This document provides guidance on optimizing a LinkedIn profile. It discusses including keywords throughout all profile sections like name, headline, summary, and experiences to match relevant job postings and properly brand oneself. The speaker emphasizes telling a story in each section and using keywords to describe motivations, skills, and aspirations. The document also recommends connecting with classmates, professors, and others to grow one's professional network on LinkedIn.

1. Base Camp – LinkedIn Profile
Presented by Michael T. Breslin
Lally Office of Career Management and Professional Development
August 21, 2015

2. • Name
• Headline
• Summary
• Experience
• Anything else we can get to
Agenda

3. What we see first
Name Geographic Area
Headline Industry

4. • Should match all other appearances of your
name/brand
– Resume
– Cover Letter
– Google+
– Facebook
– E-mail signature
Name

5. • Establish and reinforce your brand
• Use them EVERYWHERE
• Find them:
– Relevant job postings
– Other LinkedIn profiles
– Industry articles
– Coursework
Keywords

6. • If you don’t know what you want to do
– MS candidate in Business Analytics | SQL | Data
Mining | ETL
• If you know what you want to do
– MBA candidate and aspiring Mergers and
Acquisitions Analyst | Corporate Finance
Headline – load keywords

7. • There are 147 choices
• Do not choose “Education Management”
• Choose based on what you know right now
– You can always change your mind
Industry = another keyword

8. • Tell your story
– Motivations
• “I love using my portfolio analysis skills to solve complicated
asset allocation issues”
– Skills
• “Through my MS in Quantitative Finance, I’ve developed the
ability to…”
– Aspirations
• “I’m looking to begin my career (with a type of company/in a
specific industry)”
– “When I’m not elbow deep in VBA macros, I run
obstacle races and…”
– List your keywords and skills
Summary

9. • Present Job Title
– MS in Supply Chain candidate
• Do not use this as your default Headline
• Keywords in Job Titles – SEO looks for them
– Supply Chain Intern
– Operations Project Assistant
– New Product Development Associate
Experience

10. • Tell your story
– Humans are hardwired to respond to stories
• Why did you do this job?
• What did you learn?
• What types of people did you work with?
• How are you better now because of it?
• Use keywords throughout
More Experience

11. • Many opportunities for keywords
• Supports your story and your brand
Still More Experience

12. • Volunteer Experience
• Honors and Awards
• Certifications
• Organizations / Clubs
• Projects
• Tell these stories using keywords
Other Sections that work like
“Experience”

13. • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - The Lally School of
Management and Technology
• Use the correct name for your degree
– “Master of Science in…”
– “Master of Business Administration”
• Describe your degree
– Using keywords, of course!
• Add a description of The Lally School and RPI
• List your coursework (in the “Coursework” section)
Education

14. • These should be relevant and descriptive
– Pictures
– Presentations
– Portfolios
– Video
• LinkedIn =/= Facebook
Add Media

15. • Used in LinkedIn’s
education page search
• Two kinds of skills:
– The tool (Microsoft
Excel)
– What you do with the
tool (Cash Flow
Analysis)
Skills

16. • Never use any default message
• Always customize and include:
– Your name
– How you know the person / learned of the person
• Or what you have in common
– Your reason for reaching out
• Practice on me
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltbreslin
Connecting

17. • Easy connections to make
– Classmates
– Professors
– Staff
– Advisory Board members
• A bit more difficult
– A presenter
– An author of an article
• Eventually
– Recruiters
– Hiring managers
– Employees of desirable employers
Who else?

18. • Who you know
• Strong ties
• Weak ties
The best way to grow your
relationships

19. • Choose an upcoming experience
– Circle all areas on your profile you want this
experience to impact
• And in what ways; be specific
• Choose your dream 1st job
– Compare the requirements / preferreds to your
profile
• Circle what areas need to be improved
Planning your career

20. • Always be updating your LinkedIn profile
– But we don’t all need to know everything
• Updates engage your audience more than
most other LinkedIn actions
• Next steps
– Building a relationship strategy
– Targeting employers / contacts
(Never) The End