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I became interested in learning what recruiters thought were the most important parts of a LinkedIn profile when I started reading conflicting information online. As a career advisor, it's important that my advice to job seekers is consistent with what employers are looking for. In many cases, it's tough to put my finger on that with certainty, because, as I say in the title, "it depends."

Hundreds of articles have been written on this topic, and there seemed to be a consensus that photos, headline statements, and summary statements are particularly important.

Near the beginning of 2018, I saw a post on LinkedIn asking for opinions from recruiters and HR people on LinkedIn profiles.

Reading the replies, I found it quite interesting that recruiters focus on parts of the profile other than photos, headlines, or summary statements! Here's a small sampling of the comments:

Unfortunately I don't think there is a simple or 'one size fits all' answer! It is so dependent on the opening, the hiring managers' needs, and therefore what the recruiter is in need of finding. (HR recruiter in NYC)

My search is based on current/past job title, geographical area, and skills. (Engineering recruiter)

Definitely skills, past experience, tenure and interests (Talent acquisition specialist)

Relevance to the job hiring for, tenure in each role, and engagement i.e. do they have connections, are they following influencers or companies? (Recruitment consultant)

Skills and past job experience....and for me, position commitment (progression within a career field, as opposed to jumping around to different things) (Senior recruiter)

I am generally looking for specific licenses or experience. Those are the things candidates have to sell/hiring managers are looking for in my world, so making them easily accessible is key to attracting my interest. (Healthcare recruiter)

In mid-January, I created a survey and posted the link on Twitter and LinkedIn. Unfortunately, I didn't get enough response to draw any strong conclusions, but I'd like to share what I did hear from 15 recruiters/ hiring managers ("employers") and 44 people who work in either higher education career services or in other career counseling capacities ("career services").

The major difference I noticed is that employers view "descriptions of jobs" as the most important part of the profile (based on frequency of mention, when asked to name the top 3). Career services practitioners indicated "descriptions of jobs" as the 4th item, behind photos, headlines, and summaries.

Another observation is that responses from career services are clustered around five attributes. 81% of the responses were for photo, summary, headline, job descriptions, and keywords. Responses from employers were more spread out. The top five attributes were the same, but they comprised 69% of the responses. Employers also evaluate prospective employees based on their "activity" (posts, articles, shares and likes) and "interests" (joining groups and following people and companies).

Even though several employer respondents didn't name "photos" in the top three, I would speculate that those individuals still view photos as an important attribute. A recruiter might not use a photo to make a decision to contact an individual for an interview, but that recruiter might screen someone out based on an inappropriate photo. Cait Glennen, who works in program communications at a large university, pointed out that the LinkedIn photo won't rule you in, but could be used to rule you out.

Final thought: although my survey didn't ask this, accuracy is important. Proofread! If you work in public relations, or work in a public school, don't forget the "L" which is just to the right of the "K" on the keyboard.

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I'm a career advisor working remotely in southern Maine. I work primarily with non-traditional master's degree students and alumni who are mid-career and oftentimes trying to enter a new career field. I've used LinkedIn and Twitter in my last 2 job searches, and suggest to my students that they become active on social media. Find me on Twitter @RichCareer

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Most Important Parts of Your LinkedIn Profile? It Depends

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I became interested in learning what recruiters thought were the most important parts of a LinkedIn profile when I started reading conflicting information online. As a career advisor, it's important that my advice to job seekers is consistent with what employers are looking for.

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LinkedIn