LinkedIn continues to play a large role for those job hunting, and it’s critical to have a LinkedIn profile at an All-Star rating. If you don’t know what this means, look at your LinkedIn profile right now.

Right beneath the section with your profile photo is “Profile Strength.” When you reach All-Star rating, that means your profile is optimized for success. According to LinkedIn, profiles with an All-Star rating are 27 times more likely to be found in recruiter searches.

A LinkedIn profile at All-Star rating also means three times more profile traffic from searches, the feed, and your network. LinkedIn has a base of over 500 million users. That’s a lot of people to connect with!

Here are tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile and to get it to All-Star rating:

1. Add Current Professional Profile Photo

Simply adding a photo to your LinkedIn profile can make you 14 times more likely to be found. And, getting people to click on your profile in part depends on the picture you choose to use.

Stick with a headshot photo where you are making direct eye contact, presenting a friendly smile, and showing a professional front. Beware of any background distractions in the photo and avoid using selfie snapshots, which come across as unprofessional.

2. Present Headline That Speaks to Hiring Managers and Recruiters

When your profile shows up in search engines or through LinkedIn, all that is seen is your Name and Headline. It’s critical to have a Headline that clearly defines your specialties and the kinds of problems you solve.

Providing the right details and keywords in your Headline help hiring managers and recruiters to identify you as a good target to pursue. If you don’t customize your Headline, by default, it will include your current job title and the name of your current employer.

3. Complete Your Summary

The Summary section is an important piece of your LinkedIn profile. This is where you can directly promote and market yourself as a professional.

Inform hiring managers and recruiters why you are someone they should talk to for a job opening they have available. This is also a section in which to build up keywords that matter, which will help you come up on top in search results. For more tips, read: “Tips to Writing a Summary for Your LinkedIn Profile and Resume.”

4. Show Your Experience

While a simple path would be to copy and paste what you have on your resume to your LinkedIn profile, that’s not the most effective approach. Hiring managers and recruiters who already have your resume are scouting for different information than what you have on your resume.

Even if they don’t have a copy of your resume, you’re missing an opportunity to highlight your experience, skills, achievements, and potential capabilities in a way that can’t be done on the resume.

5. Add Education

For many professionals with several years of experience under their belt, information on education may not be a top priority on the LinkedIn profile. However, it is a section that needs to be completed to reach All-Star rating.

There are also many benefits to completing this section because an educational institution will automatically connect you to a network of current students and alumni who are also on LinkedIn. These contacts may very well be connections that can help you in your job search. For more, read: “Networking through Alumni to Help Find Your Next Job.”

6. List Skills

When you add skills to your LinkedIn profile, it increases your profile views by up to 13 times the amount it would otherwise receive. Often, hiring managers and recruiters search for talent based on specific skills required for the job.

The more your profile is identified with specific skills and the more endorsements received for those skills, the better your profile will rank in search results. Work to identify and prioritize what skills are important for the job and engage with your contacts to endorse those skills.

7. Secure Recommendations

When you apply for a job via LinkedIn, one of the items shown with your application before anyone even clicks on your profile is the number of recommendations you have.

Indicating “0” recommendations does not leave the best impression, let alone get you to All-Star rating. Review your contacts and approach the ones who can vouch for your work and put in a good word in the form of a recommendation.

8. Add Volunteer Experience

When you lack work experience, volunteer work can help build out your experience. It can also show others what you are passionate about. There’s more of a personal touch to your profile with this type of information included.

9. Share Interests

Sharing your interests helps to sell your overall package. Follow companies in your industry, especially the ones you’re applying to. Also, join relevant groups for opportunities to engage in conversation.

If you have other general hobbies or interests, then include them. For example, some common interests amongst people is sports. As an example, if you say you like tennis, and a hiring manager reviewing your profile is an avid tennis player, that may lead to a spark for a stronger connection with you than other candidates.

LinkedIn is a platform full of opportunities for your job search and career, but it’s up to you to create a stand-out LinkedIn profile with an All-Star rating to get noticed and make connections!

About Jobs provides job seekers with LinkedIn profile writing services and resume writing services. Our certified professional writers work one-on-one with each client. Career services are also offers to help guide job seekers in the process of turning job interview opportunities into job offers. Find out more at GotTheJob.com and follow us on social.