How to Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn and Get Noticed by the Right People

There is a version of your professional self living online right now. It is being viewed by recruiters, hiring managers, potential clients, and professional contacts — often before they have ever met you or read your resume.

The question is: is it representing you well?

LinkedIn has become the world’s most important professional network, with more than one billion members globally and an estimated twelve million users in Australia alone. For most professionals, it is the first place someone will look when they want to know more about you — and the primary tool recruiters use to find and approach candidates for roles that are never publicly advertised.

If your LinkedIn profile is incomplete, outdated, or simply invisible in search results, you are missing a significant stream of professional opportunities. And if you have no LinkedIn presence at all, you are simply not in the room where the most important conversations are happening.

This guide will show you how to build a compelling LinkedIn profile, develop your personal brand, and use the platform strategically to advance your career.

What Is a Personal Brand — and Why Does It Matter?

Your personal brand is the professional reputation you hold in the minds of the people who know you, work with you, or come across you online. It is the answer to the question: what do people think of when they think of you professionally?

Whether you have intentionally built one or not, you already have a personal brand. The question is whether you are shaping it deliberately or leaving it to chance.

A strong personal brand:

• Differentiates you from other professionals with similar qualifications and experience
• Signals clearly what you stand for, what you are expert in, and what kind of opportunities you are open to
• Builds trust and credibility with potential employers, clients, and collaborators
• Attracts the right opportunities — often without you having to actively seek them out

LinkedIn is the most powerful platform available to most professionals for building and communicating their personal brand. Used well, it can transform your career — bringing opportunities to you rather than requiring you to chase them.

The Foundation: A Complete and Compelling LinkedIn Profile

Before you think about strategy, content, or networking, you need to make sure your LinkedIn profile itself is working as hard as it can for you. A weak or incomplete profile undermines everything else you do on the platform.

Here is what a strong LinkedIn profile looks like:

Profile Photo

Your profile photo is the first thing people see and it has a disproportionate impact on the impression you make. Research suggests that profiles with photos receive significantly more views and connection requests than those without.

Your photo should be:

• Recent and genuinely representative of how you look now
• Professional in appearance — appropriate clothing, good lighting, a clean background
• A clear headshot where your face takes up the majority of the frame
• Warm and approachable — you want to look like someone people would want to meet

Avoid: group photos, casual selfies, holiday photos, or anything that does not reflect the professional you.

Background Banner

The background banner at the top of your profile is valuable real estate that most people leave as the default blue. Use it to reinforce your personal brand — it might feature your industry, your values, a professional tagline, or simply something that communicates who you are visually.

Headline

Your LinkedIn headline is the line of text that appears directly below your name. By default, LinkedIn populates it with your current job title — but this is a missed opportunity.

Your headline is one of the most important elements of your profile for two reasons: it is visible everywhere your name appears on LinkedIn (in search results, in comments, in connection requests), and it is a key factor in how LinkedIn’s search algorithm ranks your profile.

A compelling headline goes beyond your job title to communicate your value and expertise. For example:

Instead of: “Marketing Manager at ABC Company” Write: “Marketing Manager | Brand Strategy | Digital Campaigns | Helping businesses connect with the right audiences”

Instead of: “Job Seeker” Write: “Customer Service Professional | Account Management | Building lasting client relationships | Open to new opportunities”

Use relevant keywords naturally — think about the terms a recruiter or potential employer would search for when looking for someone with your skills.

About Section (Summary)

The About section is your opportunity to tell your professional story in your own voice. It is the most personal and expressive part of your profile — and one of the most frequently under-utilised.

A strong About section:

• Opens with a hook that immediately communicates what you do and the value you bring
• Tells your professional story in a way that is engaging and authentic — not a dry list of credentials
• Highlights your key strengths, areas of expertise, and what you are passionate about professionally
• Signals the kind of opportunities or connections you are open to
• Closes with a clear call to action — inviting people to connect, reach out, or visit your website

Write in first person and let your personality come through. LinkedIn is a professional platform, but it is still a human one — the profiles that attract the most attention are the ones that feel genuine and specific, not generic and corporate.

Experience Section

Your experience section should mirror the achievement-focused approach of your resume — not just list your duties, but highlight what you delivered in each role. Use bullet points, include quantified achievements where possible, and ensure the language is clear and specific.

Unlike a resume, LinkedIn allows you to include multimedia — links, documents, images, and videos — alongside each role. If you have work samples, published articles, presentations, or other evidence of your work that you can share publicly, adding them here adds credibility and depth to your profile.

Skills and Endorsements

LinkedIn allows you to list up to 50 skills on your profile. Prioritise the skills that are most relevant to the type of work you do or the opportunities you are seeking, and make sure they include the keywords that recruiters in your field are likely to search for.

Skills that have been endorsed by your connections carry more weight — so it is worth reaching out to former colleagues and asking for endorsements on your key skills.

Recommendations

Written recommendations from former managers, colleagues, clients, or collaborators are one of the most powerful elements of a LinkedIn profile. They provide third-party validation of your capabilities and character — something that a self-written profile cannot replicate.

Aim for at least three to five recommendations from people who can speak credibly to your professional strengths. When requesting a recommendation, be specific about what you would like them to focus on — this makes it easier for them and results in more useful, targeted recommendations.

Vanity URL

By default, your LinkedIn profile URL will be a string of numbers and letters. Customise it to include your name (e.g., linkedin.com/in/melissadixon) — it looks more professional and is easier to include on your resume and email signature.

LinkedIn Coaching Australia: Making the Algorithm Work for You

Understanding how LinkedIn’s search algorithm works is a significant advantage — especially if you are open to being approached by recruiters and hiring managers for opportunities you have not actively applied for.

LinkedIn ranks profiles in search results based on several factors, with keyword relevance being one of the most important. This means that the words you use throughout your profile — in your headline, About section, experience descriptions, and skills — directly influence how often and how highly you appear in recruiter searches.

Keyword strategy for LinkedIn:

Think about the specific terms a recruiter would use to find someone with your skills and background. These typically include:

• Your job title (and common variations of it)
• Your core skills and areas of expertise
• The industries or sectors you work in
• Tools, software, methodologies, or certifications relevant to your field
• The types of roles or projects you are suited for

Use these terms naturally throughout your profile — not stuffed artificially, but woven into genuine descriptions of your experience and expertise.

Open to Work:

If you are actively looking for a new role, LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” feature allows you to signal this either publicly (visible to all LinkedIn members) or privately (visible only to recruiters using LinkedIn Recruiter). The private setting is useful if you are employed and looking discreetly.

Building Your Brand Through Content and Engagement

A complete and well-optimised profile is the foundation — but the professionals who get the most out of LinkedIn are the ones who actively engage on the platform.

Engaging on LinkedIn does not mean spending hours every day crafting lengthy articles. Even modest, consistent activity can significantly increase your visibility and build your professional reputation over time.

Sharing insights and perspectives. Short posts sharing your thoughts on a trend, challenge, or development in your industry demonstrate expertise and attract the attention of people in your field. You do not need to be an expert commentator — sharing a genuine observation or a lesson learned from your own experience is equally valuable.

Commenting on others’ content. Thoughtful, substantive comments on posts by people in your network or industry are one of the most efficient ways to increase your visibility. Your comment — and your name — is seen by everyone who views that post, including people outside your direct network.

Sharing articles and resources. Sharing relevant articles with a brief note about why you found them interesting or useful demonstrates that you are engaged with your industry and thinking critically about what is happening in your field.

Publishing long-form articles. LinkedIn’s publishing platform allows you to write and share long-form content directly on the platform. This is a powerful way to demonstrate deep expertise and build credibility over time — but it requires more time and effort than short posts.

Connecting intentionally. Build your network deliberately rather than accepting or sending every connection request indiscriminately. Connect with people you have worked with, met at industry events, or whose work genuinely interests you. A smaller, more engaged network is more valuable than a large one built on weak connections.

LinkedIn for Job Searching

Beyond building your brand for the long term, LinkedIn is also a highly effective active job search tool.

Job advertisements. LinkedIn Jobs is one of Australia’s largest job boards and is particularly strong for professional and executive roles. You can set up job alerts for specific roles, locations, and industries so that relevant opportunities come to you automatically.

Researching organisations. Before applying for a role or attending an interview, LinkedIn allows you to research the organisation, understand their culture and values, identify the hiring manager, and find connections who might be able to provide an introduction or insight.

Making direct approaches. As discussed in our article on the hidden job market, LinkedIn makes it possible to identify and contact hiring managers and potential employers directly — a proactive approach that can open doors that would never be found on a job board.

Following companies. Following the organisations you are interested in working for keeps you informed about their news, job postings, and culture — and signals your interest to their talent team.

Professional LinkedIn Profile Writing: When to Get Help

Building a strong LinkedIn profile takes time, skill, and a level of objectivity about yourself that most people find genuinely difficult. It is hard to know what to emphasise, how to tell your story compellingly, and which keywords will make the difference between being found and being invisible.

This is where professional LinkedIn profile writing comes in. At Transform Career Services, we provide LinkedIn coaching and profile writing services that include:

• A one-on-one consultation to understand your background, goals, and target opportunities
• A complete rewrite of your headline, About section, and experience descriptions
• Keyword optimisation to improve your visibility in recruiter searches
• Strategic guidance on building your brand and engaging effectively on the platform
• Advice on the Open to Work feature and privacy settings

Whether you are actively job searching, building your professional profile for the long term, or preparing to make a career change, a professionally written LinkedIn profile is one of the highest-return investments you can make in your career.

Your Brand Is Being Built — With or Without You

Every day you spend with a weak or incomplete LinkedIn profile is a day that potential opportunities are passing you by. Recruiters are searching. Hiring managers are researching. Clients and collaborators are forming impressions.

The question is not whether you have a personal brand. You do. The question is whether you are shaping it intentionally — or leaving it to chance.

Ready to build a LinkedIn profile and personal brand that works for you? Get in touch with Transform Career Services today.

transformcareerservices.com.au/contact-us

Melissa Dixon is the founder of Transform Career Services, a Canberra-based career consulting practice specialising in LinkedIn coaching, personal branding, resume writing, career coaching, and professional development. With over 13 years of experience in recruitment management, HR, and career coaching, Melissa helps professionals across Australia build careers and brands that open the right doors.