Objective
To create and/or improve your LinkedIn profile so that it effectively highlights your skills and experience.
Individual Activities
- Sign up for LinkedIn, if you haven’t done so!
- Build out your profile, filling in your education, experiences, skills, and all other relevant sections. Some useful resources with advice on making your profile stronger include:
- OCS Guide for creating your LinkedIn profile
- Rock your LinkedIn Profile by LinkedIn instructor Lauren Jolda (on LinkedIn Learning, free to Yale students and postdocs)
- LinkedIn Tips for Humanities PhDs
- Connecting on LinkedIn (from Inside HigherEd)
- 20 steps to a better LinkedIn profile in 2020
- LinkedIn profiles that get noticed (American Psychological Association)
- Write your headline and summary keeping in mind these tips.
- Find 3 LinkedIn-user headlines and summaries that you think are effective to share with your group.
Group Activities
- Share your favorite headlines from step 4 with your groupmates – What do you like about them? Why do they seem effective?
- Now share your headlines with each other and provide feedback. Return to these tips and see how you can improve each other’s headlines. Be creative!
- Share your favorite summaries from step 4 with your groupmates – Again, what strikes you about each summary? Why is it impactful?
- Share the summary that you wrote for step 3. What does it tell us about you and your experiences/skills and career interests? Workshop your summary with your group!
Optional Activities
- Discuss your next steps with your new LinkedIn profile.
- Start making connections! Connect with each other and invite 10 people to connect with you.
- Visit the Yale alumni LinkedIn page and identify candidates for informational interviews.
- Identify and sign up for 5 LinkedIn Groups.