✍️Building a LinkedIn

Creating a compelling Linkedin profile is essential! Your profile invites recruiters to examine your credentials and fit for positions, and your profile also provides basic information.

This guide replicates professional advice shared by Linkedin experts in 2022.

Checklist

• Do you have the perfect profile photo (headshot, smiling, correct attire)?

• Does your headline match your desired job title?

• Does your summary include both keywords + accomplishments?

• Does your work experience include your resume bullets?

• Does your education include your accomplishments outside of class?

• Do your skills match the desired skills on your dream job description?

• Do you have at least one recommendation?

Profile Photo

Finding a stellar image for your Linkedin profile is critical, because recruiters and colleagues will see your contact data in a small format, so that image itself may be the only legible part of your profile in some instances!

• People love faces, so crop yours around your head & shoulders. Face forward with no one else in the frame.

• People love smiles - so make sure you have a genuine one.

• People love people like themselves - so match your desired industry’s dress code (e.g., casual for tech, formal for finance).

Headline

Recruiters search LinkedIn by position titles (for example: “Supply Chain Director,” “Product Marketing Manager,” “Translator”). So make sure that your headline reflects what you want them to discover you for:

• If you have experience with the job you want, feel free to use the actual job title.

• If you don’t have experience, you can add a modifier like “Aspiring Product Marketing Manager.”

Summary

Your summary can do double duty for you. Linkedin employees advise that the usage of specific keywords makes it 40x more likely to be contacted about opportunities.

• Having the right keywords from your desired job description (e.g. SEO, PR, NLP) can get you discovered by recruiters.

• Listening significant and concrete accomplishments can make it easy for recruiters to pick you.

Experience

Most people assume they shouldn’t put their resume bullets online. This is a huge mistake for a few reasons. (And the only exception would be work performed under non-disclosure.)

• It means you can’t be found for all t he great keywords in the “Description” part of your profile (e.g. “positioning”).

• It also means that you can’t show off all the great, specific work that you’ve done.

Education

Don’t assume employers only care about your degree. Savvy LinkedIn users know that what they did in school is just as important & says a lot about who they are. Include:

• Any jobs you held while enrolled.

• Extracurricular leadership.

• Volunteer duties (40% of employers say these are equal to paid work).

• Relevant courses, projects & publications (especially for new grads).

Skills

Most people just go with whatever random skills their friends have recommended for them. This can be optimized.

• Choose your own skills! Don’t waste a good opportunity to display the skills from your dream job description.

• Just don’t worry about endorsements - recruiters don’t care about them because they can be gamed.

Recommendations

Unlike endorsements, recommendations do matter. Without them, recruiters have to take your word. It’s validation.

• Even one recommendation says “OK, this is someone you can trust.”

• Try to get at least one recommendation for each job you list (even if from a peer).