Build your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn is a professional networking website, which can support your professional presence online. Similar to your Handshake profile, it’s a good idea to keep your LinkedIn page continuously updated with new experiences and skills so that recruiters can find you. This not only helps as part of your job/internship search, but can be especially important when you are in a career transition.

While it may help to look at examples from your peers, here is some additional guidance to improve your LinkedIn profile:

Your headline is one of the most highly weighted elements in the LinkedIn search. Your headline appears in many places on the site, along with your profile photo. It is frequently your first opportunity to make an impression with individuals casually browsing LinkedIn, so make it count!

While you may see a lot of examples around MIT of students and alumni who include their program, course, or lab; choose a headline that reflects you. You might incorporate your skillset, unique value, strengths, or target industry. Here are some tips that might help you get inspired!

Like your headline, your photo follows you around Linkedin–so be sure to select a photo wisely. As you are reviewing the photos you have, consider:

  • Does the photo look like me? Be careful about an overuse of filters and make sure you are the only person in the photo.
  • Can they see me clearly? Try to use a high-resolution photograph, consider using about 60% of the space for your head and face. Make sure to use soft/natural lighting and avoid distracting backgrounds.
  • What else does the photo reveal? Your photo can be a reflection of who you are, but also who you want to become. Think about what you might be wearing to work; how does it emulate that? Also think about your facial expression and what others might take from that too.

Here are ten tips from LinkedIn regarding your profile photo, but certainly get help from mentors, peers, and colleagues. Not only can they help you select a photo, they might also help you take one as well.

Your “About” section provides you with over 2600 characters of text space to describe who you are, what you can do, and what you are looking for. Whether you keep it to a singular statement or lengthy paragraphs of text, consider:

  • Why would someone be interested in me? Use this section to summarize your strengths, skillset, experiences, or background. The narrative structure can allow you to indicate how combinations of your skillset and background can offer a unique perspective to a future organization.
  • Who am I writing for? Are you targeting a specific industry or type of work–consider writing it with them in mind! Use jargon wisely to adequate convey your proficiency for the work they need done.
  • What are things about me that aren’t properly conveyed elsewhere on my profile? While LinkedIn gives you many places to convey a variety of aspects related to your background, it doesn’t cover everything. What strengths do you bring? What passions do you possess? How would you describe the professional you are (or seek to be)?
  • What are my (career) goals? Much of your profile may be a summary of where you have been, but where would you like to go? Think about incorporating your ambitions and goals as part of your summary as well.

Do not feel that this has to be perfectly executed if you are just starting off with LinkedIn. Give yourself time to evolve this section in tandem with your career. LinkedIn provides some examples of this section, but in the end write something that you feel good about.

Your profile is divided into many different sections that allow you different ways to organize and convey your background. As recruiters search LinkedIn, they might use keywords or jargon to help find future candidates–so be mindful of the details you provide throughout your profile.

Since there are many different sections in LinkedIn, try to not to get overwhelmed. You do not need to fill out your entire profile at once, and it can help for you to revisit your profile throughout your career journey. Whether you are just starting out with LinkedIn, or have been on the platform for a lengthy period of time may help you determine what you might want to do with your profile:

If you have just started with LinkedIn, consider adding what is currently on your resume at a minimum. It might be wise just to start with sections that are currently on your resume:

  • Education
  • Positions (your experiences)
  • Skills

Depending what is currently on your resume, you might also opt to include:

  • Projects
  • Courses
  • Test scores
  • Volunteer experiences
  • Honors and awards
  • Languages

Try to avoid getting overwhelmed. It is better to focus on smaller, more manageable units, than to try and get everything added at once. Take your time building and completing your profile. Maybe start by adding your position titles and dates, and later adding in descriptions.

Now that you have a solid foundation set with your profile, feel free to start expanding on it:

  • Build on what you already have – if you haven’t added descriptions, include them. If you haven’t added all of your pertinent experiences, add them.
  • Add new sections – there are about 18 different sections you can add to your profile, including organizations you follow, patents you possess, or causes you support. Don’t feel you have to include everything–focus on sections that support your career goals.
  • Explore the site – LinkedIn allows you to follow people, read news and articles, and find jobs.

LinkedIn also allows you to include links to external pages, include photos or other file types, to serve as a portfolio of your work. While it may not necessarily be the type of portfolio you need to have related to your career goals, it can be a good place to start to collect and manage some of the assets you currently have.

Once you feel you have explored much of how your profile can support your career goals, it can be helpful to revisit earlier experiences or sections of your profile that might feel a bit outdated.

You might select to modify entries or delete them entirely if they no longer support your career goals. You might also keep just the organization/dates from the experiences while removing descriptions.

Ultimately, a site like LinkedIn can help you establish and maintain a professional brand identity that can help you attract new opportunities. Right Management, part of Manpower, put together this list of ways to leverage LinkedIn to support your personal brand.

If you need help managing your profile, feel free to schedule a meeting with a CAPD Career Advisor. We can help review and give you feedback on your LinkedIn profile.

As a social networking site, LinkedIn is a great place to stay connected with your peers, colleagues, alumni contacts, and prospective employers. Who you connect with is entirely up to you, but here are some things to think about:

  • How do I know this person? While we want to assume everyone has good intentions, LinkedIn is not immune to scams, phishing attempts, or fraudulent profiles. If you do not know the person seeking a connection, take a moment to determine if they are legitimate. Here are tips to help you determine if the profile is potentially fake.
  • Why do I want to connect with them? You do not have to connect with everyone on the platform just to have multiple connections.
  • How will I plan to strengthen the connection over time? Your connections should be mutually beneficial–you can seek support from them, and they can seek support from you. You will want to think about how you can meaningfully engage with them over time. Consider setting up informational interviews, seek guidance on your application materials, or just sending them periodic friendly messages to help the connection develop.

LinkedIn also has a number of groups that you can potentially join as well. Find groups that align with your interests or future occupation. These are great ways to find new connections.

When you first sign-up for LinkedIn, you might be assigned a URL that includes an unfortunate character string as part of it, e.g. “/in/your-name-Ab12C3de45”. You can personalize your URL to help simplify it for use on your resume or other materials.

Likewise, protecting your online presence is an important part of any social media platform. LinkedIn provides you with options to edit your visibility, including who can see your profile photo or different sections of your profile. Assess whether you need to utilize these features, and select what might be helpful for you. Similarly, be careful with sharing your phone number, personal email address, or related contact information directly on the platform. LinkedIn provides a means for people to message you directly through the platform to help you avoid unwanted contact.

Learn more about setting up your LinkedIn.

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