The skills section of a LinkedIn profile is more important than most people think. Completing the LinkedIn skills section will help you to get found by the right people. This in turn will help your job search!

Coming up, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about your LinkedIn skills section. I’ll explain what it is, how to update it, and which skills you should include. Disclosure: We are affiliates for some of the products and services mentioned on this page. Learn more

What are LinkedIn skills?

The LinkedIn skills section sits towards the bottom of your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills. You can also receive endorsements of these skills from your connections.

LinkedIn skills was recently updated

In a recent update, you can now also link individual skills to specific jobs. These skills will then appear in the experience section of your profile, as well as the skills section.

The skills section is different from the LinkedIn recommendations section. LinkedIn recommendations are custom-written testimonials from your connections.

Why is it important to add a LinkedIn skills section?

Adding LinkedIn skills can seem like a waste of time. It isn’t obvious that anyone visiting your profile actually looks at the skills section.

But, the purpose of your skills is not to have people read them. Think of LinkedIn skills as SEO (search engine optimization) for your LinkedIn profile.

Think of it like tagging or hash tagging your LinkedIn profile. The right skills will help LinkedIn to highlight your profile in search results.

Why should you care if you show up in LinkedIn searches?

Well, there are lots of ways to find a job. You can apply online, leverage your network, or get contacted by head-hunters.

The quickest and most successful job seekers use all the tools in their toolbox, and don’t rely on a single approach. Optimizing your profile so recruiters find it, is essential to your job search.

This is especially true for professionals working in niche fields or senior roles. For these positions, recruiters are more likely to search for candidates using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the number one tool for recruiters. They use it like a giant search engine to find candidates. Recruiters often run varied search queries for role they are looking to fill. If you are not showing up in these search results, you are missing out on opportunities.

Recruiters can use filtering to rank candidates that apply for jobs on LinkedIn. Skills help your application to rank high in the list of applications.

How to optimize your LinkedIn skills section

Let’s talk about how you should complete your LinkedIn skills section.

How many LinkedIn skills can you add?

You can add up to 50 skills to your LinkedIn profile. The more you add, the better. If you are looking for a new job, then it’s best to max out the 50 skills available to you.

What skills should you add?

It’s important to pick the right skills. There are four rules to follow when adding skills to LinkedIn:

1. Focus on hard skills, not soft skills

Recruiters search for very specific skills when looking for candidates on LinkedIn.

It is best to think about keywords that are most relevant to your industry.

Also, consider the software you use. You can include knowledge areas and also verbs. You may include variations of the same skills.

2. Select skills from the dropdown list

When you start typing in a skill, LinkedIn will generate a list of options. It’s always best to pick one of the skills listed. These are the skills that recruiters will be searching for.

3. Use LinkedIn Insights

A great way to ensure you are adding the right skills, is to leverage LinkedIn’s insights. One way to do this is through the ‘build a resume’ function.

• Open your profile
• Click more
• Select ‘Build a resume’

Then select ‘create from profile’ and add your target job title. It will show you a list of skills already on your profile and a list of suggested skills.

4. Use LinkedIn Premium

If you have LinkedIn Premium, the list of suggested skills will be longer. These skills are generated from insights gathered from millions of profiles.

LinkedIn Premium shows you the skills that recruiters have listed on job adverts. It will also provide you with more in-depth skills recommendations for your profile. This information is invaluable and is all available with a 30-day free LinkedIn Premium trial. (affiliate)

Conclusion

Adding LinkedIn skills is one of the many ways that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile. You should leverage every possible opportunity to optimize your LinkedIn page.

I recommend using Jobscan to scan your LinkedIn profile. Jobscan will highlight the areas and sections that have the potential for optimization. Jobscan will even recommend keywords and where to include them.

Check out Jobscan here. (affiliate)