I was involved in an interesting conversation about whether or not LinkedIn would eventually replace the resume. Many recruiters feel more confident in the information on a LinkedIn profile then on a resume primarily because they tend to be more honest. Anyone can put just about anything on their resume (and people do tend to embellish a bit).

But your LinkedIn profile is a public site, where your former co-workers and employers are invited to connect and see what you’ve posted. That alone can help keep you honest.

Just having a LinkedIn profile with your education and work history can be helpful when trying to land a job, since it’s likely to show up when the recruiter does a google search, however, below are a few tips to help you get the most out of your LinkedIn profile.

1. Make your professional headline enticing. (“Innovative Marketer with a Drive for Results”)

2. Information from your profile shows up in search results so it’s important that your profile is complete, detailed and set up for “full view”. Include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities.

3. Ask friends, former co-workers and supervisors to connect and recommend you. Recommendations like these say a lot about the type of employee you are.

4. Join groups that are relevant to the type of work you’re seeking, and participate in discussions. This helps others to get to know you, and helps establish yourself as an expert.

5. Add the application “Google Presentation” to display a video resume on your LinkedIn profile. People are 7 to 10 times more likely to view a video than read a profile. This will let recruiters really get to know you.

6. Add the “Blog Link” or “WordPress” application to display your blog postings on your profile. This gives you credibility and shows that you’re an expert in your field.

7. Join local HR and Recruiting groups and ask for opinions on your newly modified profile. This may not only get you some useful feedback on how to improve your profile, but it may cause them to look it over more carefully.

8. Search for companies you’re interested in working for. You can get a list of people connected to that company, and how they’re connected to you.

Good luck and I hope this helps!