What Legal Recruiters Want to See on Your LinkedIn Profile
By: Karen Anderson
Since the advent of online social and business networking, legal Recruiters seeking to fill important legal positions on behalf of companies or law firms often scurry LinkedIn in search of potential candidate. Sites such as LinkedIn are a standard part of their recruitment toolset.
But how do they use it and what are legal recruiters looking for?
Here are some of the key elements of a LinkedIn profile that legal recruiters analyze before selecting you for those positions they are recruiting for.
Summary – Your summary section on LinkedIn is the starting point for legal recruiters. It should describe accurately your current role and particular area of expertise. The summary is often the part of your LinkedIn profile that will decide if the legal recruiter will click on your profile for further information – so make it stand out, and specifically describe your key experience.
Skills and Career Experience – Having been interested enough in your LinkedIn summary, legal recruiters will hopefully click on your profile to dive into your skills and work experience. The first thing they will examine will be your career experience, the roles and types of companies or law firms you’ve worked with in the past, as well as your current position. The next area will be your listed skills – do they match your work experience? Do they go into enough detail to link you to a legal role they have in mind to fill? It’s essential that these areas of your LinkedIn profile be well written, up to date, and detailed as legal recruiters will expect this on your public profile.
Endorsements – These are a key litmus test for legal recruiters. Can you demonstrate a successful track record of experience by commanding endorsements from your employers and customers? Many people do not pay enough attention to endorsements when setting up or updating their profile – be sure to take this area seriously, legal recruiters love recommendations.
Connections – Your LinkedIn profile connections can indicate your relevance in the market and how well connected you are in the legal industry. Spend some time ensuring that past colleagues, business contacts, and key industry people are connected with you and maintain those connections with updates and article links relevant to your legal background.
So to summarize, think of LinkedIn as a public facing tool for building your profile within the legal industry. Whether legal recruiters will choose to contact you about great opportunities based on your LinkedIn profile will largely depend on how well you addressed these key elements.
Written on: 02/23/17 PDF Version