Crafting Your LinkedIn

Branding Your LinkedIn

When thinking about our LinkedIn profile, we want to consider what a recruiter, hiring manager, or connection sees before they even scroll down the page to learn more about you. This includes the following:

  • Photo
  • Banner
  • Headline
  • About Section

What’s exciting about LinkedIn in comparison to your resume is that you can be creative and very deliberative in showcasing your brand

Photo

While your LinkedIn profile photo seems pretty simple to figure out, it’s important to remember that LinkedIn is a professional space. Here’s a few do’s and don’ts when selecting your photo for LinkedIn.  

Do: 

  • Dress professionally 
  • Have someone else take the picture 
  • Chose a simple background 

Don’ts: 

  • No sunglasses 
  • No taking selfies or using selfies 
  • No busy background, cropped photos, or senior year high school photos 

You also want to ensure that your headshot is zoomed in and that someone can easily recognize you in your photo. 

Banner /Background Image

When thinking about a banner, many people choose to represent their job function or industry. Here are a few ideas to consider:

  • Your workplace
  • Your university or college
  • Your city or state landscape
  • A solid color or abstract texture

We do not recommend using the auto-generated image from LinkedIn. Be original. 

Update Your LinkedIn Periodically

Overall, your LinkedIn branding will evolve over time as you gain more experience and decide your main purpose for using LinkedIn, so updating your LinkedIn profile should become a key practice.

Writing an Attention-Grabbing Headline

Your professional headline is of the most important pieces of your LinkedIn profile, yet it is very easy to overlook. While LinkedIn provides little, if any, insight into what to provide or write in this section, you will find guidelines, examples, and suggestions on how to start writing your own below. 

Professional Headlines 

Your headline is one of the first things that others will see on LinkedIn, which means it is critical to write a headline that will catch attention and drive people to your profile. 

What we see students do: 

  • Student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

What you should do: 

  • Future Business Analyst 
  • Experience in Financial Reporting and Forecasting 
  • Sales and Marketing Student | Relationship Builder | Seeking Full-Time Sales Role 

Formulas (choose one):

  1. Major | Skills or Experience | What you are seeking 
  2. Position and Employer | Skill | Skill 
  3. Aspirational Career Goal | Major | Industry Keywords 

Guidelines

Keep the following best practices in mind when crafting your professional headline: 

  • 120-character limit 
  • Find keywords in job postings 
  • Use abbreviations sparingly 
  • Research colleagues and others' headlines 
  • Use common job titles 
  • Symbols improve readability (i.e., | - , •) 
  • Test out multiple options to determine what works best and drives traffic to your profile

Developing an Engaging About Section

The About/Summary section within LinkedIn provides the opportunity for you to showcase your personal brand and tell the story of who you are. Because it involves storytelling and creative writing, many people find this section challenging to write. To make this process easier, you will find guidelines, examples, and suggestions on how to start writing your own below. 

Pro-tip: It is important to remember that you should be continuously adjusting and editing your About section as your career goals evolve. Do not fall into the trap of not updating your profile.

About

I have always been the person to strike up a conversation with someone new. Meeting new people and building relationships which create win-wins, is a strength of mine which I have invested in and utilized through my roles as a development representative with the University of Nebraska Foundation and executive store intern at City Center Mart.

Wanting to use my time wisely as a student, outside of work experiences, I have held leadership positions in student organizations to grow membership and increase programming that meets members' needs. In my career path, I want to continue to be a creative problem solver and use strategic thinking to tackle big problems.

Soon graduating, I am looking forward to joining an organization which is team-centric in an account management role where I can utilize my experiences, skills and capitalize on my psychology classes to meet the organization's and clients' goals.

About Section (Professional Summaries) 

Strong About/Summary sections are well-crafted stories that engage the reader, describe your experience, skills, and goals, and showcase your personality.
 

Develop your summary or story by answering these questions:

WHAT

do you do?

+
HOW

do you do it (well)?

+
WHERE

are you going?

Structure

  • 1st paragraph - how are you going to “hook” the reader? 
  • 2nd paragraph - what experiences/skills are relevant to the reader? 
  • 3rd paragraph - what should the reader remember about you and your goals? 

Formulas (choose one):

  • Short & Sweet - similar to your elevator pitch 
  • Mission-based - what is your purpose and story? 
  • Accomplishment-focused - what are your biggest accomplishments that you want the reader to know? 

Guidelines

Keep the following best practices in mind when crafting your About/Summary section: 

  • 2,000-character limit 
  • Stick to 1-3 short paragraphs 
  • Speak like a human/write how you speak (use of jargon and buzzwords is okay) 
  • Audit your summary every 6 months; is it still relevant and accurate? 
  • Find inspiration in others’ summaries 
  • Ask yourself W.I.I.F.M. - “what’s in it for me?” from the perspective of the reader 
  • White space is your friend 
  • Rich media (documents, presentations, website URL) is helpful 

Example Summary

What you do

A passion I have carried with me ever since I was young is solving puzzles. I started at the kitchen table arranging cardboard pieces into an ideal picture and have expanded that drive into pulling pieces from my environment and developing them into unique solutions. My interest in analyzing factors around me and using them to make something new is enhanced by my creativity, curiosity, and love of working with others.

How you do it well 

My experiences participating in the State Farm Business with Integrity Ethics Competition and coding as an Undergraduate Research Assistant helped me hone my ability to develop solutions and think on my feet. Additionally, I have found an outlet for my curiosity by pursuing a degree in supply chain and learning about data and analytics through my statistics minor. Like any hobby, puzzles are more fun with a team! I have found my social outlet through participating in paid and volunteer tutoring opportunities that enable me to develop my own teaching skills - and others!

Where are you going

Currently, I look forward to finding an internship in the supply chain industry where there are new puzzles to solve every day. Upon graduation, I look forward to bringing my creativity and love of learning to any supply chain or logistics team.

Additional LinkedIn Tips for Business Students 

  • List your school as Nebraska College of Business
  • Your degree will not auto-populate; you will need to type “Bachelor of Science in Business Administration” 
  • Connect with Nebraska College of Business and the Official University of Nebraska-Lincoln Alumni Association groups 
  • Connect with College of Business staff and faculty to expand your network