Creating Your LinkedIn Profile
What Should You Include? Here is a LinkedIn Profile Checklist and suggestions from LinkedIn.
Here are our some guidelines for Creating your LinkedIn page.
- Professional Headline- this is the short description that appears under your name, and it’s the first thing someone sees in a message and/or connection request. If you are job searching, you might want to describe what you’re looking for (i.e., Dartmouth grad seeking job in renewable energy industry). If you are currently employed, use your job title.
- Photo- select a professional-looking headshot. Your photo is critical to success on LinkedIn.
- Summary Statement- short and sweet with industry keywords so that you will be found in searches. If you are employed, your summary should also include a brief description of the company where you work. Remember, this isn’t your resume, so let your personality come through.
- Education—include information about all institutions you attended. Include your major and minor (if you have one) and any academic honors and awards.
- Experience—summarize your experiences in specific and concise language that are relevant to your career goals. Consider adding rich media to make your profile stand out.
- Skills—Ask your contacts to endorse you for your top skills, and then reorder them so the ones most relevant to your career path are on top (this includes deleting those skills that may be irrelevant).
- Everything Else—don’t forget your patents, publications, leadership roles, certifications, etc. LinkedIn will prompt you to fill out these categories.
Networking with LinkedIn
Start Making Connections! (The larger your network is, the easier it will be to connect with others in a variety of industries.)
- Search for connections in the “People” field. When you connect with them, indicate your relationship to that person (when connecting with alumni use the "classmate" option.) It is critical to tailor your invitation so that the receiver is more likely to accept your request. LinkedIn also suggests people to add to your network.
- Customize the Alumni Function: www.linkedin.com/alumni
- Identify over 64,000 Dartmouth alumni & students.
- Use LinkedIn like the Dartmouth Career Network. Your invitation message should introduce yourself, indicate why you are writing, and request a follow up time. The default search will locate those who are currently attending or are alumni. Broaden your search by selecting a range of dates of attendance and select the option to include people with no dates.
Join Relevant Groups
The more groups you are a part of, the more access you have to people with whom you share common interests. So, don’t be shy--participate in discussions, review and comment on articles, and ask questions to raise your profile exposure.
- Join “Dartmouth College Alumni” and “Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth”.
- Perform a keyword search in the “Groups Directory” to find those related to: industry, career fields, professional and student organizations, and location.
Ask for Recommendations
Go to the “Request Recommendations” tab. Choose what you want to be recommended for, and whom you want to ask. In your message, be clear and concise.
Job/Internship Search with LinkedIn
- Search for companies (Companies > Search Companies).
- Follow companies to view company posts in your “recent updates”.
- Learn about available positions (Companies > Search Companies > Job Opportunities) OR Search for available positions by title, keyword, location or company name (Jobs > Find Jobs). For entry-level and internships, scroll down to “Job Experience” and select your preference(s).
- Identify others in your network that work at companies of interest.
Tips
- Emulate profiles in your industry of interest
- Complete your entire profile: members with complete profiles are 40x more likely to receive opportunities
- Create a catchy headline and summary
- Think about your top five strengths and highlight them in your profile so that the right people find you
- Customize your URL to get rid of those extraneous letters and numbers
- In your privacy settings, turn off activity broadcasts and change “select who can see your activity feed” to “only you”
- When stalking your potential future boss, change your viewing settings to “anonymous” in “Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile”
- Don’t reach out to contacts until your profile has been double checked and proofread.
- LinkedIn Learning: Rock your LinkedIn Profile
- Schedule an appointment with us, Thayer Career Services, with any questions about your LinkedIn profile.