When you are done building your profile as seen here, you will need to add resume elements in your profile.
Take a look right below the blue box we just worked with in the past article. What do you see? I bet it looks similar to the image I have provided below? Am I right? Great!
So what does all of this mean? This portion of your profile is the summary of your past and present jobs, education, recommendations, total connections, Twitter username, and of course your Public Profile URL:
Below I will go over what each of these means, and in the following section we will cover how to actually edit and add items to these lists.
Current: Your current position as defined when you “Add Jobs” later on. You can have more than one current positon!
Past: All of your past expeirence. Also defined when you “Add Jobs” I will explain later
Education: Shows all of your education, past and present
Recommended: If someone recommended you for a position you hold or have held then it shows up here.
Total Connections: the total number of connections you currently have. In other words those who have accepted your invitation to “connect”.
Websites: You may add up to three here. I will explain later as well.
Twitter: Link your Twitter account to LinkedIn! Cool right? Ill explain more lter.
Pucblic Profile: This is the PUBLICLY accessible URL that you can give others so that they may view your profile from anywhere in the world!
Now that we have introduced each of these topics let’s dive into each one individually.
First Lets click on “Add Current Position”. Once you click this button you will see the screen that allows you to add your current positions. (Shown below)
When you “Add a position” you must enter the following information:
Company Name:
Title:
Time Period: Currenlty work here? If not currently working there do not check this. Simply specify the start and end dates of that position. These go into “Past Positions”.
Describe your position – Make sure you are as descriptve as possible. You want to showcase the skill you have gained through each position.
When you are all done press “Save Changes” and the position will have been added!
You can do this as many times as you would like.
After each submission you will be prompted to make a profile for the company you added (unless your company is already present on LinkedIn) you can skip this step for now.
So now you know how to add Jobs (Both past and present) so lets move on to the all important “Education” porton of linked in..
First Lets click on “Add Education” in the main profile screen (first image in this article).
Once you click this button you will see the screen that allows you to add your educations items (Shown below).
When you “Add an Education Item” you must enter the following information:
This is very similar to “Add Position” but it requires different fields as shown above. Read below to learn about each one:
Country: The country the school you attended was in
State: The state it was located in
School name: Your school name (if your school name is not listed, select “other” and you will be able to enter it manually)
Degree: Degree(s) earned
Field(s) of Study: Field(s) you studied in
Dates attended – Start to finish
Activities & societies you participated in – Honor societies, sport teams etc
Additional notes – GPA, Honors etc..
That’s about it for Education!
You now know how to add Jobs (Both past and present) and you can now add education items so lets move on to the all important “Websites” and “Extras” portion of LinkedIn..
First Lets click on “Add Websites” shown in the first image in this article.
Once you click this button you will see the screen that allows you to add your websites. Besides the three website fields you will also notice on this screen some other fields as shown on the right side of the screen.
including:
Interests: Only list relavant interests to your industry.
Groups and Associations: Professional Groups Only
Honor and Awards: Relevant Awards received in your industry
To add a website you must simply select from the drop down the “Type” of site it is:
My Website
My Company
My Blog
My RSS Feed
My Portfolio
Other
If you select one of the top 5, simply enter the URL in the feld next to it and you are all set.
If you chose “Other” then you must also define the title of the site. Then you enter the URL. It’s that simple.
You are allowed up to three, so by all means use them! We will come back later on to add some other properties to website links on LinkedIn.
So it’s finally time the all important Summary portion of your LinkedInProfile. We will also discuss “Specialities” as well.
So make sure you on the Edit Profile Screen (se first image in this article) and find the “Add Summary” text.
Click on the “Add Summary” Link and you will be brought to a page with two fields:
1. Professional Experience and Goals – For this summary I recommend making yourself shine through writing. Don’t just say “I am interested in getting a position as an attorney at a law firm” That’s boring! Let’s elaborate a little on this, but don’t over exaggerate! Why not try: “Enthusiastic and Experienced Attorney Looking For The Opportunity To Work For An Innovative and Established Law Firm”
Also, I like to use bullet points to summarize core skills and goals for my career here as well. Try to keep this short, no more than three of four paragraphs is great.
2. Specialities – In this field list keyword that best explain your skill set. For me I might write: PLSQL, PHP, Oracle, MySQL, SEO, PPC etc… Once you have filled out both completely make sure to press the “Save Changes” button.
Guess What? That’s just about it for the profile creation process! We can now move on to Making connections, and using LinkedIn to find Jobs that suit your needs! Sound good? I thought so! So in my next article we will start making connections!
RELATED ARTICLES
Part 1: LinkedIn: Introduction
Part 2: LinkedIn: Creating Your Account
Part 3: LinkedIn: Connect With Contacts and Invite Friends
Part 4: LinkedIn: Building Your Profile
Part 5: LinkedIn: Add Your Resume Elements
Part 6: LinkedIn: Adding Connections
Part 7: LinkedIn: Adding Connections – Other Methods
Part 8: LinkedIn: Adding Connections – LinkedIn Groups
Part 9: LinkedIn: Adding Connections – LinkedIn Answers
Part 10: LinkedIn: For Job Hunting
Part 11: LinkedIn: For Job Hunting – Strategies
