Ask HN: How can I make my LinkedIn better? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How can I make my LinkedIn better?

63 pointsjamesmp9836 comments

I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to make it better. I'm still early in my career and don't have a huge network, but still feel like there might be something missing.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmp98/

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Disclosure: I don't have a LinkedIn account.

I think the better advice is to figure out how to make your career better. I doubt anyone cares about a good LinkedIn profile, rather they care about you being successful. Suppose you were successful in some way three years from now. What would you have achieved? I feel it's better trying to go and do that than spend effort on your LinkedIn profile. Ultimately, LinkedIn is distraction to those who are extremely successful.

TLDR: Successful people will have LinkedIn, but being active on LinkedIn won't make you successful.

On the other hand, some people say "fake it until you make it".

I know of a successful exec who was a less-than-stellar exec at Amazon, a terrible VP of Engineering at my current company (valued at 2.5 billion), and went on to be a CTO at his current company (valued at 1 billion).

He basically used his experience to catapult him into VP Engineering/CTO roles even though he isn't a good executive. A good example of success by association or faking it until you make it.

Is he adequate now?

I like this resource for keeping in mind how to put together a really strong LinkedIn profile:

http://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin-marketing-infographic/

Her book's good too.

Getting recommendations is very helpful. Endorsements too of course. Building up a network. And being visible -- either publishing posts regularly, or even just sharing other people's relevant content.

There's some simple changes you can apply that make a positive difference quickly, but to build a fantastic profile takes time, and can be quite a bit of work. But since LinkedIn isn't going anywhere, it's an investment in your future. Building up your own site/blog compliments this, along with other relevant social properties - Github...etc.

Having a fully fleshed out profile would certainly be helpful for getting jobs in future, but particularly if you want to contract, since credibility and visibility (and ideally a network too) are vital for that.

You need a new photo; your current one looks like a mugshot. Get a friend to take a picture of you smiling outside from a slightly-off-center angle. Does not have to be a professional shot. Good luck.

Right now, your LinkedIn profile looks like it belongs to a new on the market 20-year-old, which I'm assuming is accurate. If your're looking to upsell, go for these:

* Go to local Meetups, and start getting more people linked to your profile. The same for any classmates you're still in touch with who want to be professionals.

* Get a better picture, like everyone has said.

* Bullets with good descriptions under each job, with keywords that match the positions you want in the future.

* Instead of "freelancing", come up with a company name, even if it's just Parsons Development Consulting, build a site for the company, and if you can get recommendations from customers. I know this won't impress a lot of tech people, but it does impress HR.

* Add more groups, preferably local meet-ups, your current company, and at least one non-profit.

* Take your high school off your profile. Right now. Nothing says "I'm a kid you can underpay" quite knowing when you graduated high school.

* ABOVE ALL ELSE link to your GitHub, and make sure your GitHub shows off your skills.

Hope this helps.

Only thing that won't work is the first. As far as Meetups, there are few-to-none in the nearest metropolitan area.

Start a meetup. =)

Agree with all the above. Definitely add github, plus make it the first link in your profile description (unless you have a more active blog).

One more thing I'd add: Tell a story. Even something like "I started developing for the Web because..." is much more compelling than "I develop for the Web". Narratives stick with people.

* Better photo

* Write all the text in a way that it makes sense for whomever you're trying to get in front of. So if you're looking for freelancing work, share the results you've booked for other clients. If you're looking for employment, share the results you've booked for previous companies etc.

* Basically treat every paragraph as a tiny sales pitch. People don't care about you, they care about what working with you can do for them.

better photo indeed, almost looks like a police mugshot. No offence intended.

I don't know how much weight this will hold, but I wrote something a while ago about creating a web developer/programmer profile on LinkedIn.

https://www.danylkoweb.com/Blog/programmer-marketing-how-to-...

Hope this helps.

I would suggest adding some description to your two newest roles, adding a link to a personal website / portfolio, adding a crisp color photo for your profile image, and changing your profile so that it's more results-oriented (worked on project X -> developed a Y that does Z).

> developed a Y that does Z

If you want to go even further make it a "developed a Y that does Z, helping the company to X", to show potential employers that your work creates actual value for the company.

Ask some of your past and current coworkers for endorsement. Rule of thumb being that endorsments from colleagues are next to worthless, recomendations from your bosses or customers are what you should aim for.

For each job you've had, write a couple of bullet points describing something you've accomplished and how it helped the customer achieve their goal. For example:

* Optimized page flows for _____ resulting in _____ higher conversion of leads to sales.

* Merged mobile and desktop sites into a single fluid design resulting in reduced maintenance costs going forward.

Having experience with PHP or .NET is not nearly as interesting to employers as what you can do with those skills. It's all marketing :-)

Turns out the headshot matters. Yes, it's superficial -- but there will be people evaluating if you have the right 'look' for the team, even for non-public facing roles.

Here are some quick tips >https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-take-the-perfe...

I don't have an amazing LinkedIn either but one tip I can give you is to put your skills in the headline since that's what recruiters see on the search page.

So, instead of saying: Web Developer at Style Collective and Stingray Branding

It might say: NodeJS/React/Go Web Developer

Also, honestly, don't bother adding random people on LinkedIn to grow your network. It's not worth it. Stick to people you know whose careers you want to follow.

>Also, honestly, don't bother adding random people on LinkedIn to grow your network. It's not worth it.

Hmmm, what's the downside, exactly?

The benefit is that I now have a network of like 500 tech recruiters I can instantly put a message with my availability in front of, should I ever need to. I think that's worth the minor distraction of spam.

blunt feedback after spending a few minutes looking at it.

- Get a better photo, current one makes you look weird, can't tell if it's being arty or just blurry. - Try to break up wall of text summary, a few line breaks or spaces would do wonders for the readability. - Bullet point skills and responsibilities for your previous and current roles; same for education as well.

Think of it like the SEO you would set up with a Wordpress site. Think about what skills you want to advertise and update your job descriptions and summary to reflect that. You should make it a point to update your LinkedIn every 6 months or so until you feel comfortable with the types of contact requests you're receiving.

Are you 19 years old? You're doing fine.

Also in the profile settings of your account you can edit the link to your page to something like https://www.linkedin.com/in/james_parson

I know doesn't answer your question exactly, but assuming your goal is to better show your experience as a developer - LinkedIn may not be the best way to show it. Why? It's hard to show your work on LinkedIn.

Well coincidentally I'm working on something that focuses on your work and not who you worked for or the name of your job title: https://theymadethat.com

Check out some sample profiles and compare it to LinkedIn

(When you click on what they worked on - it goes deeper)

Before https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinashlakshman/

After https://www.theymadethat.com/people/fvd58z/avinash-lakshman

Before https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-zehr-1b147/

After https://www.theymadethat.com/people/16ee83/gregg-zehr

Before https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyfadell/

After https://www.theymadethat.com/people/rtk3hv/tony-fadell

Before https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-tran-12159a18/

After https://www.theymadethat.com/people/yx9sg/mathew-tran

Before https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-novak-00177250/ (this guy is really trying to show his work - but LinkedIn can only do so much)

After https://www.theymadethat.com/people/9eni8t/nic-novak

Try out theymadethat, and let me know what you think especially what you think could be improved. I should warning you though, it's very buggy and barely beta

small constructive criticism. The images are really big and take up a lot of space. If you want to keep them big, consider a slideshow like display instead? As is, the information density is a little low and requires a lot of scrolling. Viewed on desktop browser though, might seem more appropriate on mobile.

Thanks - that is good feedback. Yeah the UI on mobile is another thing that really needs a ton of work. Hopefully the worst of it can be fixed soon

What is it that you want to achieve with your LinkedIn profile? What you need to do to it depends entirely on that.

In any case, don't forget to properly acknowledge those who helped you on your LinkedIn page.

stop

Hi James,

There is a professional marketer who was a speaker at an event I attended who really impressed me with her self-branding. Both her LinkedIn profile and her website are very good and they inspired me a lot to create a good one for myself.

http://www.karenx.com/. The linkedin link is at the bottom of the page.

If you don't get the answers you want and are considering hiring a professional to enhance your LinkedIn Profile, please reach out to me. I do them, English resumes and other career/academic services. Thank you.

Vince Fulco, CFA, CAIA vfulco[@]weisisheng.cn

Disappointed to be pushed down on this. I realize the self-promotion aspect but I have done some very good, fairly priced professional work for interested parties found through HN. I also give back in non-commercial ways in a 20:1 or better ratio.

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