6 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

You’re sitting at a desk, staring at your screen. You can feel your half-finished LinkedIn profile staring back at you, into your soul. Am I being a little dramatic? Perhaps. But you definitely shouldn’t underestimate LinkedIn and how it can help you launch your career.

1. Headshot and Banner

Yes, I know. We all hate getting our photos taken (unless you’re a Leo). However, LinkedIn isn’t Instagram. No one is going to click on your photo and enlarge it, pointing out all the little flaws. No, people are there to look at your accomplishments – that’s what LinkedIn was made for.

A good LinkedIn headshot should have a clear view of your face. You should be dressed for the career field you’re targeting – for example, if you want to be a lawyer, you would dress really fancy (and wear whatever fancy lawyers wear). Your background should be free of distractions so that people looking at your profile won’t be distracted by – wait – is that a…UFO behind you in your profile picture?? See what I mean? You want people to focus on your accomplishments, not a bad photo.

The same rules apply to your banner. It should be somewhat related to your targeted career field, while also complementing your headshot. Choose similar colour palettes, if possible.

2. Headline

This will be one of the first things people read from your profile. You want to make it count. You can put one of two things here:

• Who you are
• What you do

Try to choose succinct, to-the-point sentences. If you feel like who you are (ex. student) isn’t “flashy” enough, try writing what you do, and what your goals are. For example, instead of saying “passionate student with good work ethic who loves working with people” you could write “creating quality projects to challenge myself and others” (this is my LinkedIn headline). My headline is my “value statement” – it’s how I create value for others.

3. Description

I’m gonna go against Google and say that no, people don’t want paragraphs and paragraphs of information about who you are and what you do and blah blah blah. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I see a profile with a long description, no matter how well-written, I’ll skim through it at best.

It’s better to divide your description up into short and precise easy-to-read sections. You want visitors to enjoy going through your profile, not feel like it’s a chore.

Pretend like you’re talking to a potential boss. What would you say to them? What can you offer them?

4. Activity

Engage with the people in your timeline. Like and comment on their posts, and create some posts of your own. If you’re an amazing writer, great! You can showcase that in your LinkedIn articles. If you’re not a great writer, you can post about other things. Pretend it’s kindergarten again and it’s your turn for show and tell. What would you bring to the classroom to share with everyone?

5. Experiences (and Media)

Break up your experiences descriptions into organized, readable chunks. For example, separate by category (marketing experience, administrative experience, etc.) or use headings (accomplishments, skills).

LinkedIn also offers the chance to upload files of your project on your profile – take advantage of that. Maybe you created a PowerPoint presentation you are especially proud of. Make sure to include that.

Using the “media” section can help you showcase your work while ensuring your profile stands out. You can add a link, document, photo, video, or other files to let others know what you’ve worked on.

6. Everything Else

Everything after this is basically an extension of your resume.

Remember to endorse and recommend others in your network, and maybe they’ll return the favour!

p.s. Bonus Tip: you can change the link to your LinkedIn profile to customize it!

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