If you are job hunting, thinking about a career change, or are about to graduate high school or college, you can use LinkedIn to your advantage to grow your personal network, showcase your accomplishments, and even figure out what really interests you. Best of all, it's free, aside from taking some of your time to build.

2. 1. Include a picture of you on your profile.
• Not you and your
significant other, you
with friends, or you
with your dog.
• Your picture should be
recent, professional
looking (you in front of
a clean background
works, no need to go
crazy here), and convey
to employers that you
take personal branding
seriously.
• Remember, this is not a
traditional resume,
where adding a picture
often loses you the job.
Your connections on
LinkedIn want to know
that you're a real
person.

3. 2. Create a searchable heading using keywords related
to your potential career interests.
 Saying that you are a "Student Assistant at (Your School
Here)" may be true, but it will not translate to profile views.
 Try incorporating some of your skills or the industry you
want to be working in into your profile heading. When
employers, recruiters, and industry professionals search for
those keywords, you are much more likely to show up in
their search results.
 For example, my heading currently says "Open to
Opportunities in Educational Technology & Learning |
Instructional Design | Training & Development". Using the
dividers in between subjects or skills makes it easier to
read.

4. 3. Change your personal profile link to
www.linkedin.com/in/yourname.
 This little trick makes your profile more professional and
searchable.
 Wouldn't you rather give someone a personal link than one
that ends in /pubufhwfrh28ty9h4q932f?
 You can even list your link on your resume, since it will be
clean and includes your name.
 To make this switch, just go to the "edit your profile" page
and look under your contact info. Click edit next to the
profile link to change it to a custom URL.

5. 4. Write a summary that describes what you're good at
and what you want to do.
The more detail you give, the better
people will know what it is you're good
at and can help them with. I also use this
section to highlight my specialties, again
using the vertical dividers to make them
easy to read.

6. 5. Give an accurate and complete description of your
work history.
 Include any past work experience that
makes you look good, just like you
would on your resume.
 Keep descriptions succinct, but feel
free to write a little more than you
would on your resume.

7. 6. List your education if you did well in school, and
include any independent coursework.
 It can't hurt to say that you have a college degree, and
you never know who might contact you because they
want to work with someone who went to the same
school they did.
 Have you taught yourself a new skill online or
elsewhere?
1. List it on your profile.
2. It shows you are self-motivated and open to learning
new things.
3. That new skill could also lead to potential job
opportunities.

8. 7. List skills in the skill section so they can be endorsed
by your connections.
If you do something well, and
someone else knows it, you look
more credible when they can vouch
for your work. Return the favor by
endorsing the skills of others.

9. 8. Include past projects on your profile so people have
immediate access to what you can accomplish and have
accomplished.
 Put up anything you are proud of!
 List:
1. your blog,
2. a website you built,
3. a research paper you wrote for class,
4. an informative YouTube video you created,
5. a great looking PowerPoint,
6. or whatever else you've created.
 An easy way to do this is to generate direct links by uploading the project to Google
Drive. Just remember to change the viewing settings to public once you upload you
project to Drive.
 If it's a blog or video that's already on the internet, include the link on LinkedIn.

10. 9. Make it easy for people to contact you.
 Make sure you include your:
1. email address,
2. website URL,
3. or whatever channel you use to create correspondence
under the "Advice for contacting" section.
 If the only way people can contact you is through
LinkedIn as one of your connections, you are severely
limiting the potential for growing your network.

11. 10. Have at least 50 connections, and don't stop there.
 This does not mean asking to connect with anyone and everyone. It's
not Facebook.
 Tailor your requests to people who can help you advance in your career
and in life. Connecting with people from school is fine, but reach out
to professionals in your desired industry or people you know can give
you advice.
 When trying to connect with people you don't know, always customize
your request. Mention an article of theirs you've read, or a video you
saw, and if you need an email address (LinkedIn does not condone
requesting to connect with people you don't know),
1. Google the person's name,
2. find their website,
3. and look for their contact info.
 A little research goes a long way.

12. 11. Obtain recommendations from connections who
know you well and have seen your work.
 Recommendations are instant validations of your work,
and they should not be ignored.
 There are two ways to go about getting them.
1. Either send a recommendation request and hope they
respond, or
2. Write one about them so they are more likely to return the
favor. You'd be surprised how many people will write a great
recommendation for you if you give them a reason to.

13. 12. Read articles, participate in group discussions, and
follow companies you're interested in.
 Get your name out into the world by commenting
on things you care about. You never know who
might see it and want to speak to you.
 When a company goes to research your profile and
they see their company logo on your "following"
list, they'll know you're staying up to date with
what they're working on.

14. 13. Post useful status updates that correlate with your
goals and interests.
 Did you find an article particularly helpful or
inspiring?
 Share it with LinkedIn, and people might just generate
new leads for where you can learn more.
 This practice also shows you are willing to share your
knowledge with others, which is a great quality to
have.

15. 14. If you have a blog, use an automatic delivery
service to share your posts with LinkedIn.
 By posting your new content, you invite
people to look at what you're passionate
about and can increase your following with
no added effort.
 If you have a niche that's related to your
career goals, this is even more helpful for
branding yourself.

16. 15. Once your profile is complete, take advantage of
the organizing feature.
 Use the little up and down arrows within each section
to organize your LinkedIn profile in a way that best
represents you.
 Think about what aspect of your life is most impressive
and put it toward the top.
 Even people who scan will see your greatest
accomplishments listed first, whether that's your
summary, skills, projects, or recommendations.

17. Having a complete, focused LinkedIn profile is key to
using it as your online portfolio.
By taking the time to make sure you're representing
the best version of you, you're showing others that
you can successfully create a personal brand for
yourself.
Allow people to find your LinkedIn profile through
your resume, Facebook profile or page, business card,
and website, and you will be on your way to
achieving your career goals.

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Contact Me: http://www.ericastarr.info