General Tips

• Tell the reader what to think, do not assume they will connect the dots.

• Your LinkedIn profile should complement your resume, but should not be identical. LinkedIn can use more prose vs. bullets in a resume.

• Write the about and experience sections in the third person.

• Consider including key publications, speaking engagements, etc. in the Featured section or linked under the relevant experience.

Profile Picture & Background

• Choose a photo that is recent and professional.

• Consider a background photo that is eye-catching/tells people more about you but is not distracting, and make sure it is up to date (i.e. not from a past role).

Headline

• This is “clickbait” for the young, green, researcher. Use buzzwords and orient toward the position you want, not necessarily the position you are in.

• The headline should be compelling, not just your role and company.

• When people do a search on LinkedIn, the preview shows your name and headline, so the headline should tell the reader what to think about you.

Example: Tech Founder & CEO | Product | Strategy and Operations | Board Member & Advisor

About Section

This section should immediately tell someone how they should think about you. Think that a research associate from an executive search firm is simply going to copy and paste this into their brief. Make sure it tells the narrative you want. If someone reads this section and nothing else, do they understand you and what you’ve done?

• The first two sentences are the most important - this is what shows up in a profile preview.

• Build this section out so that someone can copy and paste it.

• Should summarize experience and capabilities. Should not include too much about previous roles or companies unless you are explaining a strength or achievement, as it could be redundant.

• Keep it short and concise, generally around 3 paragraphs. Think about painting the picture of your career at a high level, priming the reader for what they’ll read in the experience section.

• It’s okay for there to be an overlap between what’s said in this section and the experience section.

• If you want to be considered for something outside of your experience, you have to say it.

  • Example: “Experienced COO, CEO, and founder with deep experience across media and consumer businesses, who is now pivoting into the crypto space.”

Experience

• If the company is not well-known, include a one-line description.

• Make sure the role/experience is linked to the company page so the logo shows - otherwise, it looks clunky.

• In more recent roles, 1-2 short paragraphs are enough. Focus on the remit and key accomplishments, but be careful with numbers and other sensitive information - don’t be as specific as you are in your resume.

Directed the corporate brand identity and all integrated marketing functions including advertising,

media, social media, event and product marketing communications.

Led a complete overhaul of the online strategy for the APAC region, transitioning from a traditional

advertising model to primarily digital. Achieved a 65% increase in consumer engagement and

improved website satisfaction rates by over 38%.

• For each position: 

  • Describe your mandate- the charge you were given (what you were hired to do), and how you delivered against that mandate. Brought in to do this, did this, and this, etc. 

  • Include 2-3 bullets of your deliverables. Deliverables should highlight strengths. If you say you are good at x, the bullet point should back that up. 

  • Give credit where credit is due- equally important to claim your own. Be careful of using things like “led”, “created”, “built” etc without being explicit about where you were responsible and where a team was responsible. 

  • Here are some examples of bullet starters

  • Facts and figures are an important signal for scope of experience. Use them to clarify the breadth of a role/responsibility

  • They also help to specify general statements. Especially those that signal numbers such as: increased, decreased, drove, scaled, reached, 

  • If in a role leading others: always describe the size of team/direct reports and if you owned a P&L

• As you go further back, a one-sentence summary is sufficient. Very early roles can be rolled into a summary (ex. “Previous roles in strategic planning, finance, and operations”).