LinkedIn profile makeover: how to look employable before you graduate

Approaching graduation day and worried about getting your first job? As well as writing up your CV and filling in applications, creating a LinkedIn profile is a solid idea. By spending time making yourself as employable as possible, you can set yourself up for post-university success.

Why should you get on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn might not be the most glamorous social media platform, but millions of professionals use it to connect with others in their industry, share their expertise and find work. They do this by building their own online professional network and creating a personal brand for themselves.

If you’ve not got a graduate scheme or job lined up, or aren’t sure on your career path, having a LinkedIn profile gives you access to advice from current professionals and helps you find ideal opportunities. Even if you’ve got a next step planned after graduation, being active on the platform can help you establish yourself in your chosen sector.

Tips for a great profile

It’s easy to set up an account using an existing email address. What’s more difficult is figuring out which sector, types of jobs and graduate schemes you want to pitch yourself to. Having this in mind when you’re building your profile will help you tailor it to the right audience of professionals and recruiters.

This, plus the tips below, will make you more employable and help you attract the best opportunities.

Make your top-line info attractive

To catch people’s eye, you need to make sure your top-line information is as appealing as possible. When you set up your account, you’ll be asked to enter your name, headline, contact info and a profile and cover photo.

Think about the following when you’re working on this:

• Write a headline that ‘sells’ yourself as simply as possible. It should include your graduate status, university and degree name, the sector you want to enter or the type of job you’re looking for. Including keywords relevant to the opportunities or roles you want will help people find you
• Links to your blog, website or portfolio, if you have one, plus an email address people can use to get in touch with you
• Take a high-quality profile photo (400 x 400 px, up to 8MB) that shows your whole face, with a clear or neutral background that looks professional (don’t use night-out pictures) and choose a cover image (1584 x 396 px, up to 8MB) that reflects your interests or personality. This will make a good first impression

If you want, you can also change your profile URL to include your name and the opportunity you’re looking for. This makes it easier to link to and for others to find.

Fill in more details in ‘about’

This should expand on your top-line information and should continue to ‘sell’ yourself to potential employers or recruiters. It should balance between your own voice and a professional tone, setting out:

• Who you are, including your background
• Your current degree, skills and experience
• Your biggest achievements
• The type of jobs or opportunities you’re looking for
• A call to action so visitors know what to do next, such as getting in touch or visiting your portfolio

Update your skills, experience and education

These are the main sections in each LinkedIn profile. Under Skills, you should add the tools and tech you can use, plus any industry knowledge and strong suits you have. Your connections, such as previous employers, tutors or colleagues, can then endorse your skills.

Under Experience, you can then set out your previous jobs, work experience or internships. This includes any side hustles, remote jobs or part-time roles you’ve had. Make sure the role title and dates are accurate, and include a description that outlines your responsibilities, achievements and learnings.

In the Education section, include your degree and expected grade. Also, add in your A-Levels, BTECs, diplomas, foundation degrees and any extra certifications that are relevant to the roles you’re looking for.

Upload media and your CV

Adding as much evidence as possible to your profile showcases your skills and expertise. A PDF of your CV is a must-add, as it makes it easier for recruiters or employers to find and access. Uploading it to your profile means you can also do one-click applications to jobs and opportunities, making job-hunting even easier.

If you’ve completed any projects with media outputs, such as documents, videos or presentations, then uploading these shows your genuine skill set. You could even create a video or presentation about why someone should recruit you to help you stand out from the crowd.

Get recommendations

Reach out to previous employers, tutors or colleagues you’ve connected with and ask them to put recommendations on your profile. This will give recruiters and employers confidence and make them more likely to reach out or ask you for an interview. Be sure to return the favour to others, to show you’re genuinely interacting in the industry around you.

Make connections

Once your profile is finished, it’s time to build your network. Connect with people you genuinely know, such as your classmates, employers or colleagues. Then, look for influencers, businesses and recruiters in the industry you’re interested in and start following them. LinkedIn will then start suggesting ‘people you know’ based on your connections, which is worth keeping an eye on.

Make sure you’re then logging in regularly and genuinely interacting with others. Sharing content, commenting on posts or sending direct messages to others will help you get the advice you need, plus make you more visible to relevant people on the platform.

Look for opportunities

Set your profile to ‘Open to Work’. This shows recruiters and employers you’re looking for a new job or opportunity. It also makes you easier to find, as searchers may filter out those who don’t have this setting turned off. You can also fill in preferences for who sees this banner and what types of opportunities you want to be considered for.

Use the ‘jobs’ function to look for relevant roles. Set email alerts for the opportunities you really want so you don’t miss out on applying for new posts. You can also filter by industry and working location, making it easier to find the exact graduate role you want.