Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile

Learning Goals

By the end of this lesson, you should have accomplished these learning goals:

  • Understand how to tell your story through LinkedIn
  • Know how to build a working draft of your LinkedIn profile with these components:
    • Headshot / Cover Photo
    • Headline updated to include your software identity
    • Summary section to tell your professional story
    • Experience

Section 1: Introduction

❓What do you already know about LinkedIn? Have you used it before?

LinkedIn is a social media tool you can use to:

  • Tell your career story on digital platforms
  • Communicate with recruiters, peers, and thought-leaders in your industry
  • Connect with people to build your network
  • Search for and apply to jobs online
  • Research companies, employees, and available opportunities

Create a LinkedIn Profile if you don’t yet have one. Then find a LinkedIn profile that you like. What’s one thing you like about it?

Section 2: Profile and Photos Overview

Per Linkedin, a complete profile has a current industry listed, at least 2 up-to-date positions with descriptions, a minimum of 3 skills, a profile picture, and at least 50 connections.

  • Profile Photo: Your profile photo should be easy to see your face and not cropped, blurry, or pixelated.

  • Cover Photo: The cover photo should showcase some of your personality or connect to your industry. Above all else, replace the standard Linkedin image. Unsplash has tons of free high quality images.

Linkedin Example 1 Linkedin Example 2

More examples can be found here.

Section 3: Headlines and Keywords

When searching on Linkedin, your profile picture and headline are some of the first things people can see about you. They can inspire people to click on your profile and learn more about you.

There are 3 typical types of Headlines on Linkedin:

  • Direct = Title of position at Company
  • Power Statement = title | benefit statement
  • Keyword Focused = Action | General title | General title

Keyword Focused is the best option for job seekers as concentrated keywords can help attract specific individuals to your profile. If you’re looking for a job in software development but your headline and profile only showcase your previous industry experience in education or pre, how will recruiters know to connect with you about work in software development?

Examples

  • Software Engineer - UI/Java/JavaScript Developer - Front End

  • Software Development Student | Seeking Full-Time Software Engineering Job | Java | C++ | 2020 Graduation

  • Aspiring Backend Software Developer | Seeking Entry-Level Programming Position | Experience with C# and .NET

Section 4: Summary

A summary provides opportunities to tell the story you want the reader to know about you and your career journey. So definitely start by re-reading your developer story that you’ve been working on.

Your summary clearly define these items for the reader: Who you are + How you got there + What’s next

Close with an action item for those reading. What do you want people to do when they see your profile? Do you want them to look at your code, website, email you?

One Example

“My name is Nigel Davies and I am an eagle-eyed software engineer with a certificate in front end development.

I’ve spent the last 8 years working in the very hectic world of business-to-business consulting. I became quite adept at spotting even the slightest inconsistancy. Juggling multiple projects, regardless of their pressing deadlines, became a normal part of my day. In fact, I thrive on fast-paced projects.

I’ve found that one of my most admired skills is the ability to see the big picture and how the different parts of the whole process work together. This ability allows me to spot simple solutions to complex issues.

The good news is I am currently looking for that next position that will allow me to simplify processes, affect change, and improve the bottom line.

If your organization is looking for a software engineer who has a strong business background, we should talk.

Connect with me at firstnamelastname@gmail.com and let’s arrange a time to speak.”

Examples to Integrate into Your Summary

  • Hook: It took me more than X hours of studying to learn the secret about Y, but since then, something unexpected has happened.”
  • Your Journey: “I grew up on the Mississippi River and watched it get clearer over time as manufacturing standards improved. Since then, I knew I wanted to spread the word about sustainability in business environments.”
  • Accomplishments: “Over the past five years, I’ve made it into the President’s Club three times and my closed-won business has seen less than 10% churn during the first 12 months.”
  • Technical & Transferable Skills: “I am Back End developer specializing in Ruby on Rails.” OR “I’m a Front End developer specializing in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.”
  • Your Goals: “I’m a software engineer interested in assisting small teams in optimizing their time and workflows so businesses can grow without adding more headcount and reps can advance their careers.”
  • Action Item: “Reach me at email@address.com or book time on my calendar here: [Calendar link].”

Section 5: Experiences and Recommendations

Experiences

This section is where you showcase your current and prior work:

  • What your role was/is
  • What impact you had
  • Mention your specialties and how this prepared you for future roles

Title - Action - Benefit

Short description of the company

Details about your role

Accomplishments, results, highlights

  • Include skills relevant to your future role as a developer
  • Link the company when adding roles

Endorsements & Recommendations

  • Endorsements allow other people in your network to confirm and highlight your skills
  • Recommendations are a way for you to showcase praise you’ve received or given to others

Endorsement Request Example

“If you were happy with the work I performed at Widgets, Inc, would you be so kind as to endorse me on LinkedIn?

The skills and expertise I would like to be endorsed for are: Project Management, Leadership Team Building, and SEO.

All you need to do is visit my profile and scroll down to the Skills and Expertise section located under my Summary.

Here’s the link to my profile: [link here]

Thanks!”

Section 6: Making Connections

A key part of LinkedIn is building your network through making connections. The key thing to note here is include a note when you send a connection request. Especially if it’s someone you don’t know well, it will make it much more likely that that person connects with you.

Additional Resources

Deliverable

The first draft of your Linkedin Profile is Due this Thursday at 4pm.

To turn it in, send a link to your LinkedIn profile in the chat with your instructors.

At a minimum, your profile should include:

  • Professional-looking headshot
  • Customized Cover Photo
  • Updated headline statement
  • Summary statement using your professional story
  • Turing added to Education section
    • You should also add Turing to the Experience section if you do not have previous professional experience
  • At least 20 connections

You can also add:

  • Additional Educational degrees and achievements
  • Past work experience
  • Endorsements
  • Recommendations

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