What's on your LinkedIn profile? (jobs, companies, interest, education)
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I am trying to perfect my LinkedIn profile. I've read several articles on what to put on and what not, but some advisors contradict one another. Professional headshot picture, got that. Don't skip the summary, got that. Don't put personal stuff on it, got that. Don't forget volunteer work, got that.
What about high school/no high school? Military/no military? Go back 10-15 years or put up everything? Make it exactly like a paper resume (one page), or put up everything you've done? Since LinkedIn is a social media site, if there's a connection with someone out there from years ago, it could mean a contact for a job.
I heard don't try to cover up age, it will come up eventually.
My connections need much to be desired I know, I'm working on it. I'm also trying to stay engaged by sharing an interesting article or video relevant to my field, and belonging to a couple of groups, and posting to their boards.
So, for those of you that use LinkedIn, what's on your profile?
I don't have my H.S. and military exp. is N/A for me.
Profile/Summary - probably shorter than it can be. But I don't feel the need to have a novel. Just a quick intro. with what I feel are pertinent information.
Jobs - I do have all of the former companies I worked for on there (more than what's on my resume). This is specifically for networking. Albeit I don't have job description details listed out on there (just title and when i worked there).
Education - Bachelors and masters only.
Volunteer exp. - what I've done as well as what I'm looking for.
Certifications - self explanatory
Skills - helps if you also have endorsements for these.
I wouldn't include High School. I am not sure about Military.
I would include all relevant/important job titles. I see people who put Cashier and Pizza Delivery Driver positions on LinkedIn, and I while I respect anyone who works in any field of work, I don't understand the point of it on LinkedIn.
As for connections, what I did when I first started, was I requested literally about 500 people I did not know (and around ~50-75 people I did know). I felt really embarassed and cheesey at first, but I was desperate in obtaining a quick presence. Fast forward a few weeks/months and my LinkedIn looked legit. The people will either accept you or deny you. Some will endorse you despite not knowing you. Nothing really to lose.
LinkedIn is a great forum to highlight your skills and find ways to connect with people. I always check candidate's LinkedIn profiles. While I think bullet points per position should be limited, you have the opportunity to add so much more information. I love being able to connect with someone. So if I see that they are involved with similar charities or follow similar groups/influencers, it gives me a starting point for conversation and connecting.
Specifically to your question, I would include military and any positions that contributed to your skillset. If you live in the same state/area of where you grew up, it can't hurt to include your high school (you never know when you might run into an alumni that's also a hiring manager).
A great thing to do would be to look up the profiles of several leading people in your field. Model your profile off of theirs. See who they follow and who influences them.
Right now I have pretty much everything on there, high school, fast food jobs I worked in high school. I probably should clean it up a bit, but for high school and jobs not relevant to my field I just list them with no real detail. The meat of my profile is all about my recent jobs and higher education.
If you have military service I'd definitely include that.
I would absolutely include your military experience.
Regarding your profile, it sounds like you are off to a good start. I read every article I could find and then more. I also searched L/I for people with the job title I am seeking and read their profiles top to bottom for more ideas.
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