’t assess engagement levels unless he specifically checks that profile and even then, it’s not always a key factor.

From our perspective, actively engaging with your network and industry is never a disadvantage. Sharing insights and contributing to discussions in your field can only enhance your visibility and attract opportunities, particularly when you provide value in areas relevant to potential employers.

Ultimately, there’s no definitive right or wrong level of engagement. While it’s generally beneficial, it remains more of a ‘nice to have’ rather than a strict requirement.

Other points

Overcomplicating or overengineering your profile could be doing more harm than good. Recruiters have limited time to review each profile, so keeping yours clear, concise, and easy to navigate increases the chances of them engaging with you quickly.

Both Małgorzata and Alexander highlighted the importance of honesty. If work experience dates do not align or your stated location is inaccurate, hiring teams will eventually uncover these discrepancies. Starting a professional relationship on the wrong foot can significantly reduce the chances of success.

While, as we’ll discuss shortly, a strong LinkedIn profile centres around three key elements, having a completely empty or uninviting page can deter recruiters from reaching out. This doesn’t mean you won’t receive messages if you lack a profile picture or do not have a banner image, but if your profile appears inactive, recruiters may prioritise candidates who seem more engaged.

Final Thoughts

At its core, an effective LinkedIn profile comes down to three key elements: your title, ‘About’ section, and work experience. Each of these areas is searchable within LinkedIn’s ‘keyword’ field, meaning they directly impact how recruiters find and assess you.

Highlight your most relevant skills, be detailed in what you share, and use metrics to support your experience. Break down your responsibilities enough to give recruiters a clear idea of what you do while still leaving them wanting to learn more.

It’s important to remember that a recruiter’s job isn’t to find a perfect match just by scanning your profile. It’s to identify candidates who could be a great fit. From there, conversations and interviews determine the rest. But here’s the reality: if your profile lacks detail, and a recruiter can’t gauge your experience, they won’t reach out. With recruiters trying to be more efficient than ever, overlooked profiles are becoming more common. Is yours standing out enough?

A huge thank you to Małgorzata and Alexander for their invaluable insights. Hopefully, their advice gives you clear actions to refine your profile or confirmation that you’re already on the right track.

If you need further support, we cover LinkedIn and social media strategies within Peritus Academy. Check it out here: Plans & Pricing | Peritus Academy

Peritus Partners is a next generation recruitment team that focuses on blending education, business and community together. Interested to see how we can help find the best talent for your team or interested in finding a new job? Reach out today 😎