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What Your LinkedIn Profile Says About You

It can be challenging to find the right words that represent you on your LinkedIn profile. While there is no single way to write a LinkedIn profile: your profile is your online billboard. It’s the one place where you can tell the story you want to tell. It’s where you can put your own spin on your work experience.

There are 467 million LinkedIn users. Don’t be shy. Don’t be a robot. Now, is not the time to blend in.

  1. Your profile tells the world how you see yourself professionally, writes Liz Ryan, CEO/founder of Human Workplace. Treat it like your brand. Here are four things your LinkedIn profile says about you.
  2. Your profile tells the world which side of you that you’ve chosen to make public on LinkedIn, especially in your headline and profile photo, says Ryan. Pick a photo that best represents you as you see yourself.
  3. Your profile describes how strongly your current role influences your brand. There are several approaches to take. You can make your profile all about your current job, or about your career as a whole or make it personal and about you as a person.
  4. Your profile represents what you care about. The blog posts you’ve written, the influencers you follow and other profile categories tell LinkedIn users what’s most important to you, at work and elsewhere writes Ryan.
  5. Your profile tells us what you think about your work history. Some include long lists of keywords. These types of profiles tell us, Ryan says, that the LinkedIn user wants to showcase technical or functional skills in standard categories. While others use this section to profile work triumphs.

When it hits you how momentous your LinkedIn profile can be in expressing your personality, perspective and values, you realize that the words you choose to describe yourself on LinkedIn carry a lot of weight.

So, get writing and don’t censor yourself.

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