LinkedIn Guide

LinkedIn: How Recruiters Actually Find You

There are 22 million Filipinos on LinkedIn. JobStreet is for volume/entry hiring; LinkedIn is the path to IT, multinationals, mid-senior roles — and to ALL remote and international jobs. Build your profile backwards: from how a recruiter searches.

The secret: how recruiter search works

• Job Titles are the strongest filter — it searches the titles in your Experience section. So use the market-standard title: "CSR II — Team Bravo" → "Customer Service Representative."

• The Keywords filter — it reads your WHOLE profile: headline, About, experience text. If your About is blank, invisible ka.

• "Company followers" is a literal recruiter filter. Free edge: follow all your target companies right now.

• Skills: up to 50 allowed — fill them from your target job postings, pin the top 3–5. But your skills also need to appear as WORDS in your experience text — many recruiters don't trust the skills filter and go straight to keyword search.

• Photo: face fills 60–70% of the frame, plain background, natural light from a window — ₱0 ang gastos. Banner (1584×396): role + value statement, not the default blue. Custom URL: linkedin.com/in/juandelacruz-va.

Two different headline playbooks

Local corporate For recruiter search

Formula: [Market-standard title] | [2–3 tools/skills] | [proof]

"Customer Service Representative | Zendesk, Salesforce | 95% CSAT across 3 BPO accounts"

"Fresh Grad, BS Accountancy | Xero, Excel, QuickBooks | Open to Bookkeeping & AP Roles"

Remote/VA for US-AU clients For a browsing client

Formula: [Niche] VA | [Outcome] for [Client type]

"Social Media VA | Growing Brand Engagement for E-commerce Brands"

"Executive Virtual Assistant | Streamlining Operations for Busy Entrepreneurs"

Only the first 60 characters show on mobile — put your target title and main keyword there. Huwag na huwag: "Seeking any opportunity" as a headline — you're wasting your most searchable field.

📍 Location when hunting remote Don't put a fake US location — it'll blow up at the interview stage. The right move: real location (Manila/Philippines) + signal the market in your headline ("Remote | EST hours") + in Open to Work settings, set "Remote" and your target countries — that's what recruiter remote filters read.

🟢 Open to Work: the verdict The recruiters-only setting is pure benefit — always turn it on. The public green frame: helpful if you're entry/mid-level and actively searching (your fight is volume-based sourcing); skip it if you're senior. Fill in the details — titles, locations, start date — kasi filter fields 'yan.

About section: your free billboard

2,600 characters are allowed, but only the first ~265 characters show before "see more" — that's where the hook goes: your strongest number or the problem you solve.

Skeleton: Hook (1–2 lines) → 3–4 proof bullets with numbers → a keywords paragraph written naturally (this feeds recruiter keyword search) → CTA ("Looking for [role]" or "Message me").

Featured section: a portfolio PDF, before/after samples, and for VAs — a Loom video of you doing the task. The video is proof of English fluency — the #1 worry of foreign clients about PH candidates.

Also add: freelance/raket work as "Freelance/Contract" experience (bilang 'yan!) and your TESDA/Google/HubSpot certs — libreng credibility.

Outreach na hindi nakakahiya

The numbers: the connection note has a 300-char limit, but only ~5 personalized invites/month are free — spend them on your 5 most important people (hiring managers). For others, send a blank request — the data: blank requests are accepted MORE (55–68%) than long notes (25–35% — looks like automation). But when there's a short note (120–180 chars), the reply rate after acceptance is 72% higher. DM follow-up: once only, after 3–5 days, then stop.

To a recruiter, after applying"Hi Ms. Ana, I just applied for the CSR role at [Company] (Ref #123). 3 yrs BPO experience, 95% CSAT. Would love to connect either way!"

To a hiring manager"Hi [Name], saw [Company] is growing its finance team. I've followed your posts on AP automation — would love to connect."

❌ "Interested po" on a job post

Recruiters hate this — you're shifting the work onto them. Do this instead: (1) apply FIRST via the link, (2) comment: "Thanks for sharing, [Name] — excited about this role; I've applied via the link and sent a connection request," (3) a personalized request that mentions the application, (4) follow up after 1 week.

❌ "Sana may makapansin po 🙏"

You'll get sympathy, not a job. Do this instead: a proof post — "Just finished Google Data Analytics (free via DICT scholarship). Built a dashboard of NCR job postings — 3 things I learned: … Open to junior analyst roles." Value first, availability at the end.

The hierarchy: Profile (required) → targeted connections + DMs (required) → 5–8 thoughtful comments/day on target companies' posts (high ROI, 15–20 min) → posting content (optional, 1x/week max). You don't have to become a content creator to get hired.

Premium and Sales Navigator: the free strategy

Premium Career (~₱1,700–2,300/month): most people land jobs without it. If you do use it: start the 1-month free trial only when you're actively applying, burn through the LinkedIn Learning certs, use the 5 InMails on hard-to-reach hiring managers, and cancel before you're billed.

For VA prospecting: ONE focused 30-day Sales Navigator free trial → build a 100-prospect list (Owner/Founder + 1–10 employees + target industry) → export to a spreadsheet → work the list on free LinkedIn afterwards. Sequence: Day 1 follow + comment → Day 3–5 second touch → Day 5–7 connect → after acceptance, a DM with ONE specific observation about their business + a gentle question → offer a small free win → call.

Last verified: July 2026 · The engagement stats come from outreach tools' published data and from LinkedIn itself — treat them as directional, not exact.