Update your LinkedIn profile
Bring your LinkedIn up to date with a current headline, summary, and skills so the right opportunities can find you.
- Time:
- 45 min
- Cost:
- free
- Difficulty:
- easy
- Where:
- Indoors
- Best:
- Solo
You can update your LinkedIn profile properly in an hour, and it is a different job from updating a resume. A resume is read once by a human who already has your application. LinkedIn is a search result. It has to surface for a query first, then convince somebody who has never heard of you to click.
Why update your LinkedIn profile is worth an hour
Recruiters search LinkedIn by skill and title, not by career narrative. Your headline and skills list determine whether you appear at all; your photo and first two lines of the about section determine whether anyone stops. Those four elements sit above the fold and take an hour to fix, while the job history below them barely moves the needle.
How to update your LinkedIn profile step by step
- 1
Rewrite the headline as role plus specialty
"Data Analyst" is invisible. "Data Analyst - retail forecasting, SQL and dbt" matches how people actually search.
- 2
Turn off activity broadcasts first
Settings, then Visibility, then share profile updates. Switch it off before editing so your current employer does not get twenty notifications.
- 3
Open the about section with a claim, not a greeting
Only the first two lines show before "see more." Spend them on what you do and for whom.
- 4
Curate skills down to your real top ten
Reorder so your three strongest sit at the top. Delete the padding; a long list dilutes what you want to be found for.
- 5
Fix the photo and banner
A recent, well-lit head and shoulders shot. Replace the default blue banner with anything relevant to your field.
Tips to get more out of it
- Set a custom profile URL under Edit public profile. It looks better on a resume and in an email signature.
- Write in first person. Third-person profiles read like a press release nobody asked for.
- Turn the broadcast setting back on afterwards, then post once so the refreshed profile gets seen.
Ways to mix it up
If your profile is already current, spend the hour on the open-to-work settings instead, which are visible to recruiters only and cost you nothing. Or write one short post about something you learned recently, since profiles with recent activity surface more often in search.
Update your LinkedIn profile: frequently asked questions
Will my employer see that I updated my profile?
Not if you switch off share profile updates in the visibility settings before you start editing. Turn it back on afterwards if you want reach.
How many skills should I list?
Around ten, ordered deliberately. The top three appear on your profile card and carry the most weight in recruiter searches.
Does the about section really matter?
The first two lines do, because that is all anyone sees without clicking. The rest matters mostly to people already interested in you.
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