The LinkedIn makeover – 7 steps to get noticed

Look better, rank higher and get interactive to supercharge your professional profile

Covid-19 has changed the social media landscape, with feeds inundated with coronavirus news. LinkedIn has been no different. An estimated one third of all LinkedIn posts being about Covid-19, with professionals turning to the platform to navigate the ‘new normal’ way of working, as well as use it to actively look for employment opportunities, as they find themselves out of work.

With jobs being scarce in the market right now, it’s imperative to stand out and distinguish yourself on the professional networking site, which is used by recruiters and employers.

Here are the top tips that will ensure you are a cut above the rest:

1. LOOKS MATTER

Your profile picture is the first thing people see and it speaks volumes about creating a strong first impression. You wouldn’t leave the house for a meeting

This is your elevator pitch, so don’t make the mistake of listing your job titles or running off generic and cliché sentences like “I am a results’ oriented team player”. Be creative, clear and informative.

6. GET ENDORSED AND RECOMMENDED

No one is going to toot your horn on your behalf, so go ahead and take measures to actively build your reputation. A recommendation on LinkedIn is a public validation that adds tremendous credibility to your profile. So ask for recommendations, especially from senior colleagues and industry heavyweights.

Endorsements are a keyword haven, so pinpoint your major skills and order them so the critical ones

With an increased focus on wellbeing, has the health food industry seen a rise in the region in recent years?

Yes. With the new generation in the GCC being much more health conscious and aware of what they put in their bodies, we have seen a tremendous increase in the demand for healthy snacking. Covid-19 has also played an additional role in increasing this demand because people are staying at home with little opportunity to go out or workout. This means they need to be extra careful with what they eat so they do not gain weight and face health problems due to the lack of movement.

Are there specific segments within the sector seeing stronger growth?

With the faster lifestyle people have adopted, the time for sit-down meals is no longer a priority as it was before.

This means people are getting more and more of their food intake on the go, while snacking. We can see this in the growth of the number of products on the shelves of retailers and the space they give in their stores to healthy snacking products.

Are you seeing more local companies mushrooming to meet demand for health snacks?

We see many players come into the market due to the growing category.

However, only very few manage to survive for more than one or two years mainly because of the difficult nature of the business when it comes to securing good quality manufacturing and fulfilling the demanding needs of customers. Customers are now much more educated, they have many more options and are hence extremely picky about what brands they choose to trust. The building of this trust takes time. It took Munchbox six years to reach where we are today.

There are a lot of products claiming to be ‘healthy’. Are there regulations to monitor the market?

Dubai Municipality has world-class regulations and measures in place to ensure that products sold

in the country deliver on what they promise and are actually healthy for the consumer. Having said that, there are of course many soft claims which some companies use to seem healthy, for example, ‘reduced sugar’, or ‘now with less sodium’ which are difficult to quantify. Munchbox follows a puritan approach, and we only make claims that are absolute and leave no room for interpretation, like ‘no sugar added, ‘zero preservatives’ and ‘zero artificial colouring’.

The pandemic has led to people cooking a lot more at home. Has this impacted the industry?

Yes, but for the better.

Speaking specifically about our products, with reduced footfall in supermarkets, petrol stations and coffee shops, we have seen a decline in retail sales.

But on the other hand, our customers have shifted their purchasing habits to ordering from our online platform and our online grocery partners. Although people are spending time at home cooking, they’re also now snacking while cooking, watching TV, and working on their laptops at home.