What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn® is a professional networking site that enables its members to connect with one another for career and business purposes. You can use LinkedIn to search for opportunities, keep in touch with past and current colleagues, grow your professional network, or stay updated on industry trends by following your favorite companies and industry thought leaders.

Employers use LinkedIn to find talent and evaluate candidates for employment opportunities. Your LinkedIn profile is the first impression employers and other LinkedIn members will have of you. A profile that showcases your strengths, personality and professional achievements can help you stand out as a candidate or attract opportunities even when you aren’t actively looking. In fact, you can privately let recruiters know that you’re open to being contacted for opportunities.

LinkedIn profile essentials

There are many components to a LinkedIn profile, but our guide provides a checklist which covers the minimum information you must include to create a complete profile, as well as some additional recommendations to help you stand out. According to LinkedIn, members with a complete profile are 40X more likely to show up in search results.

LinkedIn headline

Located directly under your name, your LinkedIn headline tells people who you are
and what you do in 220 characters or fewer. By default, LinkedIn uses your most recent job title as your headline, but you should customize it to optimize your headline. An optimized headline is “searchable,” meaning it contains keywords that recruiters might search for to find someone with your skills and talents. It may also include a tagline that describes the benefits of working with you.

LinkedIn summary

A LinkedIn summary is the heart of your profile. It’s where you tell your career story to showcase not only your strengths, but also your personality. This gives employers and other professionals a sense of what it might be like to work with you and how you would fit into their work environment. You have 2,000 characters to write your summary, but as a general rule of thumb, aim for approximately three paragraphs with no more than three sentences per paragraph.

For examples and worksheets to get you started, download this LinkedIn Profile Guide.

LinkedIn is a registered trademark of LinkedIn Corp. and its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries.