A pilot’s guide to

Looking to build up your personal brand?

We’ve partnered up with CV Knowhow, who are

also experts in writing LinkedIn profiles to bring

you our collective top tips on getting you noticed.

Creating a LinkedIn profile is the perfect way to

promote what you do for a living, and what you’d

be like as an employee.

With more than 500 million members,

LinkedIn is fast becoming the platform for

online branding. Whether you’re job-hunting,

gathering leads, or networking in your industry,

having a professional, eye-catching LinkedIn

profile can open up a number of opportunities

for your career.

Choose the right profile picture

Your profile picture should be professional,

approachable and clear. Steer away from selfies -

they don’t send the right message.

Choose a picture with a smile, perhaps from an

event or a professionally taken photograph from

inside the cockpit (in uniform of course!)

Add a background photo

Your background photo is the second most

important visual on your profile, so it should be

equally as eye-catching as your profile picture.

A number of pilots using LinkedIn change their

background photos to reflect their current airline,

but you might have a different idea. Whatever

it is, it should reflect professionally on you and

your company.

Getting Started

Hot tip! Did you know that if you change your headline via your

smartphone, you can add emojis?

Again, the concept should still be professional, but think of how

much more your profile would stand out in a list of other people if

you include a visual.

Be creative with your headline

If you try searching for someone specific on

LinkedIn, their name, profile picture, and a headline

will be the first thing you see. Many people use the

headline section to show their job title, but think

carefully about this.

If you really want to stand out, this headline could

be used for so much more. Perhaps a strapline for

your airline, or a more insightful statement about

your passion for being a pilot? However, you only

have 120 characters, so keep it short and sweet.

Build your presence

Form an exceptional summary

Too many people leave this section blank but this

is the perfect opportunity to tell your story. Don’t

just settle for a list of qualifications or airlines

you’ve worked for - there are other areas on your

profile for that.

You have to bring light to why these skills matter

and how they can make a difference to the people

you work with. This is a work of art, and the first

big chunk of written content people will see on

your profile - so make it a worthwhile read!

4 GOLDEN RULES for your status updates

• Use plain, well-spaced text

• Aim for 218 characters

• Avoid links to other websites

• Avoid generic stock photos

Hot tip!

Get your friends, colleagues and fellow

connections to endorse your skills. They can

do this by heading to your profile and clicking

the + sign on the relevant skill.

More people endorsing your skills shows to

others that you are credible. Don’t forget to

endorse their skills too, it would be rude not to!

Promote your expertise!

If you have many more years of experience, use

this section to build up to where you are today.

You have 2,000 characters, so you can bullet point

your skill set, but for the more crucial, relevant

parts, use the room to elaborate.

Add your skill set

The Skills and Endorsements section allows you

to showcase your ability. The audience you are

looking to target must be kept in mind for this.

Stay relevant and make sure the skills represent

what you’re doing now. You can list up to 50 skills.

When listing them, keep in mind how a recruiter

will search.

Be proactive

Setting up a LinkedIn profile is all well and good...

but if you don’t contribute to it on a regular basis,

you won’t see the results you want. Take part in

relevant discussions, and showcase the work

you’re proud of.

Engage

We’ve touched on this point throughout this guide,

but we can’t stress enough how important it is for

you to engage with others in your industry. It is,

after all, a social network.

Discussions around the aviation industry and

related topics are common on LinkedIn. Get

involved, and post your thoughts on the latest

industry news. This will help you to present

Request recommendations

While the skills section gives a quick overview of

the skills you have, recommendations from a third

party prove that you are actually capable of them.

Ask past employers, or people you know in your

industry to provide you with a recommendation on

your page. These are powerful in cementing your

professional reputation. Think carefully, whose

comments are more valuable, to your profile - a

friend or a CEO?

Make an impact (I)

Hot tip!

Did you know that if you get 13+ likes on your

LinkedIn post within the first hour, you gain

increased visibility on your post? Ask your

colleagues/team to like your post and you

can get added traction.

yourself as an industry expert who regularly shares

insights. Whatever you use LinkedIn for, the main

goals are to populate your profile, and be proactive.

Following these tips will help to establish you

as a leader within your industry, network with

the relevant individuals and/or create more

potential business.

Hot tip!

Click the search bar, and you can search for

people by their name, location and job title.

Game changer? We think so!

Make an impact (II)Groups

Ask to join groups on LinkedIn so you can be a

part of the conversations that interest you. In

the search section, you can search for groups

by name.

Alternatively, you can click the Work icon in the top

right of your LinkedIn homepage and select Groups

from the menu that appears. Click Discover at the

top of the page to view suggested groups.

You can then request membership by clicking

the Ask to join button under the group description.

For example:

• Aviation Professionals: 170,817 members

• Aviation Network: 114,640 members

• Business Aviation Network: 38,558 members

Connections

If you would like to be seen as a committed

LinkedIn user, make sure you gain more than

500 connections. Once you reach 500, it simply

shows ‘500+ connections’.

Anything lower, it shows the exact number of

people you’re connected with, which could give

the impression that you don’t use LinkedIn much.

Start sharing

Consumers today are surrounded by so much

content, they’re becoming numb to it. In a crowded

noise, you need to shout extremely loud and

provide content that people will want to read to

get noticed.

However, the good news is, people are naturally

interested in the life of a pilot and do want to hear

more about it, so provided you’re connected well,

you shouldn’t have too much trouble engaging with

others. Discussing industry news, sharing your

experiences and providing useful tips is always

popular content.

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