Having a complete and compelling LinkedIn profile is crucial for anyone looking to advance their career or find new job opportunities. With over 740 million members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform and many recruiters and hiring managers use it to evaluate candidates. This makes optimizing your LinkedIn profile essential if you want to stand out from the crowd.
But knowing what to include in each section of your profile can be confusing. Here are some tips on what you should write in the key parts of your LinkedIn profile to make it engaging and effective.
Headline
Your headline appears right below your name and photo and summarizes who you are professionally in just a few words. This is prime real estate for keywords, so you want to use your headline wisely to catch the eye of recruiters and convey your value.
Include your current job title and professional focus first, followed by a keyword like your industry, profession, skill set, or area of expertise. You have 120 characters so choose words carefully to get your point across. For example: “Software Engineer | Full Stack Web Developer | Java | Python”.
About Section
This is where you can provide a short overview of your professional background, achievements, skills and aspirations. Think of it like a condensed resume summary that highlights your biggest selling points.
Start with a brief introductory sentence explaining your overall professional focus, followed by 3-4 bullet points covering your most impressive and relevant experience, skills, accomplishments and qualifications. Emphasize transferable skills like leadership, problem-solving and communication. Mention any awards, certifications or test scores if applicable.
Keep the language concise, specific and keyword-rich. Recruiters are more likely to contact you if your about section gives them a quick yet compelling snapshot of what you offer.
Experience Section
This section allows you to provide more details on your work history by outlining your responsibilities and achievements in each position you’ve held. It’s important to include both technical skills and soft skills gained from each role.
For every position listed, start with the job title, company name, employment dates and location. Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and duties in terms of keywords recruiters may search for. Quantify your accomplishments with numbers and data to showcase your impact.
For example: “Increased website traffic by 45% within first 6 months by leading SEO optimization strategies.” Highlight projects you spearheaded or helped deliver, problems you helped solve, and promotions or awards received.
Skills Section
The skills section lets you list out key professional skills, tools or technologies you have experience with. Recruiters filter LinkedIn searches based on skills, so including the right keywords here makes you more discoverable.
Stick to skills that align with your professional focus and are supported by your work experience. Break them down by category if you have a diverse range of expertise. List hard skills like programming languages, software, analytical tools etc. first, followed by soft skills like communication, teamwork and time management.
Education Section
Use this section to provide details on your academic background, including institutions attended, degrees earned, and dates of graduation. If you’re a recent graduate, listing relevant coursework, projects or honors can give recruiters more insight into your knowledge and capabilities.
Only list degrees and certifications that are current and relevant to the work you want to be doing. Leave out minor or extraneous details and focus on highlights that add value for potential employers or clients.
Additional Sections
LinkedIn allows you to add additional sections like Publications, Certifications, Volunteer Experience, Courses and more. Include these if they demonstrate professional knowledge, advancement or impact that supports your brand and qualifications.
For example, listing publications shows your thought leadership and subject matter expertise. Certifications exhibit your commitment to continual learning. Volunteer work highlights skills like leadership and community building. Online courses display your dedication to developing relevant skills.
Customizing Your LinkedIn URL
LinkedIn automatically assigns your profile a URL with a string of numbers, but you can customize this to be more professional. Simply update it to reflect your name and other strategic keywords.
For example: linkedin.com/in/john-smith-marketing or linkedin.com/in/mary-johnson-data-analyst. This makes your profile look more polished and easier to find.
Profile Photo
Choose a quality headshot that is recent, high-resolution and portrays you as approachable and professional. Dress in business or business casual attire with a simple background. Check that the photo clearly shows your face, smile and eyes.
While background scenery or props demonstrating hobbies can reflect personality, keep it simple. Your photo represents your brand, so put your best foot forward with an image you’d be proud to have representing you to employers.
Background Photo
Your background photo appears at the top of your profile page and is another opportunity to showcase your brand. Options include an industry-related image, a photo of your office or team, or an abstract pattern or texture.
Avoid cluttered or irrelevant backgrounds that detract from your profile. Stay professional with minimal text overlays and nothing too personal. Use the background photo to reinforce your most important keywords, expertise and aspirations.
Summary
Your LinkedIn profile summary gives you a place to showcase your elevator pitch – your unique value proposition and career goals in a few concise paragraphs. Summarize your experience, skills, accomplishments and professional objectives clearly and succinctly.
Focus on how you can provide value to potential employers or clients. Use keywords tailored to your target roles and companies. Showcase your soft skills and passion in addition to your technical qualifications. Inspire readers to want to connect with you.
Best Practices
In addition to what you write, following certain best practices will take your profile to the next level:
- Keep language professional – avoid slang, jargon or unnecessary details
- Show don’t tell – give specific examples and data to support claims
- Use industry keywords to optimize for recruiters
- Highlight transferable skills that apply across roles and sectors
- Edit for clarity, accuracy and an active voice
- Update frequently as you gain new skills and experience
Keep it Organized
Structure your profile using clean sections and white space between blocks of text for improved readability. Use bullet points to break up dense blocks. Ensure consistent formatting and be mindful of hierarchy by using emphasis techniques like bolding judiciously.
Proofread Thoroughly
Spelling and grammar mistakes undermine your professional brand, so proofread carefully. Read your profile out loud and have others review it to catch errors you may have missed. Perfection isn’t necessary but avoiding easily fixable mistakes gives you more credibility.
Customize Your Public Profile URL
By default, LinkedIn assigns your public profile a URL with a series of random numbers and letters. Customizing this to include your name makes your profile URL much cleaner, professional and shareable.
To change your public profile URL on desktop:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Type a new customized URL into the text field
- Click “Save”
On mobile:
- Go to your profile and tap “Edit public profile & URL”
- Tap “Customize your URL”
- Type a new customized URL and tap “Save”
Keep your URL concise and keyword-optimized if possible. Using some variation of your name is best for personal branding and discoverability.
Add Rich Media
Including relevant images, videos, SlideShare presentations and other media in your profile makes it more dynamic and engaging. Visual content also improves your profile’s search engine optimization (SEO).
Ways to add visual interest:
- Display work samples like infographics or presentations
- Embed videos demonstrating your public speaking skills
- Showcase press mentions or projects you contributed to
- Exhibit professional certifications earned
Ensure you have rights to use any content you include. Add text descriptions explaining how each piece of media relates to your work and value.
Optimize with Keywords
Incorporate relevant keywords throughout your profile to make yourself easily discoverable by recruiters and opportunities. Reference terms that appear frequently in job listings for your target roles and skills.
Places to include keywords:
- Headline
- Job titles and descriptions
- Skills section
- About summary
- Accomplishment statements
Avoid awkward repetition by using synonyms and slight variations. Check your profile’s SEO strength under your account settings.
Showcase Thought Leadership
Demonstrate your expertise and perspective by sharing insights, trends and best practices for your field. Add examples like:
- Relevant articles and white papers published
- Slide decks from professional presentations given
- Industry reports and analysis conducted
- Product reviews and recommendations
- Compilations of top tips, tricks and key takeaways
Thought leadership builds credibility and can establish you as an influencer. Link to content hosted on sites like Medium for maximum visibility.
List Speaking Engagements
Presenting at industry conferences, corporate events, webinars or other speaking engagements demonstrates expertise. Mention past events alongside their dates, host organization and presentation topic.
If recordings are available, link to or embed them. List any upcoming speaking events you are preparing for. Public speaking skills and leadership experience will interest potential employers or clients.
Be Selective About Recommendations
Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to LinkedIn recommendations. Ask 1-3 colleagues who can enthusiastically endorse your skills and work ethic for recommendations explaining their experience working with you.
Aim for a mix like a manager, direct report and peer to demonstrate your abilities from diverse perspectives. Displaying in-depth written recommendations sets you apart more than a long list of short, vague referrals.
Customize for Each Audience
Tailor sections of your profile to specifically appeal to your target audience – whether that’s recruiters, hiring managers, potential clients or others. Emphasize different skills, experiences and accomplishments based on their priorities.
For example, technical skills and engineering capabilities may matter most to an engineering recruiter. But for sales prospects, emphasize achievements related to building client relationships or increasing revenue.
Conclusion
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile for your professional goals requires both substance and strategy. By following the tips above, you can craft an engaging profile that showcases your greatest assets and value proposition to your audience.
Keep your profile updated as you gain skills, experience and accomplishments. The investment will pay dividends in expanded career opportunities and elevated personal brand.
