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Make an Impressive LinkedIn

Most students don’t know how to utilize LinkedIn to their advantage. This is a sure way to get you noticed.

2 hours to complete

Create the Basics

Craft the About Section

Apply the Resume Info

Request & Provide Recommendations

Increase Connections

Create the Basics

LinkedIn is a must-have for a young professional!

Before you get started on LinkedIn, let’s quickly learn about the consequences of creating a LinkedIn profile. Exercise caution and be mindful of the following:

⚠️ Personal Information Exposure: avoid oversharing personal information like home addresses or phone numbers.

⚠️ Privacy Settings: review and customize the settings available to your comfort level, such as allowing who can find and message you.

Edit Privacy

⚠️ Profile Visibility: even with privacy settings, certain info on your profile may still be visible to the public. Review your profile visibility settings to ensure you’re comfortable with the accessible info.

Our recommendation is to make your profile viewing option “private mode” so others can’t see that you’ve viewed their profile. Then, click on “Edit your public profile” to update the following settings.

Edit the URL to make it readable, concise, yet still specific to your professional self.

Turn on or off certain sections within your profile

Now that we got those important considerations out of the way... dive into your basics! Take a look at one of my basic sections:

Edit Background Photo

Edit Intro

Here’s an example from one of our past interns at Gateway:

A step-by-step guide to edit your LinkedIn profile

You can split your computer screen to edit your LinkedIn profile side by side.

1. Edit your intro

• Type your first name, last name, and pronouns.
  
• If your name is uncommon or harder to pronounce, consider recording your name's pronunciation.
• We encourage you to follow this structure to get started, but feel free to edit to your style:
  
• Current Position / Desired Role Keywords | Industry/Area of Interest | Unique Value
  
• Ex. Advanced Studies Student at Langley HS | Healthcare & Medicine | Passionate about Pediatrics
  
• If applicable, add your current position.
  
• Select the industry you’re currently in, pursuing, or interested in.
• Add your education.
• Add your location - if you are from a small town near a big city, it is better to put similar to “Greater D.C. Metropolitan Area”.
• Edit your contact info - only include what you’re willing to share publicly with others.

2. Upload a professional photo

• Take a close-up of your face and smile!
  
• Don’t use a selfie - have someone you know take it for you on the phone.
• Nowadays, there are AI tools that can create a professional photo using your “unprofessional” photos. We generally recommend just getting a headshot photo taken but you are more than welcome to give it AI a try as long as it looks realistic!
  

3. Select a background photo

• Choose one of LinkedIn’s custom image that captures your interests or personality.
  
• Browse for a stock photo online.
• Or make a background photo using Canva’s LinkedIn template to showcase your personality, interests, school, or life moments.
  

Good examples include the city you’re from, your school, or interest: