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LinkedIn is a social media site for professional networking. You use it to highlight your professional and educational accomplishments and connect with other professionals. Recruiters use it to view your profile like a resume and may reach out to you with opportunities that match what you are looking for. 

Need help with this powerful tool? Make an appointment with a career specialist and we'd be happy to assist you with your LinkedIn profile!

Getting Started

  • Watch this video on how to create your profile.
  • Create your profile at www.linkedin.com
  • Use this checklist to ensure you have all the necessary items displayed on your profile. 
  • Use a professional photo and provide details about your skills and experiences. Focus on professional and educational accomplishments. Avoid listing personal information.
  • Join the Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) Alumni group and connect with Bethel students and alumni.

Profile Sections Tips

  • Review the LinkedIn profile checklist HERE. 
  • Headshot: The more professional looking, the better.
  • Headline: This defaults to your current job title. But you can edit it to something more appropriate. For example, Engineering Student at Bethel University or Bethel Alum Seeking Opportunities in Criminal Justice. The term "seeking opportunities" is commonly used by recruiters to search for job seekers.
  • Summary: Add a brief summary about why someone should hire you. Keep the description brief and focused on professional and educational accomplishments.
  • Skills: Recruiters can search by skills that you list. Include skills that relate to your industry.
  • Experience: This can be similar to a resume. Include highlights and accomplishments not just duties at your job. Start your bullets with an action verb, and include details and results. Experience does not have to only be paid work (e.g. internships, volunteering, research).
  • Contact info: Use your personal email so that you won't lose your account if you switch jobs.

Adding Connections

  • Etiquette: Whenever you send an invitation to connection, edit the standard connection message. Add a greeting with their name and a sentence about how you know them or why you want to connect.
  • Bethel connections: Use the advanced search to look for alumni, faculty, students, and other friends of the Bethel community. Watch this video to learn more about how to network with Bethel alumni. 
  • Groups: Search for people in your area of interest by joining groups and connecting with other members of those groups.
  • Email search: You can give access to LinkedIn to search the contacts in your personal email and then recommend people that you have emailed in the past.

Best Practices

  • Be active and check your LinkedIn account regularly: Share in group discussions, reach out to your connections, follow up with people.
  • Add as many connections as possible: Most people find a job through a connection, thus the more connections the better. The more groups and connections you have, the more people you can network with. Watch this video on how to network with Bethel alumni. 
  • Recommendations and Endorsements: Find former supervisors, co-workers, or others who know your professional abilities and ask them to write a brief recommendation to enhance your profile. Endorsements are less valuable. Use endorsements sparingly and honestly.
  • Groups: The more groups and subgroups you're a part of the more group members you can chat with. You can join 50 groups and any subgroup. Active groups also function as a listserv. Ask and respond to questions to gain and share insights.
  • Follow Companies: Companies will post jobs and other interesting happenings that are going on within their organization. 
  • Jobs: Use the "jobs" tab on your LinkedIn profile to search for openings. Use the filters to narrow your search. Set up notifications so you are emailed or notified on your profile when new jobs/internships are posted. 
  • Seeking employment when currently employed: By default, LinkedIn announces updates that you make to your profile. Be sure to go into your profile settings and turn off your "activity broadcasts."
  • Add your profile URL to your resume contact information. To edit your LinkedIn profile URL to make it more professional, go to your settings in your LinkedIn profile.