How to Use LinkedIn to Advance Your Career

Over 850 million people worldwide use LinkedIn for networking, job-posting, job-searching, and information-sharing. 58 million companies are present on the platform, many of them actively recruiting amongst users. Suffice it to say, it is likely in your professional best interest to maintain a presence on LinkedIn. But how do you ensure your profile will get noticed by the right companies? How do successful people utilize the platform for networking? If you are happily employed, does your LinkedIn profile even matter?

We asked three Cooke Alumni and one current Cooke Graduate Scholar about how they use LinkedIn effectively: Flavio Pacheco, a graduate student at the University of Chicago; Frank Maia, a Manager at PwC; Samantha Pratt Asante, the Director of LaunchX Entrepreneurship Program; and Richael Young, a Senior Economist at ERA Economics. They each have robust and engaging LinkedIn profiles that serve as great examples if you need inspiration. Read on for their top tips below.

Top 5 Tips for Using LinkedIn to Your Advantage

1. Network with Intention

Frank Maia shared, “LinkedIn is not just a way to find a job, but it’s also a way to stay connected,” and Richael Young expanded on that idea, saying, “I think it's important in a career to keep professional contacts super strong. It's not who you know, but who knows you.” Keeping in touch with your network on LinkedIn by commenting on their posts, directly messaging to check in, and congratulating them on achievements are some of the ways to stay connected to your contacts. Frank shared that when a past coworker commented on one of his recent posts, it reminded him that she had the skills needed for a contract that he will need to staff soon. He reached out to her asking if she would be interested and was able to hire her.

Flavio Pacheco uses LinkedIn to connect with prospective employers. He says, “if there is a company you want to work for, if you can find someone on LinkedIn who works at that company and in the department you are interested in, send them an email and request a 15-minute chat to talk about their role at the company. Having someone inside the company who knows you offers extra supports you wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Samantha Pratt Asante cautions against adding every person you come across to your connections on LinkedIn, though: “Be intentional about who you are bringing into your network and make sure you actually know them – [as a hiring manager], sometimes I ask people I know about applicants who I see in their LinkedIn networks and they will have no idea who they are. Build a real network.”

2. Maintain a Living Resume

Samantha calls LinkedIn her “living resume,” saying “I don’t update my actual resume super regularly, but on LinkedIn, I can easily catalogue my career.” Richael shared that she updates her LinkedIn profile about once a month to include new work she’s doing. Everyone agreed that keeping your profile up to date is extremely important.

To ensure your work experience section is robust, Flavio recommends spending time “creating at least one descriptive sentence for each job experience you’ve had and linking it to the company’s LinkedIn profile.” If you are job-hunting, you can also add search terms to your profile to increase the chances that a hiring manager will find you. One easy way to include these search terms is to add any job- or industry-relevant skills to your skills section if you have any level of experience with them. Flavio credits the addition of these search terms on his profile to helping him get recruited on LinkedIn by Google.

3. Establish Your Brand

Some key advice from Richael: “It's important to remember that these days, each person has their own brand -- LinkedIn is a great place to showcase your professional brand. What do you stand for? What are you working towards?” For Frank, establishing and communicating his brand involves showing his colleagues that he has an active presence in the industry by sharing knowledge via posts and articles, and growing his industry-specific network on LinkedIn. He also recently reworked his About Me section, which he previously felt was too long (should not be longer than six lines) and generic. Frank’s new About Me section begins with the phrase, “There’s nothing I love more than...” and goes on to convey what he has to offer and how he can help in the workplace.

Samantha considers LinkedIn to be a storyboard that tells a clear story of a person’s expertise and she recommends using keywords and hashtags built in to your profile to tell your story. Richael believes the About Me section is a great place to share your story. She says, “This is where you can really tie all your work, experience, and skills together to address the "why" of what you are doing and the "what" around your impact. Create a compelling story for why you've made all the career choices you have to date -- what are you all about? What progress most excites you? What's ahead?”

4. Be a Part of the Conversation

By regularly sharing updates and engaging with your network’s posts, you strengthen your connections and help remind people of all you have to offer. Richael says, “Staying top of mind with your contacts helps with your job search, career growth, business development, and can even help with career advancement and speaking engagements.” She frequently likes and comments on others’ posts and shares her own content once every couple of weeks.

Frank feels it’s important to regularly share industry articles on LinkedIn to show those in his circle that he is still interested and engaged in his work. His bosses interact with his posts and see him as someone who is knowledgeable in his field. He recommends promoting yourself by sharing knowledge, and also sharing your career updates.

5. Include a Good Photo!

Samantha shares, “[As a hiring manager] I love a LinkedIn profile or a resume with a photo, it reminds you that you are reading about an actual person.” She recommends a professional-looking photo, even if it isn’t an official headshot. For her, a red flag would be a LinkedIn photo that looks like a selfie taken in a bathroom. Richael agrees, suggesting a “good, smiling headshot.” Be sure your profile photo is the best representation of yourself.

Many thanks to our knowledgeable contributors for sharing their LinkedIn wisdom: Flavio Pacheco (Transfer Scholar, 2016 & Graduate Scholar, 2022), Frank Maia (Transfer Scholar, 2014), Samantha Pratt Asante (College Scholar, 2011 & Graduate Scholar, 2017), and Richael Young (Transfer Scholar, 2009). You can connect with them and many others by joining our Cooke Scholars & Alumni group on LinkedIn!