LinkedIn is a powerful tool for job seekers, recruiters, and human resource professionals.
It’s also a great way to build your professional network and stay connected with people you’ve worked with in the past.
But with over 830 million members, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd.
This is especially true if you’re just starting out on LinkedIn or are new to social media in general.
If that sounds like you, don’t worry – there are plenty of ways to boost your LinkedIn connections and profile and make it more appealing to potential employers, clients, and colleagues.
One of these methods is by taking LinkedIn’s skill assessment — an online quiz that rates your proficiency in a variety of different areas.
In today’s article, we’ll cover what LinkedIn skill assessments are, why you should take them and how you should use them for increasing your profile visibility.
So if you’re ready, let’s begin!
What Is LinkedIn Skill Assessment and How Does It Work?
There is a lot of contradictory information out there, and LinkedIn isn’t providing that much information to clarify on this.
The LinkedIn Skill Assessments is the LinkedIn feature that allows you to confirm the skills you’ve included on your profile by completing assessments related to those skills.
Creating a resume and cover letter are important steps in your job search, but they aren’t enough to land you the interview.
Most professionals, even ones applying for entry-level positions, focus more time, energy, and resources on their Linkedin profiles.
For example, if you want to get a job at an accounting firm, then you probably know that a majority of them require you to complete a skill assessment on LinkedIn.
Now that this function has been launched, we are seeing more questions coming in from people concerned about privacy and others who want to change their current skill assessments after the new LinkedIn system was put in place.
It consists of 15 time-limited choice questions that are testing some part of your skillset and need to be completed in one session.
What Is the Difference Between a Certification and an Assessment?
LinkedIn Skill Assessments are different than certifications because they don’t require you to complete any training or purchase anything.
They also don’t require any continuing education or other commitments from you after you take them.
They are free and easy to use, and what’s great about them is that they’re not big time-consumer.
It takes less than 20 minutes to finish them.
Why Should You Take a LinkedIn Skill Assessment?
The LinkedIn skill assessment is a way for you to showcase your skills and expertise on the platform.
The LinkedIn Skill Assessment will tell you which skills are most relevant to your job search.
The more accurate the results are, the better they can guide your career decisions — whether that means choosing a new course of study or finding a new job opportunity.
There are many reasons why you should take the assessment:
- Helps you stand out from the pack
- To get feedback on how others perceive your strengths and weaknesses
- To discover new skills or areas of improvement
- To gain insight into your career path and future goals
- Boost your show up in LinkedIn search results
- Let recruiters know you’re open to work and what are your skills
- Receive job recommendations if you’re a job seeker
Note: To help you stand out, we’ve also created a guide “How to Leverage Your Network And Drive Business Results”, so make sure to check it out.
How To Take LinkedIn Skill Assessments?
Taking LinkedIn Skill assessments is quite easy to get done and might bring you and your LinkedIn profile lots of benefits.
To take your LinkedIn skill assessment, navigate to your profile, and in the “Skills” segment, hit “Take skill quiz”.
There, you can search for a specific assessment you want to take on in the top right corner, or you can sort it through “Industry knowledge” and “Tools & technology” categories and see which one fits you best.
After choosing the topic you’ll be able to see its details along with the rules on how to complete it.
You can either choose to practice or start the official assessment by clicking the proper buttons.
In the end, you can choose(or not) to share the results you got from taking the assessment so recruiters might find you easier in the future.
Note: Our warm advice is to do it.
Note: Keep in mind that if you quit the assessment during the assessment time, next time you’ll need to start it over from the beginning.
LinkedIn assessments are an excellent way to give proof of your skills to potential connections, recruiters, and others with whom you’re networking.
And even if you fail in passing them, it won’t hurt your profile.
How Many Assessments Can I Take?
If you don’t have a LinkedIn Premium account, and you fail a test, you’ll need to wait for 3 months to do a test again.
There is no limit on how many times you can take them, but you’re time-limited, so in case you fail the first time, make sure you prepare yourself better for the next time.
Are LinkedIn Skill Assessments Worth It?
The short answer is yes.
The longer answer is that, like most things in life, there are some pros and cons to using LinkedIn Skill Assessments.
Here’s what you need to know:
Pros
1. You Can Get Better at Your Job by Learning New Skills
Whether it’s learning how to use a new software program or finding out what skills your company values most, Skill Assessments can help you develop the knowledge and skills employers are looking for.
2. You Can Network With More People
If you’ve been looking for a new job but haven’t had much luck, chances are good that you’re not connected with many people who can refer their friends for jobs at the companies where they work.
A LinkedIn Skill Assessment gives you the opportunity to connect with people on LinkedIn who may be able to help you find the career path or role that’s right for you — or who could become valuable contacts down the road.
3. Your Profile Gets More Visibility in the Eyes of Recruiters and Hiring Managers
When recruiters look through candidates’ profiles on LinkedIn, they often see which skills someone has rated themselves as having on an assessment test before deciding whether or not to move forward with contacting them.
Cons
1. It Can Take You Loads of Time
Sometimes, filling out a survey isn’t always fun, and if you put a lot of focus on it, it can take you a lot of time trying to get into the top 30% of people.
You can spend that time, connecting with other people which can be much valuable for you and your career.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Skill Assessments are a great tool for increasing your visibility on the platform.
They are a way of showing off your professional skills and expertise to potential employers and clients. They’re also good for helping you understand what kind of career path you want to take.
They give you an objective view of your skills and experience as compared to others in your field.
This is especially helpful if you’re looking to improve or change your career.
But before you get too distracted by these quizzes, make sure that building your LinkedIn connections is what can be a real game-changer for you and your career.
Luckily, engaging with your audience is no longer a problem with the right LinkedIn tools, so it’s essential to choose the one that best fits your needs.
With a LeadDelta social capital manager, you’ll be more productive by viewing and organizing your network the way it suits your needs the most.
It’s time to stop with overloaded inboxes, feeds, and screaming notifications but rather focus on building relationships.
Download LeadDelta extension and improve your LinkedIn connections game.
