5 Top Tips for Starting a LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn has become the top site for professionals to connect with each other, search for jobs, and feature their own work. When you first sign up for LinkedIn, it can be daunting with all the different categories. It’ll take time to fill all of it out! Take a deep breath and follow our tips below for setting up your LinkedIn profile.

Summary. Fill out the summary section last. Think about the different areas and skills you have to offer. If you’re looking for a job, then say what kind of position you’re looking for in the summary section. Also, use first person like “I,” “me,” and “my.” This makes it more personal to anybody viewing your profile. They are there to learn about you.

Don’t fill every section out at first. There’s a little switch button on the right side of your profile asking if you want your changes to be published. Turn this OFF when you’re making several changes at once. Otherwise your changes will this pops up continuously in other users’ News Feeds with everything you update. And don’t feel like when you first get your profile that you need to fill it all out in one sitting. Pick a different section everyday to fill out.

Profile picture. Before you submit your first application through LinkedIn (or any other job search website for that matter), you should have a professional profile picture. By “professional” I don’t mean by a pro photographer. Rather, you should be dressed professionally with light hair and makeup. And although a business setting is best, or standing against a blank wall, the fluorescent lighting can dull skin so stand near a window with natural light coming in. Also, for your profile picture, look slightly down and to the left. This will guide viewers’ eyes to your profile.

Find a professional profile to model your profile after. Influencers are leaders in their industries. When you follow them, you can see their posts and get ideas from their profile on how to update yours. Also look for other professionals that have jobs you want. You can see their career path and skills they feature. If there are skills you don’t have yet, it gives you an idea of things to learn that will bring you closer to another position you want.

Optimize your profile for keywords. Many recruiters use keywords to search for candidates they think would be a good fit for job they are offering. Do some research to find keywords that are relevant to your industry and work them into your profile. You can also list these under the Skills and be endorsed for them. 

Read other articles. There are a ton of articles out there about updating your LinkedIn profile. Some are more general and others get very specific in their advice. You can search for just about anything regarding your profile and find something to help you.

LinkedIn has some amazing resources and most of them are free! So get your profile up by following these tips. And check back for ways to quick deal with stress.