LinkedIn Tips

Students are strongly encouraged to create, update, and maintain a LinkedIn profile. Many employers will go directly to this profile when considering your internship employment. LinkedIn provides you with an opportunity to upload your current resume, as well as plenty of other information such as links to your online portfolio, examples of web design work, copies of papers you’ve written, etc.

Remember that LinkedIn is not merely a regurgitation of your resume. It should be treated as much more than that.

To learn more, please see this useful PowerPoint presentation, or contact the Program Director.

Top 10 Tips for Creating an Eye-Catching LinkedIn Profile

Created by CMC’s Career Services Center

Here are ten simple tips to make your LinkedIn profile pop.

1. Create a Catchy Headline: Include industry and interests (120 character limit). Here are some samples:
   1. Student Athlete Majoring in Psychology
   2. Graduating Senior Pursuing Opportunities in Marketing
   3. CMC Junior Seeking Product Management Internship
   FACT: Adding industry could get you 15x more profile views.


2. Compelling Summary: Write a compelling summary with what you are interested in using keywords to enhance search results (2,000 character limit).
   FACT: A summary of 40 words or more makes you more likely to turn up in a future employer’s search.


3. Impactful Experience: Quantify and display results, add links and materials, company logo; don’t feel you need to include every detail of your job – focus on experiences with impact that relate to your goals and interests. Here are some samples:
   1. Volunteer experience and causes — these can be just as important as work experience
   2. Projects and internships
   3. Get recommendations
   4. Upload images, links, videos, presentations and documents that show-off your work
   5. When writing bullet points, follow Laszlo Bock’s suggestions here.
   FACT: 41% of hiring managers surveyed by LinkedIn said they view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience.


4. Education: Include colleges, key activities, relevant coursework, and accomplishments.
   FACT: Showing your education gets 10x more profile views.


5. Other: Add your honors, skills, and certifications, even if those certifications are for a hobby, such as SCUBA or life-guarding.
   1. Honors and Awards
   2. Certifications
   3. Skills – reorder your skills to place the more important ones on the top; seek endorsers of your skills
   4. Languages – add languages you understand or speak
   FACT: Adding skills gets 13x more profile views.


6. Customize your public profile link: www.linkedin.com/in/name.
   1. It's more professional and easier for the viewer to understand.


7. Career Picture: Choose a career appropriate picture and upload; check with CMC Career Services to learn about opportunities to take a professional picture.
   1. For LinkedIn, no bikini tops, TNC photos, or crazy pictures with your bestie.
   2. Take a well-lit picture with a soft background (like a bush or tree), a warm smile, and a professional wardrobe.
   3. Wardrobe may be industry-appropriate:
      Investment Banking: Dress in a suit and tie with a clean, pressed shirt.
      Grad-School Bound: No need for a tie, but wear a sport jacket and clean pressed shirt.
      Silicon Valley: Wear a nice collared shirt without any corporate logos.
      All: Comb your hair.
   FACT: Adding a profile photo could result in 14x more views.


8. Contact Information: Be sure to indicate how you would like to be contacted; add in section “additional info / advice for contacting.”


9. Groups and Organizations: Add and join groups and organizations related to your professional interest, industry, alumni, passions, social causes, etc. Look at the group statistics and learn about the group. This also broadens your network and gives your permission to reach out to them.
   1. Under “contacts” tab, connect with former friends and classmates.
   2. Under “groups” tab, use “groups you may like” or “groups directory.”
   3. Set a goal to attain 500+ contacts over time.


10. Privacy and Settings: Be sure to put them at a level you are comfortable with; look on top right hand side “account & settings / privacy & settings.”
    1. Under “privacy controls / turn on/off your activity broadcasts” we suggest you don’t have it clicked on to “let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations or follow companies” until you have finalized and finished editing your profile.
    2. “Select who can see your activity feed”: only you, your connections, your network, everyone.
    3. “Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile” name, anonymous at industry or total anonymous.