LinkedIn is one of the most effective places to create and manage your online brand. It's a professional networking platform that helps you tell your story, connect to others and research jobs, industries, companies and other information.
Getting Started
Your LinkedIn profile is not a resume. While both the resume and your LinkedIn profile share your experience, skills, and accomplishments, they have different functions and different conventions. Your LinkedIn profile allows you unique opportunities to showcase your brand and to be active in the world’s largest professional social networking platform. Your profile should include:
- Photo— Choose a clear, friendly and appropriately professional image.
- Headline— Your headline doesn’t have to be your name, job title and company. You can use that space to succinctly (5–6 words max) showcase your value proposition and goals
- Summary— This is your opportunity to share who you are, what motivates you, what you’re skilled at, and what your goals are.
- Experience— Your LinkedIn work experience section doesn’t need to be as detailed as your resume. It should instead be a summary that highlights your main achievements. Paragraph form is acceptable because you won’t be including a ton of information.
- Work Samples— In each section of your work history you can add presentations you’ve authored, videos you’ve helped create, web pages you’ve written, campaigns you’ve designed and more.
- Education— Starting with college, list all the educational experiences you’ve had. Don’t forget summer or study abroad programs!
- Courses— Include courses that helped you gain industry experience or unique skills.
- Skills— Add skills you’re most proud of to highlight them.
How Others Can Help
- Endorsements— Connections can “endorse” you for skills you’ve listed as well as others they think you have.
- Recommendations— Give your profile a credibility boost by asking managers, professors, or classmates to write a recommendation for you.
From the Career Library