In this interview, Chelsi Clifton from Tribe and Clare Gallagher from LinkedIn discuss the importance of optimising your LinkedIn presence to enhance your LinkedIn professional network and unlock career opportunities. Clare shares some key LinkedIn profile tips, like having a clear profile picture, fully detailing your job roles, and adding personal touches to make connections more meaningful. Following the best LinkedIn practices, such as keeping your profile active and personalised, can significantly improve visibility and engagement on the platform.
They also explore the role of LinkedIn jobs and how LinkedIn job postings offer a great way to connect with potential employers. Clare explains that an updated, active profile helps users stay relevant in LinkedIn careers, even when they aren’t actively job hunting. By focusing on the quality of their profiles and engagement, users can make the most of LinkedIn job posting opportunities and build a stronger network.
Transcript
Chelsi Clifton: Hi, I'm Chelsi Clifton, Head of Knowledge and Research for Tribe. Today, I'm here with Clare Gallagher, Enterprise Relationship Manager at LinkedIn. I've been in recruitment for over 15 years, working in both recruitment agencies and in-house recruitment teams across various markets. I also spent some time working for LinkedIn's Talent Acquisition Team in Australia.
Throughout my career, I’ve witnessed a real evolution in recruitment. Gone are the days where recruiters relied solely on job boards or database searches to find the perfect candidates. LinkedIn has truly transformed the way I recruit, and Tribe has heavily invested in LinkedIn to ensure we identify and reach the best talent possible for our clients, while also providing great opportunities for candidates. In 2019, I was recognised as being in the top 10% of LinkedIn Recruiter users globally. Over the last year and a half, we’ve grown Tribe's LinkedIn company page to nearly 10,500 followers, something we’re very proud of.
We have a Chief Storyteller responsible for creating and posting content that’s relevant to our audience, not just recruitment-related, but also on topics like accessibility, diversity, and inclusion.
Clare Gallagher: Thank you so much for having me, Chelsi! As you mentioned, I’m an Enterprise Relationship Manager at LinkedIn. I've been with LinkedIn for almost four years, working with recruitment agencies during that time.
One thing I wanted to touch on is that you’re in the top 10% of recruiter users globally, and I think that’s really impressive. You and your team always personalise the candidate experience. Whether it’s the first interaction or reconnecting with someone, you tailor your approach, which really helps. At Tribe, you have a candidate-first approach, and what we call at LinkedIn an "always-on" approach, meaning you don’t just cold message someone out of the blue. You provide context and keep the conversation relevant.
Tribe also focuses on important topics beyond just recruitment, like mental health and inclusion, which adds real value to your clients and candidates.
Chelsi Clifton: Thank you, Clare. I believe there are three main benefits of having a LinkedIn presence:
Connecting with opportunities. Let’s face it, everyone needs a job at some point in their life.
Building and developing your professional network.
Staying informed and keeping up-to-date within your industry.
What are the top three tips you’d give for a good LinkedIn profile?
Clare Gallagher: The first tip is to have a profile picture, and it doesn’t need to be overly corporate. A good photo taken on your phone is perfectly fine.
Second, make sure to detail your previous roles. Don’t rush through creating your profile without properly populating it. This helps with job opportunities and personal connections. For example, when we first started talking, we had a connection because we both worked at LinkedIn.
Third, add something personal. It could be travel experiences or an achievement, like me running the Melbourne Marathon in 2016. This creates a personal connection with clients or candidates.
Chelsi Clifton: That’s great advice. I’ve recently added that I’m a mum of two boys, and it’s created a connection with people I haven’t worked with before. What are the top three things you shouldn’t include in a profile?
Clare Gallagher: Firstly, don’t write in the third person. It’s important to make your profile personal, and third-person writing feels disconnected.
Secondly, ensure your career history is fully detailed. A common mistake is to list a job title without explaining what the role involved. For example, I’ve seen people copy and paste from colleagues, but it’s important to describe your own specific role and responsibilities.
Lastly, don’t copy and paste from someone else. It takes about 30 minutes to fully fill out your profile, so it’s worth the effort to make it personal and relevant.
Chelsi Clifton: At Tribe, we recruit at all levels, from graduates to executive leadership positions. What advice would you give to someone just starting their career?
Clare Gallagher: My advice is to be open to any opportunity. When I graduated in 2008 during the global financial crisis (GFC), many graduate programmes weren’t available. I ended up working for a small retail company, which gave me a wide range of experience in HR, marketing, and recruitment.
That well-rounded experience has really helped in my career, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t been open to different opportunities. It’s important to stay open-minded, especially since many jobs today didn’t exist five or ten years ago.
Chelsi Clifton: For more experienced professionals, how much information should they include on their LinkedIn profile?
Clare Gallagher: For experienced professionals, the most relevant experience is from the last five to ten years. If you’ve worked at a well-known company in the past, it’s worth mentioning, but focus on the last five years in terms of job responsibilities.
Chelsi Clifton: What types of profiles get the best engagement on LinkedIn?
Clare Gallagher: The profiles that get the best engagement are the ones that are active and well-populated. LinkedIn's AI picks up on user behaviour, so the more you engage, the more relevant information is presented to you. Being active and having a well-detailed profile will increase your visibility and engagement.
Chelsi Clifton: Great advice, Clare. I like to think of LinkedIn profiles as digital portfolios of our career journeys. We’ve seen LinkedIn integrate with many recruitment databases, so having an up-to-date profile keeps you relevant and searchable, even when you're not actively looking for a job. Thanks so much for joining me today, Clare!
Clare Gallagher: Thanks, Chelsi. See you soon!
