Your LinkedIn is doing the interview before you walk in the room.
I've lost count of the number of times I've sent a candidate's CV to a client, only to have them come back with: "I had a look at their LinkedIn, a couple of things don't line up."
That sentence is far more common than most people realise, and it happens before an interview is even scheduled. In construction, property and infrastructure, this industry is small and relationship-driven. Hiring managers know people who know people, and a huge amount of due diligence happens well before a formal process starts.
Candidates need to realise that your LinkedIn profile isn't a formality sitting next to your CV. For a lot of clients, it is the first interview.
When a role comes up, most experienced hiring managers don't wait for a shortlist to start looking. They'll search a name the moment it's mentioned, before a coffee catch-up, before a formal interview, sometimes before they've even agreed to meet and LinkedIn is the fastest, most socially acceptable way to do it.
Some tips on what they are looking for:
Does the story match? Job titles, employers, and dates that don't line up with the CV they've been sent raise a question mark. Often it's just an old title that was never updated, or a role description that's gone stale. But the client doesn't know that. All they see is a mismatch.
Is there a professional photo? No photo, or a photo cropped from a group shot at someone's wedding, sends a signal, whether it's fair or not. A clear, current, professional headshot says you take how you present yourself seriously.
Is anything there at all? A sparse, outdated, or inactive profile can read as disengagement, even for people who are excellent at their actual jobs.
Your profile should tell the same story as your CV, in the same order, with the same titles. If you were promoted internally but never updated your title, fix it. If you left a role two years ago but LinkedIn still shows you there, fix it. These are five-minute jobs that remove entirely avoidable doubt from a process that's often decided on very fine margins.
None of this replaces being good at your job. But in a market where relationships and reputation move faster than formal process, your online presence is doing work on your behalf whether you've thought about it or not.
These are all things we assist our candidates with when they work with us as their recruiter.