According to Hootsuite, six people are hired through LinkedIn every minute. Employers look at applicants’ LinkedIn profiles when making hiring decisions, so it is worth having a profile or presence on LinkedIn. It is very easy to navigate LinkedIn as a beginner. Once you create a profile, LinkedIn automates a “profile status” feature to see how complete your profile is. Incentives are given once you’ve reached an “intermediate” or “all-star” profile level. These incentives allow you to see relevant job recommendations and refined connection suggestions. Remember that your profile is your brand, so craft it as carefully and uniquely to who you are as a person.
The following are a few things to do when you are starting on LinkedIn:
- Add a profile picture
Although this is self-explanatory, many people do not add profile pictures to their LinkedIn profiles. It is also crucial to have a professional profile picture because it is likely the first impression you’ll make to someone viewing your profile. LinkedIn research shows that just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others. If you don’t have a professional headshot yet, the SJSU Career Center offers headshot sessions. As an alternative, use a clear photo of yourself or take one against a plain white wall.
- Add a banner image
The banner image and profile photo are both important to showcase who you are. Be creative with your banner image by making it on Canva or photoshop. Some examples of what to put on the banner are your favorite quote or some words that best describe you. If you want a quick banner image as a placeholder, use LinkedIn’s premade ones.
- Write a summary
The summary highlights your personality or work experience. This can be done either in bullet point form or through paragraphs. Keep it user-friendly for someone skimming through your profile. What are some things you want people to know about you professionally? Stray away from including information that can be put in other areas of your profile like your skills and experience.
- Add experience
This is the section where you highlight any work or leadership experience. First, include the company where you work, your title, the timeline you have worked there, and the location. Then, add bullet points related to what you did for that company or organization. Lastly, include any attachments, such as certificates and blog articles that you wrote. Write down anything that you did not include in your resume that you want employers to know about.
- Add skills
When creating your profile, LinkedIn will ask you to add skills that you have and are confident about. Choose these skills very carefully, because the best ones will be endorsed by your colleagues. Once you’ve added skills, people who you’ve worked with can endorse you for them, which means they believe that you truly are skilled in what you’ve put down. You can also take skills assessments on LinkedIn by answering questions to earn skill badges. If you’d like to develop new skills using LinkedIn, check out LinkedIn Learning which you get for free as an SJSU student.
- Create a headline
Your headline shows up under your name on Linkedin and is very visible to people taking a first look at your profile. You can either put your current role there (which it automates) or you can put something related to your brand image. If you are interested in digital marketing, you can put “digital marketing enthusiast” or something more unique that makes you stand out.
- Use LinkedIn
Once you do these six steps, put your name out there by commenting on interesting posts and making some posts of your own! This a great space to share your professional experiences with other people. There are content creators on LinkedIn who share things they learn on the job, share personal stories and more. A cool feature on LinkedIn is the Alumni section under the SJSU page. Here you can find SJSU alumni at companies that you are interested in working at. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people for informational interviews because alumni are there to help you on your career journeys.
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Have you joined LinkedIn yet? Let us know at @HerCampusSJSU!