4 things you should remove from your LinkedIn profile

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile but you’re thinking of looking for a new job, you need to create one immediately. If you do have one but haven’t updated it recently, it’s time to freshen it up a bit. Here are four things you should consider deleting from your LinkedIn profile if you’re hunting for the perfect role, according to The Muse.

1 Old experience
If you have plenty of professional experience to validate your skills, it’s probably a good idea to remove older items from your profile. Unpaid work experience is the first thing to chop, followed by jobs that aren’t relevant to your current career path.

2 Unendorsed skills
Those familiar with LinkedIn will know that your connections can “endorse” you for certain skills. Ask your colleagues and bosses both past and present to do you this small favour. If there are any skills left untouched, consider removing them to avoid seeming like you’ve only got them on your profile as keywords.

3 Uninspiring accomplishments
LinkedIn profiles have been streamlined, which on one hand is great but on the other means you need to be careful that your accomplishments don’t get swallowed up by each other. Only keep the items you really want potential employers to notice, such as awards and successful projects – and only those that are relevant to the job.

4 Ancient recommendations
Just as people can endorse your skills, they can also leave a detailed recommendation on your profile. While it seems counterintuitive to delete any of these comments, those left years ago might not apply to the direction you’re taking your career. If a recommendation was left by a colleague about a job that is no longer relevant (or that you’ve deleted from your experience list), give it the chop.

With a finely tuned LinkedIn profile, you’ll soon find employers chomping at the bit to get you on board.

Read the original article at muse.cm/2jTUTUP