Your resume does not provide enough space for some crucial career details and trust factor features that can be easily included on LinkedIn. With over 700 million members, LinkedIn is often visited by authors, publishers, and decision-makers at companies where you might want to work. Its functionality is constantly evolving, allowing creative professionals to add samples of their work, flyers advertising their services, feature articles, and more.

If you do not have a LinkedIn profile yet or have one that is a copy-paste version of your past roles and tasks, reconsider your approach and focus on your key projects, latest publications, and unique differentiators. Use the functionality of LinkedIn to your advantage.

Here are 10 simple steps you can take as an editor to maximize your profile’s value:

1. Add a professional headshot and use the same photo across all your directory listings.  This will help you be recognized better across multiple platforms online.

2. To make sure your LinkedIn URL looks professional, limit it to your name and last name. Remove the random digits and letters at the end of your URL. Here are the instructions.

3. Add your URL to your email signature and your resume header.

4. Set a goal of getting a minimum of three new testimonials for your profile. Decide how you want to incorporate this request into your client communications for best results. To make it easier for your clients, provide them with your recommendations URL by adding /detail/recommendation/write/ to your URL.

For example: www.linkedin.com/in/tmykhaylychenko/detail/recommendation/write/

5. Based on your core client groups and target audiences, choose if you would like to present your career history chronologically or selectively. Blend some of the similar freelance contracts into one entry under your self-employed/business entry.

6. Focus on accomplishments. What improvements have you achieved for your clients? Add samples of work, projects, or links to important publications (one per each career entry would be a great start).

7. Lighten blocks of text with lists and graphic symbols that can be pasted manually:

Arrows: ☛ ☚ ⇨ ► ◄ ► »
Ticks:     ✔ ✘ ☑ ✓
Triangles:    ◄ ► ◂ ▸ ◁ ▷ ▻ ◅
Writing: ✐ ✎ ✏ ✑ ✒ ✍ ✉ ⌨

8. If applicable, make your contact information easily visible in the summary section. Use the banner space to emphasize your services and brand.

9. Make a list of keywords for which you want to be found and use each of them 1-3 times in your profile.

10. List work titles of professionals you would like to connect with for future cooperation, employment applications, or collegial relationships. Some examples may be Managing Editor, Director of Communications, or Independent Scholar.

About the author: 

Tanya Mykhaylychenko provides resume writing and career strategy services for executives and job seekers at all career levels.