If you’re getting interviews, open to board roles, or building relationships for your business, you’ll want a resonant, keyword-rich presence on LinkedIn.
And yet, too many professionals—from the C-suite on down—leave their profiles mostly blank or filled with generic summaries that don’t resonate.
Why? Because everyone else’s profile looks that way too.
But here’s the problem: You’re invisible to those who could be offering you opportunities. Recruiters, search firms, and many hiring leaders use LinkedIn as their first stop in finding talent. Many prospects, business partners, and investors search their LinkedIn networks as well.
The fix: fill out as many sections on LinkedIn as possible, in a thoughtful, keyword-rich way. And then make sure your LinkedIn settings are not preventing you from being found.
Start with the About and Experience Sections
Many on LinkedIn don’t even have an About section. Make sure you do, as this is where you can summarize or “pitch” your experience to your target audience. For both sections:
Identify and include the right keywords, i.e., those that your prospects might be using to conduct searches, and make sure they are present in a natural way. Look at other profiles or job postings for ideas.
Seek to make a great impression so you’ll be contacted. List resonant responsibilities, show results, and name-drop.
Write these sections just like you would on your resume, while keeping in mind the differences vs. LinkedIn that might prompt you to change some of the language or even add something more personal.
Don’t worry about overwhelming viewers with content. Only the first three lines of the “About” section and the first two of the “Experience” sections are visible, followed by a link to “…see more”. LinkedIn gives the viewer the option to dig into your background only if they want to. So, if they click on “…see more”, give them what they want.
Pay attention to the Headline, Job Titles, and Skills section
The Headline and most recent job title are usually the only parts of your profile your prospects see in search results, so pay special attention and make them keyword-rich. For example, “Senior Vice President – Marketing” is way more effective than just “Senior Vice President” in helping you show up and get clicked on in searches.
The one place where “keyword stuffing” will actually help you is in the Skills section (you’ll want to include keywords in a more natural way in the rest of your profile or you could get penalized by LinkedIn). For this section, think of every permutation of what your target audience might be searching on, and include those words.
Beyond these sections, click on “Add profile section” to see what other sections you can add that could help you both get keywords in and make a great impression.
Your Profile can serve as a low-key resume
Sometimes sending over your actual resume may feel too pushy or convey an unintended “please hire me now” message, when you just want to get a meeting, regardless. If you thoughtfully fill out your profile, use it instead of your resume by linking to your profile in your emails.
Check your settings to make sure you’re visible in searches
Unless you are facing an unusually challenging situation with your privacy, go to www.linkedin.com/public-profile/settings and turn on all the profile visibility switches. Note: If you’re concerned that adding this additional content will impact privacy, you can always block or remove certain connections. But in general, if you want to be found for opportunities, it helps a lot to make yourself visible on LinkedIn.
Have a Large, Quality Network
While lots of connections can help you be found in searches, the answer is not to connect with everyone. A better approach puts quality before quantity. “Quality” means you know them in some way, even if just a little (like you had a nice exchange of LinkedIn messages), and may be open to helping them; your Home Page Feed will be more useful as a way to stay in touch if you know your network. “Quality” also means better results from LinkedIn’s advanced people searches, since you’ll be able to rely on your 1st degree network for introductions to those 2nd degree connections that show up.
All this said, think broadly about who should be in your 1st degree quality network. Aim for at least 250 people (hopefully much more) to improve your odds of showing up in searches.
The #1 Reason You’re Not Being Found On LinkedIn for Opportunities
May 14, 2025 by Robert Hellmann • Getting Interviews, On-the-job Success, Resume, LinkedIn, self-promo
If you’re getting interviews, open to board roles, or building relationships for your business, you’ll want a resonant, keyword-rich presence on LinkedIn.
And yet, too many professionals—from the C-suite on down—leave their profiles mostly blank or filled with generic summaries that don’t resonate.
Why? Because everyone else’s profile looks that way too.
But here’s the problem: You’re invisible to those who could be offering you opportunities. Recruiters, search firms, and many hiring leaders use LinkedIn as their first stop in finding talent. Many prospects, business partners, and investors search their LinkedIn networks as well.
The fix: fill out as many sections on LinkedIn as possible, in a thoughtful, keyword-rich way. And then make sure your LinkedIn settings are not preventing you from being found.
Start with the About and Experience Sections
Many on LinkedIn don’t even have an About section. Make sure you do, as this is where you can summarize or “pitch” your experience to your target audience. For both sections:
Pay attention to the Headline, Job Titles, and Skills section
The Headline and most recent job title are usually the only parts of your profile your prospects see in search results, so pay special attention and make them keyword-rich. For example, “Senior Vice President – Marketing” is way more effective than just “Senior Vice President” in helping you show up and get clicked on in searches.
The one place where “keyword stuffing” will actually help you is in the Skills section (you’ll want to include keywords in a more natural way in the rest of your profile or you could get penalized by LinkedIn). For this section, think of every permutation of what your target audience might be searching on, and include those words.
Beyond these sections, click on “Add profile section” to see what other sections you can add that could help you both get keywords in and make a great impression.
Your Profile can serve as a low-key resume
Sometimes sending over your actual resume may feel too pushy or convey an unintended “please hire me now” message, when you just want to get a meeting, regardless. If you thoughtfully fill out your profile, use it instead of your resume by linking to your profile in your emails.
Check your settings to make sure you’re visible in searches
Unless you are facing an unusually challenging situation with your privacy, go to www.linkedin.com/public-profile/settings and turn on all the profile visibility switches. Note: If you’re concerned that adding this additional content will impact privacy, you can always block or remove certain connections. But in general, if you want to be found for opportunities, it helps a lot to make yourself visible on LinkedIn.
Have a Large, Quality Network
While lots of connections can help you be found in searches, the answer is not to connect with everyone. A better approach puts quality before quantity. “Quality” means you know them in some way, even if just a little (like you had a nice exchange of LinkedIn messages), and may be open to helping them; your Home Page Feed will be more useful as a way to stay in touch if you know your network. “Quality” also means better results from LinkedIn’s advanced people searches, since you’ll be able to rely on your 1st degree network for introductions to those 2nd degree connections that show up.
All this said, think broadly about who should be in your 1st degree quality network. Aim for at least 250 people (hopefully much more) to improve your odds of showing up in searches.