Joel Elad - LinkedIn For Dummies

For a company in LinkedIn’s directory, you need to fill in the following fields:

Company name (and display name, if your company goes by more than one name)

Your job title while working for the company

The time period you worked for the company

Description of your job duties

If your company is not listed in LinkedIn’s directory, you need to fill in the industry and website for the company when you’re adding your position to your profile.

Use your resume when completing this section, because most resumes include all or most of the information required.

To add a position to your profile, follow these steps:

1 Click the Me icon in the top navigation bar, and then click View Profile from the drop-down list that appears.Your profile page appears.

2 Scroll down your profile until you see the Experience section, shown in Figure 3-10. FIGURE 3-10:Start at your Experience section in your profile.

3 Click the + button to the right of the Experience header.Depending on your web browser, the button may not be visible until you hover your cursor over the Experience header. An Add Experience window appears, as shown in Figure 3-11.

4 In the text boxes provided, enter the information about your position, including title, employment type, company, location, time period, and job description. When you type your company name, LinkedIn checks that name against the Company pages of thousands of companies from its records, and you see suggested company names while you type. (An example is shown in Figure 3-12.) If you see your company name in that list, click the name, and LinkedIn automatically fills in all the company detail information for you.

5 Upload or link any media that was part of this job.For example, you might upload or link a document, photo, presentation, or video. FIGURE 3-11:Enter your job information here. FIGURE 3-12:LinkedIn checks its Company pages for your company listing.

6 Click the Save button.The newly entered position is added to your profile, and you’re taken back to your profile page.

7 Repeat Steps 2–6 for any additional position you want to enter.

To edit a position you already listed, click the pencil icon next to that record in the Experience section instead of clicking the Add Position button. In addition, if you have multiple positions in a similar time period, you can rearrange a job’s position in the list by hovering your cursor over the job in your Experience section, clicking and holding down the four-lines icon that should appear to the right of the job description, and then moving the cursor to the new position.

The Experience section isn’t just for paid full-time employment. You can add position information for any contract work, nonprofit volunteer assignments, board of director membership, or other valid work experience that increases to your skill set. If you have written a book, or maintain a blog, or write a regular magazine column, you might want to list that as a separate position.

If you have most of the information for a given position but are missing a few details in the description, go ahead and add what you have. (You must provide a job title, company, and time period to save the position in your profile.) You can fill in missing information later. In addition, if you make your profile public (as discussed later in “ Setting Your Profile URL and Public View”), make sure any position information you enter is something you don’t mind the entire world — including past employers — seeing in your profile.

After you document your past and current jobs, it’s time to move on to the next part of your profile: education. Aside from your job, where else do you meet and stay in touch with so many people? At school, of course! Your Education section says a lot about you, especially to potential employers and to former schoolmates looking to reconnect with you.

When you signed up with LinkedIn, you might have been asked to provide your basic education information. Maybe you have more than one school to list, or perhaps you didn’t create a full listing for the schools you put down upon registration. In either case, you can go back to make sure that your profile is up to date and lists all your education.

Some people ask how much education to list in their profiles. Although you could theoretically go all the way back to preschool or kindergarten, most people start with high school or undergraduate college. Keep in mind that the more items you list, the greater the opportunity that your past schoolmates can locate and contact you.

This section isn’t limited to high school, undergraduate, and post-graduate education. You should also list vocational education, certification courses, and any other stint at an educational institution that matters to your career or personal direction.

When you’re ready to update or add your education information, follow these steps:

1 Click the Me icon in the top navigation bar, and then click View Profile from the drop-down list that appears.

2 Scroll down your profile until you see the Education header, and click its + link.The Add Education window appears, as shown in Figure 3-13. FIGURE 3-13:Enter your school information into the Education section.

3 In the School box, start entering the school name you want to add to your profile.As you type, LinkedIn displays a drop-down list of schools, as shown in Figure 3-14. FIGURE 3-14:Choose your school from the list provided, or continue typing the name of your school.

4 Look through the alphabetized list to find your school and select it. If your school name doesn’t appear, just finish typing the name.

5 Complete the degree and time period information about your education.For your degree type, you can either provide an abbreviation (BS, BA, and so on) or write the entire degree name (Masters of Science, Doctorate, and so on). The Field of Study box is optional, but if you had a specific major or emphasis, this is where to put that information.Next, you can fill in the grade you received; this field is optional.Finally, for dates attended, if you’re still attending this institution, simply fill in your expected graduation date by using the drop-down boxes to choose the years you attended the institution. If you’re an older worker and concerned about age discrimination, you can leave the dates of attendance blank; this is optional information.

6 Scroll down to the Activities and Societies text box and fill it in.Enter any extracurricular activities you participated in while attending this school. Also list any clubs or organizations you belonged to (including any officer positions you held in those clubs) and any societies you joined or were given membership to, such as honor societies, fraternities, or sororities. Be sure to separate each activity with a comma. Decide whether listing these activities will support or enhance your overall professional goals and brand image. Make sure to list any activities, such as current alumni organization activities, that apply to your situation today.

7 Scroll down to the Description box, and enter any additional information about your education experience.Enter any awards or honors received from this school, as well as any special events or experiences that didn’t fit in the Activities and Societies box, such as studying abroad, events you organized, or committees that you served on at this school.You can separate each item with a period if you want.