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Having a strong LinkedIn profile can help you stand out to employers and can serve as a great networking tool throughout your career.
LinkedIn is a place you can keep a digital copy of your resume, share career updates with others, connect with people in your field and find new career opportunities.
The key to using LinkedIn is to maintain an updated profile. It can be easy to forget about your profile once you’ve secured a job, but there are plenty of benefits, in addition to employment opportunities.
Below are tips to give your LinkedIn a heathy revamp.
LinkedIn is a great networking tool to use throughout your career. (Photo Illustration by Buda Mendes/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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- Update your profile and background photo
- Make sure your “about” section is filled out
- Update your headline to include more than just your job title
- Make new connections
- Make any necessary changes to your skills and experience section
- Share relevant content to your feed and add comments to posts
1. Update your profile and background photo
Your profile picture on LinkedIn is the first introduction people get when they view your profile. A good profile picture can make for a good first impression to anyone who comes across your page.
Keep your profile picture professional and choose a photo that is more of a close-up of your face, instead of a far away shot.
On LinkedIn, there’s also an option to add a background picture. You can use your background picture to show even more of your personality and what is important to you.
2. Make sure your “about” section is filled out
A lot of people keep the “about” section of LinkedIn blank, but this is a section you don’t want to skip. This section is where you can tell your story and let people know who you are, what is important to you and what you are looking for.
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Use each section of LinkedIn wisely to create a strong professional online presence for yourself. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly / Reuters Photos)
Use this section to market yourself and share your own individual story.
3. Update your headline to include more than just your job title
In the headline section of LinkedIn, many just include a one- or two-word job title, but you can include more detail than that. Make your headline engaging and eye catching instead of just a couple of words.
4. Make new connections
Always make new connections on LinkedIn. Be sure to monitor requests you receive from others and always be on the lookout for new connections you can make to expand your network.
Add new connections often. You never know who you will meet virtually.
5. Make any necessary changes to your skills and experience section
If you haven’t looked over your skills in a while, give them a look through and see if any new skills need to be added. The same goes for your experience section. Every time you get a new job or a new position in your company, make sure to add that new information into your profile.
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Check in with your LinkedIn profile often to make sure it is up to date with your most current information. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
6. Share relevant content to your feed and add comments to posts
Once you have the majority of your LinkedIn profile updated, don’t forget about it. Remain active on LinkedIn by sharing posts and commenting on others’. You can share your own work with your LinkedIn connections and share others’ posts.
Use LinkedIn as a professional social media platform to share work with others, build your network and stay updated with things happening in your industry.
