I used to keep my linkedin fresh just to see what feelers I get. I also funnel all recruiter emails into a folder. (It's a good ego boost sometimes, not gonna lie.) Last time I was looking for a job roughly four years ago, I just opened my email recruiter folder and started responding. Responded to four emails, (three faangs plus linkedin), and now I'm at a faang.

Now, there's no way to know for sure that keeping linkedin fresh actually helps. Also it was a special time where I had just finished an online masters in CS and I was really on a roll so I was taking a bunch of MOOCs afterwards as well. IMO keeping my linkedin updated with a degree in CS and mooc certificates helped. Normal day to day stuff I wouldn't update linkedin for.

When I was reviewing resumes I would generally also look at an interesting candidate’s LinkedIn as it often provided more detail than the resume itself.

For me, I was mostly looking for more detail on a candidate’s experience. Links to projects were good. I didn’t consciously look at anything else, but I’ll admit that I probably regarded more complete profiles better.

I would also check out candidate’s personal sites. Decent content (even not up to date) was generally a big bonus.

Despite the criticism from other people in this thread, pretty much every role I've received is through LinkedIn. I probably get 4 or 5 recruiters reach out a week regarding one role or another, of which 1 of those is worth my time. That increased over time as I've built my network of recruiters in my field.

In terms of prior experience, I simply state what I achieved at each role in a bullet list. Nothing fancy. My university education is a list of all the modules I took.

Forget the "social media gamifying" side of it. Likes and posts don't matter if your goal is just getting offers. Keeping the profile current, and have your skills section up to date as recruiters use that to filter applicants. Block any recruiters that send you insultingly low-ball offers. Connect with those that provide value.

The headhunter spam helps to keep aware of who's hiring in the region, then when you will something that might seem interesting apply directly.

Although some of them are also good, and might help you to at least skip directly to the interview on site.

My last 4 roles came out of recruiters on LinkedIn reaching out.

Having detailed job descriptions with rich detail as to what you did and a good number of connections in the industry you’re looking in is what drives the algo

I got my current job in mid-2021 after a "cold" reachout from a recruiter who just happened to have a position that was perfect for me. I wasn't looking, but was open to suggestion.

My profile at that time probably hadn't been touched in about 5-6 years. After talking with her I cleaned it up a bit, but it's nothing more than a basic resume and a list of past positions going back about 10 years. IME, all they care about is that you provide enough context that they can compare against the openings they have. The "extra" skills, projects, etc., can come out when you have a pre-interview discussion.

I've been in industry 30 years and every position except my first has been through a recruiter. They're good at this (some of them anyway): make them do the hard work.