LinkedIn Tips: Getting the Most Out of Your Profile

LinkedIn is a great way to connect with individuals within your industry, fellow alumni, people with similar professional interests, and prospective employers. In other words, LinkedIn is a professional social network – so you should represent yourself accordingly. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile.

Your profile picture

Remember, when someone is viewing your profile on LinkedIn, they’re likely doing it for a very different reason than someone checking you out on Facebook or Instagram. With this is mind, dress professionally and have someone take a picture of you with a white or neutral color in the background.

Your headline

Your headline should be a catchy snapshot of what you do. This is your opportunity to sell yourself, so be specific and address any sort of value proposition you might bring to the table.

Example: Rather than saying “Registered Nurse”, try something like “Tireless, caring Registered Nurse with advanced knowledge in holistic nursing practices.”

If you’re looking for a job, draft your headline around what prospective employers will be searching for.

The summary

The purpose of the summary is to give the reader a snapshot of your career. We suggest making this professional, yet conversational. It should address the following items:

• Your past (where you came from).
• Your present (what you’re currently working on. Example: I’m currently pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing at Joyce).
• Your future (where you’re going).
  You don’t need to go too in-depth here. Simply highlight what you feel is the most important aspects relating to your professional life.

Experience

This part of your profile is pretty straightforward. Be very accurate (don’t embellish), and don’t be afraid to use plenty of detail when describing your responsibilities and accomplishments.

Education

Be specific about your education. Highlight any sort of extra activities or groups you were involved with during your time in school. You should list your schools/degrees and any sort of certifications you’ve earned that may apply to the career you’re seeking.

If you’re a Joyce student, check out our Students and Alumni page.

If you’d like to add Joyce to your LinkedIn profile under your Education section, follow these steps:

• In your profile, click “Edit” (should be located to the right of your profile photo)
• Scroll down to the Education section
• Click “Add Education”
• Type in “Joyce” in the field labeled “School”
• Fill out the rest of the information

UPDATE: LinkedIn now has a one-click option to add Joyce to your profile. Simply click on this link, fill in your degree info, and you’re done!

Recommendations

Prospective employers pay a lot of attention to your recommendations. Send a polite email to people who can vouch for you in professional setting (college instructors/advisors, coworkers, mentors, etc.) asking for a recommendation.

Miscellaneous

• Have your email visible so prospective employers can contact you.
• Create a custom URL that’s a short and clean link to your profile (how to here)
• List skills and endorsements relevant to the job you desire.

We’ll post more LinkedIn tips in the future around the topic of building your network. For our students and graduates, feel free to reach out to the student and career services team for additional help.