Once you have created your CV you should also create a Linkedin profile. Linkedin is a professional social network that is used by recruiters and employers to find candidates. You can use Linkedin to showcase your skills and experience to potential employers.
You'll find that it's very common for employers and recruiters to use your Linkedin profile to find out more about you and to contact you on there to discuss any job opportunities.
Make sure that you've got a professional photo on your Linkedin profile. This means no selfies, no photos of you on holiday, and no photos of you with other people. You should have a photo of just you, in professional attire.
Employment History
You should list your employment history on your Linkedin profile. This should include your job title, the company you worked for, and the dates that you worked there. You should also include a short description of the company and your responsibilities.
You can also include any achievements that you had in the role. This could be projects that you worked on, targets that you hit, or any awards that you won.
Skills
Listing your skills on your Linkedin profile is a great way to showcase your abilities to potential employers. You can list your skills in a table or as a list. You can use this skill list in Linkedin to search for new job opportunities, using these skills.
Recommendations
You can ask your colleagues and managers to write recommendations for you on Linkedin. This is a great way to show potential employers that you are a great employee. You can also write recommendations for your colleagues and managers.
Premium Account
Having a premium account on Linkedin can be beneficial. You can see who has viewed your profile, you can see how you compare to other candidates, and you can send messages to people that you're not connected with.
This is very useful when you are looking for a new job as you can contact recruiters directly.
There is a lot of competition for jobs on Linkedin, some software jobs can have 100s/1000s of applicants within the first few days of being listed. This is far too many for any recruiter to look through so they will use filters to reduce the number of applicants. A good way of standing out to the recruiter is by sending them a direct message to show your interest in the role.
This way you can send your CV directly to them rather than being in a pile of 100s of other CVs applying for the same role.