How to Put LinkedIn on a Resume

When a hiring manager has reviewed your resume and is interested in you as a candidate, checking your LinkedIn profile is typically the next step. This platform offers a different experience for the reader. It will showcase potential common connections and other aspects of who you are as a professional that you would not include on your resume. You want these two aspects of your professional portfolio to complement one another. A poorly written LinkedIn profile may be off-putting to the hiring manager even if you have a strong resume. Using our guide will help you feature your LinkedIn profile on your resume and ensure consistency across both mediums.

Shorten Your LinkedIn URL

You’ll want to include your LinkedIn URL at the top of your document using a hyperlink, making it easier for the hiring manager to view your profile. However, it’s also important to ensure the URL looks professional on your resume. When you create a LinkedIn profile, the software will provide you with a URL filled with a mix of letters and numbers. You’ll want to click on the URL editing button and remove these characters from the link to shorten it. If your name is already taken on LinkedIn, you should shorten it to only one or two numbers at the end. However, this is a minor detail. Going the extra mile to improve the presentation of your resume often separates a candidate from the rest of the applicant pool.

Create a Compelling About Section

Unlike the professional profile section on the resume, which needs to be concise, straightforward, and to the point, your LinkedIn about section provides you with an avenue to describe aspects of who you are as a professional. The about section is often the first thing a hiring manager sees on your profile, so you want to provide a different reading experience. For example, adding more than one paragraph is appropriate here if you feel you have more to say about yourself. Perhaps your passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion doesn’t fit cleanly into your resume profile, and you want employers to understand this unique aspect of you as a person. Use this opportunity to say something about yourself that will capture the reader’s interest, rather than simply copying and pasting your same resume.

Change Your Visibility Settings

When making edits to your LinkedIn profile, you may want to change your visibility settings before updating jobs or content. If you’re job hunting but currently employed at a company, having your connections alerted to changes in your profile may raise red flags for your bosses. By accessing your settings and toggling off your alerts for changes to your profile, you can edit your profile without broadcasting your changes to the rest of your network. Although having a strong LinkedIn profile is important for the hiring process, you should temper the risk of tipping off your current employer with the long-term benefits before making your edits.

Only Include Appropriate Work Experience Content

Although you want consistency across your resume and LinkedIn profile, you want to ensure that the information you’re featuring on your profile doesn’t disclose proprietary aspects of your work history that will impact your current employer or previous relationships. If a number is public, this won’t be an issue. If you’re sharing sensitive information to enhance the presentation of your profile, you may do damage to your professional reputation. As a rule, you should avoid including any specific numbers or proprietary details that a company wouldn’t want others to know, as this could also be a potential turnoff for recruiters and prospective employers. For instance, rather than showcasing an actual revenue number for a sales increase, you may want to draw attention to your exceeding a quota. This won’t compromise any sensitive information but will still showcase your achievements.

Include 50 Skills on Your LinkedIn Profile

Most candidates don’t realize that LinkedIn as a platform has a built in SEO functionality that determines the visibility of candidates based on appropriate keywords. Using all 50 of your skills slots is important here, as you’ll maximize your chances of catching the eye of recruiters. You still need to be tactical in what you include here, as LinkedIn will sometimes recommend skills that aren’t relevant to your current career prospects. Before adding your skills, you can view what companies are looking for by analyzing specific job postings on LinkedIn. With a LinkedIn Premium membership, you’ll be able to see how your profile matches the employer’s needs and tailor your skill sets accordingly. You should also reach out to your connections to ask for skill endorsements, as this will showcase those past colleagues who recognize your expertise in these specific areas.

Include Your Professional Associations and Groups

Listing your associations is more important on LinkedIn than the resume, as hiring managers will be interested to see your involvement within your industry. You can take this a step further by joining networking groups on LinkedIn in your field, as this will show that you participate in thought leadership conversations and are passionate about your field. If you’re job hunting covertly, you may want to avoid joining a group built out for talent recruitment, as this may tip off your current employer.

Build out Your Featured Section

Another aspect of LinkedIn that can help differentiate your profile from your resume is your featured section. You can provide several different links, articles, and videos here at the top of your profile to showcase some of your strongest career achievements. For instance, you could draw attention to a specific publication that you’re especially proud of. If you’re a marketing professional or videographer, you may want to include a video that you helped produce. To fully leverage LinkedIn as a platform, you want to use it to capture aspects of your career that wouldn’t usually fit cleanly onto the resume. Highlighting different aspects of your experience in the featured section is a great way to accomplish this.

Frank Hackett

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

Frank Hackett is a professional resume writer and career consultant with over eight years of experience. As the lead editor at a boutique career consulting firm, Frank developed an innovative approach to resume writing that empowers job seekers to tell their professional stories. His approach involves creating accomplishment-driven documents that balance keyword optimization with personal branding. Frank is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PAWRCC).