LinkedIn remains a mystery and a challenge to so many people, including those in our sectors (marketing, PR, social media, digital, events, communications and creative)
Moxie and Mettle place candidates into permanent and freelance roles in these roles and disciplines, and we work in the UK. Personally, I’ve been using LinkedIn since it was launched in 2003, and I have nearly 17,000 connections and 14500 followers. But then I’m a recruiter, so you’d expect me to be visible and active on LinkedIn.
Moxie and Mettle has a business page with around 3700 followers, a minimal amount compared to mine and Rebecca Hodgson‘s connections and followers. However, company pages on LinkedIn are not as well used as individual pages, and we are still delighted and grateful for all our followers, wherever they may be.
In 2025, we have only a few freelance roles, as clients are tending to go directly to the candidates rather than using a recruiter at the moment, which is understandable. This is what happens when you send a CV to a client, whether directly or through a recruiter.
So, 99% of the time, when we send a CV to a client for a candidate’s application for a role, the client will go straight to LinkedIn to review the profile, it’s standard practice. They are looking for additional information about the candidate, maybe to find out more about the company that the candidate works for, and to fill in any gaps that there may be on the CV (which there shouldn’t be) or if there is different information on the LinkedIn profile to that on the CV.
Likewise, when a candidate applies for a job with a particular person and organisation, the candidate will generally go to LinkedIn as one of the places to look for information, make connections, find out about recent news at the company. LinkedIn often offers much more information on people and businesses than websites do and is a massive source of information for all.
There are 1 billion users on LinkedIn worldwide – here are some statistics.
So I’ve pulled together some observations, hints ,and tips about how to get the most out of LinkedIn, whether you are searching for a new job, or more freelance opportunities, want to promote your brand or business, or just want to expand your professional network.
LinkedIn works as well for product-based businesses as it does for service-based; look at what Adam Joe Parker has achieved in promoting Ocean Savers, for example.
If you want to find out even more and get my expertise on creating the best LinkedIn profile possible, to go alongside your CV if you are looking for a job, or to complement your website if you are promoting your brand or business or as a freelancer, please visit here.
This Social Shepherd article gives loads of interesting facts and figures if you like to know the numbers!
LinkedIn – information, hints and tips
Here are some ways you can enhance and improve your profile on LinkedIn, whether you are promoting yourself as a job seeker or freelancer or are employed within a business.
LinkedIn is an excellent source of leads and customers, whether you sell a service or a product. Obviously, it’s super helpful in sharing all your content and for personal brand promotion for business owners and leaders. One of the most important areas for the creative sectors is our freelance community, which can be well served by LinkedIn and find new projects and clients.
Here are some ideas of the best ways to get the most visibility and get the platform working for you.
The banner at the top, above your photo (which should be a professional headshot by the way) is the first thing anyone sees when they click on your profile.
You can use Canva to quickly create a banner appliable to your circumstances, which could be promoting your brand or business, or could be a few words about your skills and experience or special area of interest, or why you are on LinkedIn.
Don’t just leave it blank, as that’s a waste of opportunity to create impact and show off your talents or the brilliance of your business or service.
Then, the headline, which is immediately below your name.
220 characters, which you can create yourself and which can clearly state your skills and what your service offering is.
If you don’t change this, LinkedIn will use your current job title and company, which is okay, but better to use the characters available in a more impactful way
e.g marketing manager with 10+ years experience in financial services specialising in mortgages and investments.
is better than
Marketing Manager, XYZ Insurance
When your content is shown in the feed on LinkedIn, your name and this headline are the two parts of your profile that people see.
About You
2600 characters to showcase your talents, or the services of your business or a mixture of both. The best way to use this space is to describe your skills and experience and how that benefits your audience, and you can really use the available characters to make that work for you.
Avoid using “I”, “me”, and “my” too much and instead use first person implied as the tense for the description. Although this section of LinkedIn is called “About” it’s not about you except for how your skills and experience can benefit your clients or your next employer, or the customers/stakeholders of your employer if that’s how you are using your LinkedIn profile currently.
Remember, your LinkedIn profile is your own; it doesn’t belong to your employer; although you might have a clause in your contract relating to the use of social media or how you represent yourself online while you are employed or on contract, do check!
Experience
This is your CV, but within LinkedIn. But it’s not a cut-and-paste of your job description per role! Just like in your CV, the profile on LinkedIn should tell the story of your career, your accomplishments, successes, outcomes and results as well as your skills and experience. LinkedIn asks for months and years for each record within the experience section. Your CV and your LinkedIn profile need to match in terms of where you’ve worked and/or your career history to date.
Hope that’s helpful, do let me know if you have any queries.
Thanks for reading!
Take care,
Liz
Liz Gadd
0117 301 8223
[email protected]
www.moxieandmettle.co.uk
