LinkedIn Best Practices
Creating a LinkedIn page can be intimidating as a college student. Here are some tips for setting up your profile.
Upload a Professional Photo
This is the first thing an employer sees. Make sure it is a recent, professional headshot of high quality. Don’t use a selfie or a cropped group photo.
Write a Keyword-rich Headline
Make this catchy, industry-specific, and succinct. Think of it as the top thing you want a future employer to know about you. Ex: “Honors student seeking marketing position”.
Customize your LinkedIn Profile URL
Customizing your URL will make you more easily searchable on popular search engines. This also make it more manageable to use on your resume.
Write a Summary
Think of this like an elevator pitch or cover letter. Concisely describe your experience, qualifications and goals. You can also describe what motivates you, what you’re skilled at, and what makes you unique. Use a professional and confident tone.
Describe your Experience
LinkedIn allows you to provide more details than you can on a one-page resume. Be sure to list experiences such as full-time and part time jobs, internships, volunteer work, freelance work, or projects. List these in reverse chronological order. Make sure to utilize the “media” option in each profile category to upload documents, videos, and presentations.
List Relevant Skills
Scroll through the list of skills and identify those that are industry specific and relevant to you. This helps employers find you and provides a platform for others to endorse you. LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills but try and keep it to only those you can demonstrate in the present.
Start Posting
Show industry professionals what you’re doing by posting! Make sure to share achievements, projects you’re working on, and industry related content.
Network, Newwork, Network!
To start, connect with classmates, professors, family, friends, and work colleagues past and present. Make sure to continually add people you meet at conferences or other networking events. Don’t be afraid to add industry professionals. You can also visit the university page to add UH alumni!