How to Stand Out in Your LinkedIn "Easy Apply" Job Submissions

When we recently posted a Marketing & Social Media internship on LinkedIn Jobs, not only did we get an outstanding response from a broad base of college applicants, but participating in the hiring process also gave us the LinkedIn Recruiter view - a fresh look at the other side of the Easy Apply wall after a candidate hits submit. After viewing literally hundreds of applications and applicants through the LinkedIn Recruiter interface, we wanted to share some of our observations on ways candidates can do more to stand out when using the Easy Apply option.

Here are six LinkedIn profile and resume formatting tips to help your Easy Apply application get noticed:

1. Include a strong LinkedIn profile photo. The candidate preview a hiring manager sees pulls through your LinkedIn profile photo. A flattering, professional looking cropped headshot can make a positive first impression. Conversely, not having a photo at all may get your application immediately passed over, especially if you are applying for a social media role, where expertise in creating compelling profile pages is important.
2. Present a well-crafted LinkedIn headline. Your LinkedIn profile headline is super valuable real estate. This 220 character field is the first thing a recruiter reads about you on the default candidate view. Outstanding applicants do more with their headlines than just say “Student at Awesome University” (which is just 29 characters, btw). Use this 50 word or so space to showcase your expertise, personal brand, and unique value proposition. 
3.  Pull complete resume details into your LinkedIn profile. Skipping entries and description details on LinkedIn means the "Insights from Profile" first impression the recruiter sees will be weak. Include all prior employers and titles, schools and degrees featured on your resume and bullet point level details within profile experience description areas.
4.  Incorporate relevant skill tags in your LinkedIn profile. Pay attention to the skills identified on the job description and incorporate relevant ones into your own profile experience entries. Using the skills tags can make your application pop if the recruiter chooses to sort candidates by skills, which is a filter offered on the recruiter's dashboard.
5.  Upload a PDF version of your resume. The resume format you upload to LinkedIn matters. Always submit a PDF version as that is instantly visible to the recruiter on the first view of your application. Microsoft Word doc formatting requires the recruiter to click to open and download your resume to see it - extra steps they might choose to skip after screening dozens of other applications or when moving quickly through a deep stack of submissions.
6. Name your resume PDF file with your name in the file name. Your document naming convention matters, especially if a recruiter downloads several resumes at a time. Our Downloads folder had way too many instances of “Resume.pdf” and “resume 4.doc” type names, making it harder to identify applicant materials before opening the files again.

 After you hit submit, do these things next to help your application stand out: 

• If the job post includes a link to the hiring manager's LinkedIn profile, message the hiring manager directly to express your interest in the role and draw attention to your application. 
• LinkedIn is now offering candidates the ability to message hiring managers with AI-drafted notes, and several of our applicants took advantage of this one-click message creation feature. However,  on the recruiter side, it was very obvious which candidates used that shortcut without taking the time to do any personal editing. So, while some applicants got points for initiative on outreach, they didn’t get as much credit as those who took the time to write more personalized notes.
• Visiting the hiring manager’s page, you will often see their personal post about the opening on their team. Liking and commenting on this post can be another good way to get noticed. 
• Following the company page, following the hiring manager and even asking for a connection are other ways for candidates to show engagement and stand out.

A few other dos and don’ts when Easy Applying:

• Do submit your application ASAP. The sooner you can apply to a newly posted position on LinkedIn, the better. Recruiter fatigue is real, and many hiring managers default to viewing applications in the order they are submitted. Once several strong candidates have been identified and a quality bar set, many are not as driven to dive into later candidate profiles with the same level of focus.
• Don’t lie on the qualifying questions. We had one simple question in our application process - “are you a current college student?” A surprising number of applicants who were clearly no longer college students from their resumes and profiles answered “yes” to this. Answering a fact-based qualifying question incorrectly signals you are either not honest or not detail oriented enough to read and respond correctly. Not a good look either way. 
• Do use the new LinkedIn Top Three feature for priority roles. LinkedIn recently introduced an option that allows candidates to indicate whether an opportunity is one of their top three jobs they are applying for that month. One candidate chose to use this feature to demonstrate interest and it made a positive impression. 
• Do keep growing your LinkedIn connections. Your number of LinkedIn connections comes through in the LinkedIn Recruiter View and makes an impression. This can be especially true when applying for social media or marketing roles. A large number of connections shows you are familiar and comfortable with growing a personal network and more likely have experience and insights relevant for growing a company page’s followers. So keep making those LinkedIn connections and go for that 500+ mark.

Managing a few factors when applying to LinkedIn jobs can make a big difference in how you come across to hiring managers in LinkedIn’s Recruiter view. Optimize your LinkedIn profile with a strong personal headshot, a well-crafted headline and relevant skills, upload an appropriately named resume PDF for submissions, and apply as early as possible. After you submit, find and reach out to the Hiring Manager to express your interest and draw attention to your next Easy Apply application. 

HireEdge is the premier service helping college students and recent graduates launch their careers in business. Our top MBA coaches and proven process will help you plan a career launch strategy and lead an effective first full-time job or internship search. Whether you are a current college student, recent graduate, or parent, you can schedule a free, no obligation consultation to learn more about what we do here.