The three things seen first
In search results a recruiter sees only your photo, your name and your headline, and decides from those whether to click. The photo should be a recent head-and-shoulders shot in good light with a plain background and nobody cropped out beside you. The headline defaults to your current job title, which wastes it. Use the space to say what you do and for whom, such as "Staff accountant, nonprofit audits and grant reporting," and include the job title you want to be found under.
Write the summary like a person
Only the first few lines of the About section show before a reader has to click for more, so put the substance there: what you do, what you are good at, and what kind of work you are after. Write in the first person, in plain language, and stop after three short paragraphs. Words such as "passionate" and "results-driven" appear on millions of profiles and say nothing.
Fill the experience section with evidence
Under each job, write two to four lines about what you accomplished, with numbers where you have them, and not a copy of the job description. Pull five or six postings for the role you want, note the terms that recur, and work the ones that honestly apply into your headline, summary, job entries and skills list. Recruiter searches run on those words. Make sure titles and dates match your resume exactly, because employers compare the two and a discrepancy looks worse than either version.
Settings worth ten minutes
- You should claim a custom profile address with your name in it, which looks cleaner on a resume.
- You can turn on the setting that signals you are open to work for recruiters only, without displaying it publicly. The site tries to hide the signal from recruiters at your own company but does not guarantee it.
- You should switch off the option that announces profile edits to your network before a major rewrite.
- You should set your location to the city where you want to work if you are relocating.
Keep it alive
Ask two or three former managers or colleagues for written recommendations, and offer to write one in return. Connect with people soon after you meet them, with a one-line note saying where. A profile updated twice a year is enough, and daily posting is not required of anyone.
Note Your profile is public by default and hiring managers will read it alongside your application. Anything you would not say in an interview does not belong there.
