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How to add glitter to your LinkedIn

Michelle Futo
Jul 2, 2018
4 min read

Pause. Is this your first time here? Welcome! Before delving into the world of adding glitter to your LinkedIn, please get familiar with the Always Add Glitter mindset via the featured post to the right called "What's this whole "glitter" thing mean?" --->

Alright, back to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the largest professional networking site used by students, employers, and recruiters alike.

LinkedIn is the #adulting version of Facebook, and in today's ever-changing and competitive job market, it is important you showcase your professional online engagement to your peers and potential employers.

Your LinkedIn may be the first website to show up when peers and/or employers Google your name, so make sure your profile is on #fleek! LinkedIn can seem intimidating when you first register, so below are some tips and tricks you can use to add glitter to your LinkedIn profile and standout among other job-seeking applicants. If this is your first time creating a LinkedIn profile, or if you are very new to the platform, I also recommend reading the FSU Career Center's online career guide Building Your LinkedIn Presence.

Note: If you would like to see examples of the below tips in action, please link with me and view my LinkedIn profile. I am happy to answer additional questions!

1. Include a professional profile photo

Do NOT use a selfie as your LinkedIn profile photo. That is not the vibe you are trying to share with potential supervisors. Save the selfies for Instagram (another #EME6414 weekly tool!) and avoid context collapse.

Your profile photo should be a professional head shot on, ideally, a white background. If you do not have a professional head shot, get one. The FSU Career Center takes free LinkedIn photos at all major career fairs! Check out upcoming Fall events here.

If you are not an FSU student or do not have time to attend a Career Fair, use a crisp, clear, and clean photo for your head shot taken by someone else. Ensure no one else is in the photo, you are not showing any cleavage, and the background of the photo is not distracting. If you have access to an iPhone that has Portrait Mode I highly recommend taking your head shot using the Portrait Mode camera feature.

2. Tailor your headline

Your headline is a critical space to add keywords and those keywords are highly prioritized by LinkedIn’s search algorithm (aka, the more relevant keywords in your headline, the more your profile will show up in searches).

Your headline does not have to be your current job title, rather think about what you want people to know about you. You have 120 characters including spaces so be creative but concise!

A successful LinkedIn headline should tell what your value proposition,

or your 'so what?', is

Social Media Consultant? So what? So I can show you how to master social media presence no matter what your niche is.

Success / Business Coach? So what? So I can help you see the bottlenecks in your business you are too close to home to see.

Speaker? So what? So I can convert your next conference attendees into your brand's raving fans.

Headline Tips:

Do not make a headline that says "current graduate student at Florida State University looking for jobs" or anything related to that. It's childlike and shows you did not put much effort into your profile
Lots of people use a | to separate key phrases
Write a headline that contains a benefit to the viewer
Avoid using symbols like ◊, ➤, etc - they make your headline pop out, but not in a good way

3. Use bullets in the description of your role to organize your job duties

Instead of typing a long paragraph detailing each of your experiences (that no one will take the time to read) use “copy” and “paste” to include actual bullets to organize your job duties. Using bullets can be a visual way to make your profile look professional and help recruiters read the information that makes you look the most competitive.

4. Include a hook in your summary

On mobile devices, only the first 10 - 12 words of your summary will show up. If a recruiter is using a tablet to scan for potential employees, a summary hook will encourage them to click "read more" and learn more about you as a professional.

Your hook can be adjectives that describe you, industry buzzwords you are familiar with, or your favorite quote that summarizes your work ethic! You can go into detail as you have after the first sentence, just think of the first 12 words as being the overview.

5. Add numerous skills you are proficient in

Skills act like a keyword that help you rank higher in searches (again referencing the LinkedIn search algorithm from the Heading section), so why not include multiple relevant skills! If you are stumped on thinking of new skills, you can Google "Skills for [insert your desired job / current major / interested field here]". Adding skills will also give your connections a change to endorse you and again, help your profile appear on more searches!

Check out the article "Jobs, companies, people, and articles for LinkedIn’s Instructional Designer members" for tips on what skills to add to your profile if you are interested in the field of Instructional Design:

https://www.linkedin.com/title/instructional-designer

6. Tidy up your profile link and add it to your resume

When you click on "view profile", what is the URL that appears on the top of the page? Probably some random stream of numbers and letters with your name throw into the mix. Ew, not cute.

Instead, shorten your URL so you can add your LinkedIn profile to your resume header, business cards, and online profile!

To shorten your URL: