What You Need to Remember to Improve Your Image on LinkedIn
Use the name pronunciation tool to record a short, 10-second introduction. This immediately sets your leadership style and clearly states what you are professionally aiming for.
Fill your "Featured" area with important documents, press mentions, or examples of successful work to quickly show people the big results you have achieved.
Turn on the "Providing Services" feature. This shows boards and partners that you offer high-value solutions, instead of just listing what you did in past jobs.
Regularly check the data in "Search Appearances" to make sure the words people use to find you match the senior jobs you actually want.
LinkedIn: From Storage Box to Tool That Gets You Hired
LinkedIn's hidden features include the name pronunciation tool, Search Appearances analytics, the recruiter-only Open to Work setting, and the Providing Services page. These tools are free, available to all users, and used by fewer than one in five professionals on the platform.
Most professionals use LinkedIn like an old digital filing cabinet: a place to store a resume while its hidden features go unused. Nothing changes until they get desperate and click "Easy Apply." By only sharing general updates and focusing on old job duties, you aren't showing off your skills; you are just proving you are one of many people looking for a job. This basic way of doing things makes you look like someone trying to escape their current situation, not a valuable person others want to chase.
For the people who do the hiring, a weak online profile is more than just a missed chance; it's a warning sign. SHRM workforce research puts the cost of replacing a senior employee at 50-200% of their annual salary. Leaders use LinkedIn to reduce that risk; they look for proof that you are connected and that your brand is current. If your profile is simple or hard to find, you look like a risky hire who hasn't kept up with how business works today.
Not being visible online doesn't just cost you a new job; it limits how much you can earn over time. To get noticed, stop acting like someone begging for work and start acting like someone who solves problems. Most users get filtered out by algorithms before a real person ever sees their name. The top 1% turn their profiles into tools that work for them at all hours. Learning how the platform's hidden tools work and showing results in the right sections changes you from a desperate applicant into the professional internal teams recruit before a role is ever announced publicly.
The Three Steps to Get Started
Your profile is not your life story; it's data for a search program. To stop being invisible, you must make sure your "Skills" list and your "Open to Work" setting match the exact terms recruiters use to find top people.
Go to your "Skills" section and remove general words like "Management" or "Good at Talking." Replace them with 50 expert words related to your specific field (like "Making Sales Pipelines Work Better" or "Managing Big Company Changes"). Then, go to your privacy settings and switch "Open to Work" to "Only Recruiters"—this sends a quiet signal to the market without your current boss knowing.
"My main skills are [Skill A] and [Skill B], which I use to help companies get [Specific Result]. I focus on fixing [The Problem] by using [My Method]."
We use a program called 'LinkedIn Recruiter' that sorts candidates by 'Skills' and 'Special Highlights.' If you haven't turned on the "Open to Work" setting (the hidden one), you are automatically removed from the lists of people "Likely to Reply," which is where we spend most of our time searching.
Data point: LinkedIn reports that members using the recruiter-only Open to Work setting are 40% more likely to receive a recruiter InMail than those who leave it off.
Hiring senior people is about reducing risk. You change from being a "Job Seeker" to a "Problem Solver" by using your "Featured" section to show actual proof of what you did, instead of just listing what your job required.
Pin the three most important items to the top of your "Featured" section. This should be a PDF showing the results of a big project, a link to a presentation you gave, or a picture of a recommendation that talks about a specific thing you fixed. This works like a webpage that sells your success while you are not even online. For the full picture on search placement, see how LinkedIn search optimization works alongside your Featured content.
"Look in my 'Featured' area below to see the system I used that made [Measure] go up by [Percentage] for my past partners."
When a Hiring Manager asks me, 'Can this person really do the job?', I show them your 'Featured' section. If it’s blank, I have to work harder to convince them. If it has proof, you become the "Safe Choice" and the interview feels like a formality.
The best jobs are never posted publicly. LinkedIn's research suggests that up to 75% of roles are filled through existing connections before a posting ever goes live. You need to move from just looking around to becoming a recognized expert by building relationships with the right people long before you need a job from them.
Find five important leaders at companies you like. Set up alerts for when they post new things. Twice a week, leave a "Helpful Comment"—a comment that offers a new idea or asks a smart question—on their posts. This creates "familiarity," so you become a known name instead of just a cold application.
"That is a great point about [Subject], [Name]. I've noticed that when [Market Event] happens, focusing on [Fix] usually works best. Have you seen that happen in your area?"
We naturally avoid people who only contact us when they are desperate, which we call "Active Seeker Exhaustion." However, we push forward "Quiet Candidates" who are already known to our leaders because of smart online interactions. It makes hiring them feel like a strategic success rather than a rushed need.
How Cruit Helps You Improve Your LinkedIn Plan
Step 1: Being Seen
LinkedIn Profile Setup ToolAutomatically adjust your profile to match the search terms recruiters use. AI creates a complete profile for you, from your title to descriptions of your past roles.
Step 2: Proof
Daily Notes ToolCollect evidence for your "Featured" section. The AI Coach helps you write professional summaries of your successes and projects each day.
Step 3: Connecting
Networking ToolGet good at leaving "Helpful Comments." An AI assistant removes the stress of social interaction by writing messages and finding common interests with key decision-makers.
Common Questions About LinkedIn’s Hidden Features
Does LinkedIn notify your employer when you turn on Open to Work?
No. When you select "Recruiters only" in the settings, LinkedIn specifically hides the signal from people at your current company. The public green frame is visible to all, but the private recruiter setting uses LinkedIn’s matching algorithms without anything appearing on your public profile. According to LinkedIn data, members using the recruiter-only setting are 40% more likely to receive an InMail from a recruiter.
What should I put in my LinkedIn Featured section?
Pin three items that prove your impact: a results-focused PDF or case study, a screenshot of a key project outcome (blur any confidential data), or a link to a presentation, article, or award. If you have nothing ready, create a one-page document showing a specific problem you solved and the measurable result. The Featured area is a database for a hiring manager doing their homework. If you don’t give them evidence, they assume you can’t do the work.
Do LinkedIn Skill Tags actually help recruiters find you?
Yes, directly. LinkedIn Recruiter filters candidates by Skills, and only tagged skills count toward those filters. Mentioning a skill in your job description text does not register the same way. Replace vague terms like "Management" with specific phrases like "Sales Pipeline Optimization" or "Enterprise Change Management." Profiles with at least one skill listed receive up to 2x more views and 4x more recruiter messages, per LinkedIn’s own data.
How many LinkedIn skills should I add to my profile?
LinkedIn allows up to 100 skills, and filling them thoroughly is worth the effort. Focus on terms that match the specific job titles you want next. Recruiters search by exact skill phrases, so mirror the language that appears in target job descriptions. The top 10 are most visible on your profile, so those should cover your core competencies first.
What is LinkedIn’s Search Appearances feature?
Search Appearances shows how many times your profile appeared in LinkedIn search results that week, along with which companies, job titles, and keywords triggered those appearances. Find it from your profile page under the analytics summary. If the keywords showing up don’t match your target roles, your profile needs reoptimization to attract the right searches.
Is LinkedIn’s Providing Services feature worth using?
Yes, especially if you consult, freelance, or want to signal strategic value beyond your job title. Enabling Providing Services adds a dedicated section to your profile and makes you discoverable through separate recruiter and hiring manager filters. Professionals looking for contract or advisory expertise specifically use this setting, making it a quiet lead-generation channel that runs without any extra effort.
Become the Obvious Choice
Using these features correctly completes the EXPERT_SHIFT, changing from a passive resume to a valuable business partner. Companies don't want someone who is desperate for work; they want an expert who knows their value and fixes problems. If you fall back into the BAD_HABIT of treating your profile like an old filing box, you only signal that you are a risky hire who can be easily replaced. Real professional respect comes from showing your impact so clearly that you become the only sensible choice for the job. Stop waiting for someone to find you, and start showing that you are the answer the market is already searching for.
Set Yourself Up Today
