Obtain Your Next IT Contract Job By Creating A LinkedIn Profile That Will Attract Recruiters

An IT contractor’s LinkedIn profile can be a fantastic tool for securing new contracts. In addition to allowing you to discover IT contract jobs, it gives you the chance to showcase your skillset so that recruiters and prospective clients can discover your profile and understand your capabilities and experience as an IT contractor.

So, as an IT recruitment consultant specialising in the contract market and working for one of the best recruitment agencies in Birmingham (yes, I’m going to be that guy and brag), I’ve pulled together some of my top tips to help you stand out from the crowd on LinkedIn to highlight your abilities, and ultimately land you your next IT contract job.

• Log in to your LinkedIn on a regular basis – you won’t believe the amount of IT contractors who reply to my messages 1-2 months after I contacted them. Better yet, download the LinkedIn app and turn on your notifications – you’ll receive alerts when IT recruiters like myself try to get in touch with you. Don’t miss out on IT contract opportunities that you could be perfect for!

• LinkedIn runs on keywords, when an IT contract recruiter like myself needs to identify potential candidates for an IT contract job, LinkedIn is one of the first platforms I will search for candidates via (especially if the role requires a very niche skillset). Therefore, make sure your profile ‘Headline’ and ‘Summary’ both include keywords that are relevant to your skillset – don’t hold back!

• Turning on the #OpentoWork feature is a great way to let IT recruiters know that you’re actively searching for a new IT contract job.

• Make sure your ‘Contact Info‘ is updated. There are few worse feelings for an IT recruiter than finding the ideal candidate, but having to wait to speak to that candidate until they accept their connection request. If you’re comfortable with it, you can even leave your phone number in your ‘About’ section.

• Use your profile ‘Experience’ section to emphasise your achievements on previous IT contract jobs.

• The ‘Featured’ section will help you highlight any posts or content you have shared that indicates your contractor experience and skillset.

• Ask your colleagues for recommendations. Displaying comments that back up what you’ve included in your ‘Experience’ section is only going to strengthen your profile as a seasoned IT contract professional.

• Just like recommendations, including skills that have been endorsed by your past colleagues is going to indicate to recruiters that you performed well in your previous IT contract jobs.

• Locate, join and participate in groups that are relevant to your skillset – you never know who you might meet or what you might learn!

• Engage with the LinkedIn community. Like, comment and share. It sounds basic, but many people simply go onto LinkedIn and scroll… and scroll some more. Taking the time to like or comment on content from a company or individual will trigger LinkedIn to push your engagement onto the feeds of your connections. You never know, a previous employer or a Head of Technology you’ve always wanted to work with just might see your engagement and need a contractor with your skillset – stranger things have happened, believe me!

Once you’ve gone through your profile and made some of the changes I mentioned above, click here to send your CV to our contract team. Whether you are looking for a contracting job in Birmingham, London, Manchester or Edinburgh, we’ll keep your CV on hand in our secure database and will get in touch when the right IT contract job comes along!

You can also keep an eye on our feed of latest jobs here.