How to build a LinkedIn profile that recruiters find (and that convinces)
Recruiters search LinkedIn with the same keywords as a CV database. Here's how to appear at the top for the right searches.
Most technical vacancies are not filled through applications, but because a recruiter finds the candidate. And that finding happens on LinkedIn, with searches full of technical terms. A good profile is therefore not a business card but a safety net: it decides whether you are found for the roles you want, even when you're not actively looking today.
Write for the search query
Recruiters search on terms like maintenance technician, TIA Portal, HVAC or Siemens, combined with a region. If those words are not in your profile, you don't exist in their results. So put your core technologies literally in your headline (Maintenance technician | electromechanics | Antwerp) and repeat them in your experience, per job, as you would in a CV. Think of synonyms too: someone looking for an electromechanic sometimes types electrical technician, technician or maintenance technician. The more variants your profile covers, the more often you surface.
Make contact easy
A recruiter decides in seconds whether contact makes sense. Help them: mention your region, whether you are open to shifts, and if needed one sentence on what you're looking for. The Open to work signal can be made visible to recruiters only; your current employer won't see it. And reply briefly to messages, even when the answer is no: recruiters remember who responds professionally, and the role that doesn't fit today may be exactly what you want in a year.
The sections that do the work
One simply professional profile photo, a correct job title per role and two or three lines of concrete experience per role do ninety percent of the work. Add your certificates (VCA, BA4/BA5, refrigeration): these are literally filtered on. Also ask one or two former colleagues for a short recommendation; it reads like a pre-checked reference. Vague titles like technical employee are the biggest findability killer there is.
What you can safely skip
You don't need to write posts, share articles or be active daily; for technical profiles that barely weighs in how recruiters search. Spend that time on keywords and your experience sections. Unsure how your profile comes across? Share it with us via the profile form; we look at it with the search terms we use ourselves every day right next to it.
Frequently asked questions
Will my employer see that I turned on Open to work?
Not if you choose the recruiters-only option: LinkedIn then hides the signal from recruiters linked to your current company. No system is one hundred percent watertight, but in practice this setting is safe. The green photo frame is visible to everyone; that is a separate choice.
How often should I update my profile?
Two moments suffice: at every role change or new certificate, and fifteen minutes of maintenance once a year. Check whether your headline still holds, whether your newest technologies are in and whether your region is current. The algorithm asks no more of a technical profile.
Take the next step in your career
Browse our open technical vacancies, each with a clear salary range.