Profile

Your profile is the first impression that a peer will see when clicking onto your account. Make sure you have a professional headshot and nice header image that reflects your industry or you!

These photos do not have to cost money! I used a photo taken outside my school and blurred the background in a photo editing app, taking advantage of the good lighting in the morning.

You can take your headshot right on your smartphone by propping it up against a table, window sill or any other surface where there is good lighting. Just make sure to dress professional, have good lighting and have a clean or blurred background (it could literally be a plain wall).

Header

For a header that reflects your industry this could literally be any photo thats not too busy and industry related. I recommend using Unsplash which offers copyright free stock images for free and has thousands of photo options (You don’t even have to make an account!).

Alternatively, if you have an image of you speaking at a conference, or teaching near a whiteboard this can also be a great choice for a header. As it shows dedication, public speaking and mentorship skills which companies look for.

Funny story: My friends actually went into a college classroom and each took turns taking pictures of them pointing to information on a whiteboard in professional clothes, while the others sat in the front row listening! That way they were able to edit the photos to be brighter and have professional photos in a pinch.

Here is another example of what my header and profile photo combo looks like:

It’s easy to tell what interest I have based on my header photo

Featured

Your “Featured” section of your LinkedIn allows you to upload a pdf copy of your resume and highlight any cool projects you were apart of.

You’ll want to use the pretty version of your resume here (perhaps one made in canva), and save the word version for when your applying to job offers so your resume does not get thrown out by AI screening!

Since AI and Bot searches can’t view your resume in the featured section, the only people viewing this will be human. I made a professional template for my resume in Canva, but you can totally use photoshop, PowerPoint, or another software and save it as a pdf to upload here.

To do add your resume to features go to your profile and click ”+”, “Upload file”, Then select your resume.

LinkedIn will also give you the ability to write a short text to go with it. Remember this will be read by a human user so I would keep it short and sweet. Something like:

“Attached here are my extensive credentials and experience. If you have any questions or further inquiries please reach out to me at [professional email here].”

For Projects, I always upload a picture of the product or team I collaborated with along with a brief description of the project.

To do this click here ”+”, “Upload file”, “Select your resume”.

Bio

Your bio is your first chance to introduce yourself to your audience. I typically follow a general template of 4 things which you can tailor to help tell a story of who you are and where your going.

The template looks like this: Who am I, Core traits, Skills, Professional Goals. I’ll show you two samples, one from a young professionals perspective. And another from a College perspective both with a cyber background.

It’s that easy! Some people will also add a short blurb of their own interests at the bottom “In my free time, I spend time doing hobby 1, hobby 2 and hobby 3. Be sure to ask me about XYZ”.

Regardless make sure it sounds professional and avoid your bio being too lengthy as you might lose the engagement of your audience. You can use AI technology like ChatGPT to reword and check your writing to ensure it sounds the way you want. (Make sure not to copy AI writing word for word! It may cause a filtering software to think your a bot and throw out your resume when applying for jobs)

Experience

Even though your experience might already be in your resume that is in the featured section. You’ll still want to fill out the experienced LinkedIn section anyways because this is what helps Automated (and AI) job searches or recruiters find your profile.

Fill out all experience you have and make sure you add the related skills that you learned at each job. If you’re a new college graduate it is totally okay to put down your fast food, retail or part time university job even if your degree is in something unrelated. This helps you build credibility on your work ethic and soft skills like customer service, communication and punctuality.

If you’re a more experienced professional, make sure you tailor your experiences towards the target job and/or industry you’re hoping to break into.

Certifications

If you don’t have any certifications that is totally okay. Make sure to fill out some project experience in the featured section to highlight your skills. That could be final class projects, personal projects or even a link to a personal portfolio/github.

Certifications can be a huge leg up in the industry as it shows dedication to constant learning and can highlight a special skill that a lot of other professionals may not have…

Definitely add any certifications here as well as dates completed.

If you would like to acquire certifications in your industry make sure to reach out to your company or university respectively to see if any are offering opportunities you can take advantage of.

Otherwise, head to google! There are plenty of great opportunities available that could be low cost or even free!

Education

This section is pretty straightforward, list your education in this section with the date you attended. If you have university experience or are more experienced in your career, most people will choose to leave off their high school education from this section.

I prefer to include my high-school because sometimes it can help you connect with alumni in the workforce and it’s a great networking topic. Especially if it’s in a different state than the rest of your education, it shows you have relocation experience!

It’s important to display your education even if it’s diverse also. This shows a passion to learn and experience across multiple industries.

For Example:

• Highschool
• Associates of Arts
• Bachelors of Computer Science
• Masters in Business Administration

Posts

Whether you just graduated from high-school, are in college, or in industry. You should be posting milestones and projects you may be working on. This helps keep you in the back of your networks mind and stay connected!

My rule of thumb is to post 1-4 photos along with a brief description of the event, what I learned, and where I’m going next with this new knowledge. If you want to encourage engagement with your post you can also pose a question at the end of your post for people to comment on.

Some Examples:

• Has anyone had similar experiences with their learning path in this industry?
• If anyone has any other recommendations for certifications or connections I might be interested in please let me know, I’m eager to learn more!
• Was anyone else at this conference?

It’s never too late or too early to start posting on your LinkedIn and building that professional credibility. I try to post every other month or every two months (That’s only 3 – 6 posts a year!). That way I am not blowing up my connections feed and it’s not something I procrastinate doing.

Make sure to download the cheatsheet for 30 different milestones you can post!

Endorsements

If you work a part time job at your university, work on a project with coworkers or assist someone professionally. You could ask for them to connect with you on LinkedIn and ask if they will write a small blurb towards your work ethic.

This helps build credibility and is essentially built in recommendations for your professional career! Becareful who you ask for these recommendations. The recommendation is only as credible as the peer. If their LinkedIn, writing or professional background is not as professional. It can work against you.

Closing Thoughts

Okay I know that was a lot of information, and congratulations on taking steps towards building your professional brand!

So in Summary We Learned:

• Have a professionally dressed, centered headshot without a busy background.
• Have an Industry related background or professional showcase of your skills in your header.
• Create an engaging bio which describes your personality, work ethic and career goals in a concise and easy to read manner.
• Avoid copy and pasting AI written material word for word for better chances at recruiters seeing your profile.
• Fill out both a featured resume and the LinkedIn equivalent sections so your profile is setup for human interaction and AI / Recruiter searches
• Post at least every other month (Or 6 posts a year) to maintain connections and build a professional appearance.
• Find Endorsements from reputable peers to have built-in recommendations in your LinkedIn profile
• That’s all we have for LikedIn Professional recommendations! If you have any questions or have some ideas for content you’d love to see, be sure to comment below.

If you’re looking for more LinkedIn resources be sure to download the LinkedIn Cheat sheet template below! Inside you’ll find a Checklist for everything you learned here and 30 milestones you can post + text templates you can edit.