We know how overwhelming it can be to try and improve your LinkedIn profile, but that’s why we are here to walk you through every section!
Your LinkedIn is essentially your virtual resume so do your best to have it updated as much as you can.
Background Photo
This is probably the most neglected feature of LinkedIn. You can use it to catch the attention of the viewer or to show off your personal brand.
Profile Photo
Your profile photo should reflect the real YOU and be professionally taken so make sure your picture is recent, has a simple background, and is a headshot rather than full body.
Name
Pretty straightforward, but keep it simple. If your name is harder to pronounce, you can use the feature on LinkedIn to say it so that others who view your profile can hear how to correctly pronounce your name!
Headline
This is important because it is what people will see under your name in search results and whenever you interact with posts (like/comment). Try to make it catchy and attention-grabbing if possible to represent your personal brand. It’s better if you write more than just the position and the title of the company you work for but a good starting point can be your major and the school you go to.
About
This is an extremely important area but one that might take you a bit more time to complete. This is where you can share your story. A good way of writing this if you get stuck is to first start with what your major is, what some of your skills and interests are, and what types of fields or roles you are interesed.
Work Experience
In order to accurately showcase your past and current positions, make sure to include your specific job title. Quantify, quantify, quantify! When you write your descriptions, focus more on quantifying your responsibilities rather than just copy and pasting what was on the original job description.
Education
One of the biggest debates is whether or not to keep your high school in your education section. It ultimately is up to you! If you think that you can benefit from having your high school to connect with other alumni, keep it. If not, then delete it. However, putting your university under this section is super important.
Skills & Endorsements
When thinking of what skills to include in this section, it is best to think of two things: is it relevant to the jobs you are applying for and are you prepared to demonstrate any of these skills at an interview? Also keep in mind that you shouldn’t add common skills like Microsoft Word, paint, etc. You should only add industry relevant skills and use the function on LinkedIn to reorder the list so the most important skills are on top.
Recommendation
This is the most essential part of your LinkedIn profile but you only need a few genuine recommendations to boost your creidibility. Try to ask your past or current employers, coworkers, or even professors to write a recommendation instead of your family or friends.
Volunteer Experience & Interests
This gives you the opportunity to show a more personal side of you where people can see common interests they have with you.
Are you ready?
Career Opportunities
Apply for the AcceleratePlus Mentorship Program
Our Spring 2021 Mentorship Program applications are now live! We are accepting 30 mentees for our Spring 2021 cohort. Each mentee is paired with highly skilled professional from their chosen industry.
Engineering
Johnson & Johnson Summer 2021 Mechanical Engineering Intern
Coinbase Summer 2021 Software Engineer Intern (Remote)
F5 Summer 2021 Software Engineering Internship
Finance
Tesla Summer 2021 Finance - Accounting Internship
Dremio Summer 2021 Financial Analyst Intern (Remote)
City of Redwood City Finance Intern
Other
Check out our previous newsletters for more opportunities!
Don’t forget to keep in touch with the AcceleratePlus team :)
Good luck,
Team Accelerate+