Never had a LinkedIn profile, or opened one years ago and never touched it? This guide explains why it matters and walks you through the 10 sections that count, in order, with examples you can copy.
With more than a billion members, LinkedIn is the professional network recruiters and hiring managers actually use. A good profile works for you even while you're asleep.
Recruiters search LinkedIn by job title, skill and city. With no profile, you never show up in those searches.
When your application looks interesting, the next step is often a look at your profile. Having none, or an empty one, raises questions.
Referrals and introductions are often how candidates get noticed first. LinkedIn is how you meet those people and stay in touch.
Just moved, or planning to? LinkedIn lets you build a local network before you arrive and show experience employers there can understand.
Gathering these first turns an evening of second-guessing into an hour of filling in.
Tick each step as you finish it. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can stop and come back.
Go to linkedin.com and join with your personal email. Your account should outlive any job or school. Use the name you use at work, exactly as it would appear on your CV.
Profiles with a photo get viewed far more than ones without. It doesn't need a studio: a phone camera, a window for light and a plain wall are enough.
The wide image behind your photo is free space. Use something calm that hints at your field or city: a skyline, your workplace, a simple pattern in your colours. The recommended size is 1584 × 396 pixels; free design tools have ready-made templates.
The headline is the line under your name. It appears next to your name everywhere: in search results, comments and invitations. You have 220 characters. "Student" or "Unemployed" wastes them. Use this formula:
Role you want|2–3 key skills|what you help with
Data Analyst | SQL, Power BI, Python | Turning messy data into clear decisions
Edit the examples above. The example text is only a sample to show the shape.
Recruiters filter by city, so set the city where you want to work, or the nearest big city. Then click Open to under your name and add the job titles, locations and job types you want.
This is your story in your own voice, written in the first person. Three short paragraphs are enough:
ExampleI'm a data analyst with 4 years of experience in retail and logistics, now based in Toronto.
I like taking messy spreadsheets and turning them into dashboards people actually use. At my last company, a weekly Power BI report I built cut stock-outs by 18%.
I'm looking for analyst roles in retail or supply chain. Message me here or email sara.ahmadi@example.com.
Add every relevant job with title, company and dates. Internships, volunteering and freelance work count too. Under each one, write 3–5 lines that show results, not duties: action verb + what you did + result.
Responsible for preparing weekly sales reports.
Built a weekly sales dashboard used by 12 store managers, cutting report prep from 6 hours to 30 minutes.
Add your degrees with school and field of study. Put online courses and professional certificates under Licenses & certifications, especially ones named in the job ads you want.
Open 3 job ads you'd love to get and note the skills they repeat. Add 10–20 of those that you really have, and put your strongest ones at the top. Recruiters search by these exact words.
Your profile starts with a link full of random numbers. Click Public profile & URL on your profile, then edit it to your name. Put it on your CV and your email signature.
Want to know how it scores? Send it to us for a free assessment and we'll email you the quick wins.
A profile nobody sees can't help you. Ten minutes a day is enough to get it moving.
Classmates, colleagues, managers, friends in your field. Let LinkedIn import your contacts if you like.
Follow places you'd like to work. You'll see their job posts and news first.
Find groups for your field and your city. Read before you post.
Add a thought or a question to posts in your field. Comments get you seen sooner than your own posts at first.
People in roles you want. Add a short note saying why you're connecting.
From a manager or colleague. Suggest what they could mention to make it easy.
Introduce yourself: what you do, what you're working towards, and one thing you've learned.
"Hi Daniel, I'm a data analyst who just moved to Toronto. I enjoyed your post about forecasting in retail and would love to connect and follow your work. Thanks, Sara"
No. Everything in this guide works on a free account. Premium can come later if you need its extras.
The facts should match: titles, companies and dates. The writing can differ. LinkedIn is more personal, in the first person, and can cover more than one target role.
Yes. Students and career changers gain the most. Put your effort into the headline, About, education, projects and volunteering, and start connecting early.
The language of the job market you're aiming for. For jobs in the US or Canada, write it in English. You can add a second-language version later.
If you choose "Recruiters only" for Open to work, LinkedIn tries to hide it from recruiters at your own company, but it can't guarantee that. Your colleagues won't see a green frame.
Send us your new profile for a free assessment: a score out of 100 and the quick wins to fix first, by email.
