LinkedIn profile tips: headline, About section and more (with examples)

Which parts of a LinkedIn profile matter most?

These LinkedIn profile tips focus on the parts that do the most work: the headline, the About section, experience entries, skills, your photo and the Open to Work setting. Recruiters, hiring managers and new contacts see your photo, name and headline first, in search results, invitations and comments, so those deserve the most care.

LinkedIn’s own help center says a complete profile increases your discoverability and appearances in profile searches. Beyond that, LinkedIn does not publish exactly how it ranks people in search, and anyone who claims to know the precise formula is guessing. The practical approach is to make your profile complete, accurate and written in the words employers use for the job you want.

Treat the profile as a companion to your resume, not a copy of it. It can be a little more conversational and cover your whole direction rather than a single posting, but every title, date and claim should match the resume you send.

How to write a LinkedIn headline (formulas and examples)

LinkedIn creates your headline from your current position when you add it, but you can rewrite it. A job title alone wastes the space. A stronger headline says what you do or want to do, what you are good at, and one piece of proof or context.

Three formulas cover most situations. Lead with the job title recruiters would type, because readers skimming a list of names tend to take in the first few words and move on.

• Role | Specialty | Proof: “Payroll Specialist | Multi-State Payroll | Cut Correction Requests by Half.”
• Role | Skills | Context: “Medical Assistant | Phlebotomy and EHR Charting | Bilingual English–Spanish.”
• Direction | Relevant strengths: “Teacher Moving into Instructional Design | Curriculum Design, LMS, Assessment.”

What should you write in your LinkedIn About section?

LinkedIn’s guidance is that the About section should express your mission, motivation and skills, ideally in one or two paragraphs, with bullet points as an option if paragraphs feel awkward. Write in the first person and in plain language; it should sound like you talking to a colleague, not a list of adjectives.

A simple structure works for almost everyone: one line on what you do and for whom, two or three specific achievements, a line on how you like to work or what you are looking for, and how to contact you. The opening lines matter most, because readers decide from them whether to keep going. If you already have a resume summary, it is a good starting point; our resume summary examples show the same idea in a tighter form.

How should you write LinkedIn experience entries?

LinkedIn requires experience entries to be accurately labeled and to reflect real professional experience with the named organization, such as employment, contract work, an official internship, volunteering or board service. Use your real title, the real employer and dates that match your resume.

For each recent role, write a one-line description of the job and two to four results, borrowing your best resume bullets. Older roles can be one line. You can also attach skills to each position, which shows where you used them, and add media such as a portfolio sample or presentation where it helps. If you have a gap or a career change, the same honest wording from your resume works here; see our guides to an employment gap on your resume and a career change resume.

Which skills should you add to your LinkedIn profile?

LinkedIn lets you add up to 100 skills and reorder the Skills section, so you have room; the challenge is choosing. Pull skills from five to ten postings for the job you want and add the ones you can genuinely back up, then connect each to the positions or education where you used it. Our guides on skills for a resume and resume keywords explain how to pick them from postings.

Put your most relevant skills at the top, since that is what people see first. Prefer the standard names employers use, such as “accounts payable” or “forklift operation,” over invented labels. Remove old skills that point toward work you no longer want.

Profile photo and background banner basics

LinkedIn says a profile photo increases your profile’s credibility and reports that members with a photo receive up to twice as many profile views. Its rules require the photo to reflect your likeness; images made up only of things like logos, landscapes, animals, emojis or stock photos can be removed.

You do not need a professional headshot. A recent photo taken with a phone works if your face is clearly visible, the light is even, the background is uncluttered and you look the way you would at work in your field. Wear what you would wear to an interview, including religious or cultural attire, and skip heavy filters.

The background banner is optional. A simple image related to your work, your city, or a plain color is fine; avoid busy text that competes with your headline.

Should you turn on Open to Work?

Open to Work lets you share the job titles, locations, start date and employment types you want. LinkedIn says that specifying these helps your profile show up when recruiters search for suitable candidates. You choose who can see it:

• All LinkedIn members: visible to everyone, including people at your current company, and adds the #OpenToWork photo frame.
• Recruiters only: visible to people using LinkedIn Recruiter. LinkedIn takes steps to hide it from recruiters at your current company but says it cannot guarantee complete privacy.
• Visible only to you: your preferences are used to tailor job recommendations without signaling anyone.

1. If you are employed and your search is confidential, choose “Recruiters only” or keep preferences visible only to you.
2. If you are between jobs, weigh the public frame: it tells your network you are looking and can prompt referrals, but some people prefer to share that more selectively.
3. Whichever you choose, fill in specific job titles and locations; vague preferences are less useful to recruiters and to you.
4. Review the settings whenever your target changes, and turn them off once you accept an offer.

How can you make your profile easier for recruiters to find?

You cannot control how LinkedIn ranks search results, but you can make sure your profile contains what a recruiter would reasonably search for and that it holds up when they click. These steps are within your control:

• Use the standard title for the job you want in your headline and current position, not an internal or playful title.
• Set your location to the area you want to work in, and mention remote or hybrid preferences in Open to Work.
• Repeat key terms from target postings naturally across your headline, About section, experience and skills, only where they are true.
• Keep your current position filled in; if you are between jobs, a truthful headline about your target role works better than an empty profile.
• Customize your public profile URL to your name so it looks clean on your resume.
• Stay findable through activity with real value, such as thoughtful comments in your field and messages to the people you want to learn from. Our guides on networking for jobs and how to message a recruiter include templates.