Building Your LinkedIn Profile
Many students have a love-hate relationship with LinkedIn, while there is tremendous value in having a LinkedIn profile, it’s common to feel overwhelmed by having to manage yet another engagement platform, especially for networking. LinkedIn can seem intimidating at first but there are lots of reasons why you should consider building and maximizing your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is the world's largest professional networking platform. It's also one of the most influential social media networks, with over 700 million members-that's a lot of potential contacts with access to employers and networking opportunities.
As students, you may be just starting to think about your future careers, some of you may already know what you want to do after graduation, LinkedIn can be a great tool to support your career journey. Understanding how to build your profile and navigate LinkedIn successfully can help to set you up for success in your career exploration, networking and preparation for the world of work. Above all, an effective and professional profile will also help you to get noticed by alumni, prospective recruiters and employers.
Step one: Upload a professional profile photo
A profile photo is a basic element of a LinkedIn profile, but it’s surprising how many people skip uploading one. When people view your profile, being able to see your face shows that you’re a real person, not a fake account. It can also help your connections recognize you, whether you’re trying to add them to your network or if they’re looking for you.
Take a professional forward-facing headshot for your profile photo. The photobooth in Schoonover is a great place to get a free headshot taken that you can upload to your profile.
Ensure you’re professionally dressed in your photo; think about the kind of image you want to portray. Do not use selfies or cropped photos for your profile.
Step two: Create a captivating headline
The second text element of your profile that people will see (the first being your name) is your headline. The default headline on LinkedIn is your most recent job title and company. Some students may not have this information, or it may appear later in your profile, you should change your headline to communicate something else about you. Your headline could reference aspects of your work, your campus involvement, things that you are most passionate about or your strongest skills or your values/mission. Keep it fresh – don’t be afraid to revisit and change your headline every now and then. Mention your industry of interest and location in your headline. You have up to 120 characters for this.
Step three: Select a cover photo
The cover photo is another highly visible part of your LinkedIn profile that many people don’t bother to add. While your profile photo shows who you are, your cover photo is another visual way to demonstrate who you are, what you do, and/or what you’re passionate about.
Upload a photo of you in action at work, or it could showcase something you produced, like a photo at an event you organized. Instead of a photo, it could be the cover artwork of a report or presentation that you put together. Give some thought to your cover photo to ensure it sends the right message and aligns with your career interests, experience and professional image.
Step four: Complete the about section
Include a concise summary of who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer. You have 2,000 characters to play with, but you don't have to use them all. You can also link to, or upload, six examples of your work to make your profile sparkle.
Step five: Utilize the featured section
- Include information in the Featured section of your profile.
This is a great space to display information you want persons who visit your profile to see, especially employers.
- Highlight content you have posted that speaks to your interests or showcase research, projects or activities that relate to your career.
- Review any posts that you shared or reposted with commentary can be included here as well as articles relevant to your industry or features in which you are named as well as any work you produced then select these items to be featured.
- Continue to review and add new material to this section to build a reel and timeline of note-worthy highlights.
Step six: Share your experiences
- Outline all your current and previous jobs (long or short term) and any relevant achievements in the Experience section. Don’t be shy, own your awesome in this section of your profile. LinkedIn makes it easy for you to call attention to projects you’ve completed right away.
- Refer to your resume as you complete this section of your profile, it’s okay to use some of the language and bullets you have included on your resume and expand on them here.
- Add media to each role, whether it’s a report or case study that you wrote or a link to a video or article that you produced or participated in, as these further highlight your skills and experience.
- Add the correct time periods for each of the roles you include in the experience section
Step seven: List your education
- Include information about your educational journey
- List Ohio University, your current degree program
- List the start and end dates
- Include clubs and organizations as relevant as well as any notable experiences such as experiential learning opportunities you have done during your time as a student
Step eight: Select your skills
Review the list of skills provided by LinkedIn and select those you feel confident you possess or have been developing. As you develop your profile, your peers and former employers and supervisors may endorse you for some of these skills which adds credibility to your profile.
Step nine: Seek recommendations
- Like references for a job or internship, consider individuals who could vouch for you and share positive feedback on your work and experience.
- Reach out to the individuals and connections you have considered, provide an update on your career goals and current activities and ask if they would be willing to provide a favorable recommendation on your LinkedIn profile. Their stories about you and your work could make a difference and give a strong first impression to potential employers.
Step ten: Expand your network, connect with other users
LinkedIn enables you to network with people and professional organizations in your circle of influence and in other industries. This is a great way to build a network, to meet new people and to learn more about career fields and employer trends. Use the search bar to search for individuals in the Ohio University network to begin engaging with persons already connected to the university.
Send a connection request- an invitation to formally connect. It is much better to share a brief note, this increases the chance of having your request accepted. Search for contacts based on your career interest and consider refining your search criteria to yield more meaningful results.
As you develop these connections, LinkedIn saves the connections that you make to a list called My Network. When you make a new connection, you gain access not only to that person's profile, but to their publicly available connections, too. These become your "second-degree connections." This opens up even more networking opportunities, as you can then invite them to connect directly with you.