Yes, you can definitely create a CV directly from your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has a built-in feature that allows you to export your profile information into a downloadable CV document. This makes creating a professional CV quick and easy, as all of your relevant work and education history is already populated on your LinkedIn profile.
In this article, we’ll walk through how to use LinkedIn’s CV creator tool to turn your LinkedIn profile into a polished, printable CV. We’ll cover:
- The benefits of creating a CV from LinkedIn
- How to access LinkedIn’s CV creator
- Tips for customizing your exported CV
- How to format and download your finished CV
- Options for printing and sharing your LinkedIn-generated CV
Follow these steps, and you’ll be able to create a professional-looking CV from your LinkedIn profile in just a few minutes.
The Benefits of Creating a CV from LinkedIn
Here are some of the top advantages of using LinkedIn to create your CV:
- Saves time – The most significant benefit is that creating a CV from LinkedIn allows you to skip manually inputting all of your career information. Your LinkedIn profile already contains your employment history, education, skills, and accomplishments.
- Information is up to date – Your LinkedIn profile is likely more current than any existing CV document you have. Creating a CV from LinkedIn ensures you have the most recent details about each of your roles, education, and projects.
- Professional formatting – The CV template provided by LinkedIn has a clean, professional design. All you have to do is export your information into the ready-made template.
- Customizable – While exporting your LinkedIn data provides a great starting point, you can customize the CV template further by rearranging sections, adding details, and tailoring content for each application.
- Accessible – Your LinkedIn profile information is available anytime to create an updated CV. You don’t have to rely on outdated CV versions saved in disparate Word documents or PDFs.
Because of the time savings, consistency, and convenience it provides, creating a CV directly from LinkedIn is generally the smartest approach if you plan to be actively job searching.
Next, we’ll review how to access the LinkedIn CV creator tool and export your profile.
How to Access LinkedIn’s CV Creator
LinkedIn’s CV creator is easy to use and available to all LinkedIn members. Here are the steps to access it:
- Log into your LinkedIn account on desktop. LinkedIn’s CV creator isn’t available via mobile.
- Go to your profile page by clicking “Me” in the top navigation bar.
- Scroll down and click on the “Download resume” button under your profile photo.
- This will open the CV creator tool where you can customize and export your CV document.
Now that you’ve accessed the CV creator page, you can choose which sections of your profile to include and preview how your CV will format the information.
Let’s go over some tips for customizing your LinkedIn-generated CV.
Tips for Customizing Your Exported CV
When you use LinkedIn’s resume creator, you have full control over which profile sections to include and how they are ordered in the final document. Here are some ways to customize your exported CV:
- Select an elegant CV template – LinkedIn provides several professional template options including Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Calibri, and Times New Roman fonts.
- Reorder sections – Decide which sections you want first on your CV and use the arrow buttons to drag sections up or down.
- Add or remove sections – Toggle sections on or off depending on their relevance to the role you are applying for.
- Expand “Other” section – The “Other” section of your LinkedIn profile includes certifications, courses, publications, and other details. You can choose to include or exclude this section in your CV.
- Edit content – Tweak the wording of any descriptions to be more CV-friendly. For example, write job descriptions in past tense rather than present tense.
- Check for errors – Double check that your LinkedIn profile doesn’t contain any typos, formatting issues, or outdated information before exporting to a CV.
Spending some time customizing these options will ensure you end up with a polished, professional CV document.
How to Format and Download Your CV
Once you have customized your CV within the LinkedIn template to your liking, here are the final steps to format and download it:
- Select the file format you want to download – You can export your CV as a PDF or Word document.
- Choose page layout and font size – Pick between A4 or U.S. letter sized pages and font sizes from 10 to 14 points.
- Add your contact info – Double check your name, email, phone number, and other contact details at the top of the document.
- Download CV – Click the “Download” button to save a copy of the CV file to your computer.
Your LinkedIn-powered CV document is now ready to save, print, email, or upload to job applications.
Printing and Sharing Your LinkedIn CV
Once you’ve downloaded your new CV, here are some options for printing and sharing it:
- Print directly from Word or PDF – Open the downloaded file and select “Print” to send it to your printer.
- Save a PDF version – Print to PDF to save a non-editable electronic version to email or upload.
- Email the CV – Attach the Word or PDF file to email applications when applying for open positions.
- Upload to job sites – Copy and paste sections or upload the full CV document to job boards and application portals.
- Share via social media – Post your CV on sites like LinkedIn to strengthen your professional presence.
Just make sure to keep your CV version updated anytime you make significant changes to your LinkedIn profile.
Example LinkedIn CV
To see how your LinkedIn profile translates into a professional CV format, here is an example:
| Section | Example Content |
|---|---|
| Contact Info | Your name, email, phone number, city, state, zip code |
| Headline | Certified Project Manager with 6+ years of experience in IT and software development |
| Summary | Results-driven project manager with a track record of successfully leading cross-functional teams to execute large-scale software implementations. Hands-on experience coordinating resources, budgets, and schedules to ensure on-time delivery. Innate ability to identify and mitigate risks. Expert in Agile methodologies. Strong technical background with BS in Computer Science. |
| Work Experience |
|
| Skills | Agile Methodologies, JIRA, Resource Planning, Scope Management, Budgeting, Risk Mitigation, Process Improvement, SDLC, Technical Writing, Software Documentation |
| Education | BS in Computer Science, State University, 2010 – 2014 |
| Certifications | PMP, Project Management Institute, 2017 – Present |
| Volunteer Experience | Habitat for Humanity, Construction Volunteer, 3 years |
As you can see, LinkedIn’s CV creator pulls all the essential details from your profile. The above sections demonstrate how your professional summary, employment history, skills, education, and other credentials will auto-populate with just a couple clicks.
Conclusion
Creating a professional CV directly from your LinkedIn profile is a fast and simple way to produce a polished document ready for job applications.
With LinkedIn’s built-in CV creator:
- You can avoid manually building a CV from scratch.
- Your information will be up to date.
- You have control over which sections to include.
- You can customize the content and formatting.
- The tool provides elegant templates to work from.
So if you need to create or update your CV for an upcoming job search, take advantage of the CV creator within your LinkedIn profile. Just follow the steps outlined above, customize the sections and content to your liking, and download your CV in Word or PDF format. Then you’ll have a professional CV ready to share and upload to applications in minutes.
