
Ask HN: How can I make my LinkedIn better? - jamesmp98
I&#x27;m wondering if there is anything I can do to make it better. I&#x27;m still early in my career and don&#x27;t have a huge network, but still feel like there might be something missing.<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.linkedin.com&#x2F;in&#x2F;jamesmp98&#x2F;
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tabeth
Disclosure: I don't have a LinkedIn account.

I think the better advice is to figure out how to make your career better. I
doubt anyone cares about a good LinkedIn profile, rather they care about you
being successful. Suppose you were successful in some way three years from
now. What would you have achieved? I feel it's better trying to go and do that
than spend effort on your LinkedIn profile. Ultimately, LinkedIn is
distraction to those who are extremely successful.

TLDR: Successful people will have LinkedIn, but being active on LinkedIn won't
make you successful.

~~~
amelius
On the other hand, some people say "fake it until you make it".

~~~
devmunchies
I know of a successful exec who was a less-than-stellar exec at Amazon, a
terrible VP of Engineering at my current company (valued at 2.5 billion), and
went on to be a CTO at his current company (valued at 1 billion).

He basically used his experience to catapult him into VP Engineering/CTO roles
even though he isn't a good executive. A good example of success by
association or faking it until you make it.

~~~
fratlas
Is he adequate now?

------
lushn
I like this resource for keeping in mind how to put together a really strong
LinkedIn profile:

[http://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin-marketing-
infographic/](http://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin-marketing-infographic/)

Her book's good too.

Getting recommendations is very helpful. Endorsements too of course. Building
up a network. And being visible -- either publishing posts regularly, or even
just sharing other people's relevant content.

There's some simple changes you can apply that make a positive difference
quickly, but to build a fantastic profile takes time, and can be quite a bit
of work. But since LinkedIn isn't going anywhere, it's an investment in your
future. Building up your own site/blog compliments this, along with other
relevant social properties - Github...etc.

Having a fully fleshed out profile would certainly be helpful for getting jobs
in future, but particularly if you want to contract, since credibility and
visibility (and ideally a network too) are vital for that.

------
leroy_masochist
You need a new photo; your current one looks like a mugshot. Get a friend to
take a picture of you smiling outside from a slightly-off-center angle. Does
not have to be a professional shot. Good luck.

------
allhailkatt
Right now, your LinkedIn profile looks like it belongs to a new on the market
20-year-old, which I'm assuming is accurate. If your're looking to upsell, go
for these:

* Go to local Meetups, and start getting more people linked to your profile. The same for any classmates you're still in touch with who want to be professionals.

* Get a better picture, like everyone has said.

* Bullets with good descriptions under each job, with keywords that match the positions you want in the future.

* Instead of "freelancing", come up with a company name, even if it's just Parsons Development Consulting, build a site for the company, and if you can get recommendations from customers. I know this won't impress a lot of tech people, but it does impress HR.

* Add more groups, preferably local meet-ups, your current company, and at least one non-profit.

* Take your high school off your profile. Right now. Nothing says "I'm a kid you can underpay" quite knowing when you graduated high school.

* ABOVE ALL ELSE link to your GitHub, and make sure your GitHub shows off your skills.

Hope this helps.

~~~
jamesmp98
Only thing that won't work is the first. As far as Meetups, there are few-to-
none in the nearest metropolitan area.

~~~
atsaloli
Start a meetup. =)

------
fairpx
* Better photo

* Write all the text in a way that it makes sense for whomever you're trying to get in front of. So if you're looking for freelancing work, share the results you've booked for other clients. If you're looking for employment, share the results you've booked for previous companies etc.

* Basically treat every paragraph as a tiny sales pitch. People don't care about you, they care about what working with you can do for them.

~~~
thinkMOAR
better photo indeed, almost looks like a police mugshot. No offence intended.

------
jdanylko
I don't know how much weight this will hold, but I wrote something a while ago
about creating a web developer/programmer profile on LinkedIn.

[https://www.danylkoweb.com/Blog/programmer-marketing-how-
to-...](https://www.danylkoweb.com/Blog/programmer-marketing-how-to-enhance-
your-linkedin-profile-J4)

Hope this helps.

------
taprun
I would suggest adding some description to your two newest roles, adding a
link to a personal website / portfolio, adding a crisp color photo for your
profile image, and changing your profile so that it's more results-oriented
(worked on project X -> developed a Y that does Z).

~~~
hobofan
> developed a Y that does Z

If you want to go even further make it a "developed a Y that does Z, helping
the company to X", to show potential employers that your work creates actual
value for the company.

------
mamon
Ask some of your past and current coworkers for endorsement. Rule of thumb
being that endorsments from colleagues are next to worthless, recomendations
from your bosses or customers are what you should aim for.

------
mmcconnell1618
For each job you've had, write a couple of bullet points describing something
you've accomplished and how it helped the customer achieve their goal. For
example:

* Optimized page flows for _____ resulting in _____ higher conversion of leads to sales.

* Merged mobile and desktop sites into a single fluid design resulting in reduced maintenance costs going forward.

Having experience with PHP or .NET is not nearly as interesting to employers
as what you can do with those skills. It's all marketing :-)

------
JSeymourATL
Turns out the headshot matters. Yes, it's superficial -- but there will be
people evaluating if you have the right 'look' for the team, even for non-
public facing roles.

Here are some quick tips >[https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-take-
the-perfe...](https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-take-the-perfect-
headshot-six-tips/)

------
BukhariH
I don't have an amazing LinkedIn either but one tip I can give you is to put
your skills in the headline since that's what recruiters see on the search
page.

So, instead of saying: Web Developer at Style Collective and Stingray Branding

It might say: NodeJS/React/Go Web Developer

Also, honestly, don't bother adding random people on LinkedIn to grow your
network. It's not worth it. Stick to people you know whose careers you want to
follow.

~~~
cvsh
>Also, honestly, don't bother adding random people on LinkedIn to grow your
network. It's not worth it.

Hmmm, what's the downside, exactly?

The benefit is that I now have a network of like 500 tech recruiters I can
instantly put a message with my availability in front of, should I ever need
to. I think that's worth the minor distraction of spam.

------
throwmeaway32
blunt feedback after spending a few minutes looking at it.

\- Get a better photo, current one makes you look weird, can't tell if it's
being arty or just blurry. \- Try to break up wall of text summary, a few line
breaks or spaces would do wonders for the readability. \- Bullet point skills
and responsibilities for your previous and current roles; same for education
as well.

------
twunde
Think of it like the SEO you would set up with a Wordpress site. Think about
what skills you want to advertise and update your job descriptions and summary
to reflect that. You should make it a point to update your LinkedIn every 6
months or so until you feel comfortable with the types of contact requests
you're receiving.

------
wmichelin
Are you 19 years old? You're doing fine.

------
M3thyl
Also in the profile settings of your account you can edit the link to your
page to something like
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/james_parson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james_parson)

------
chaostheory
I know doesn't answer your question exactly, but assuming your goal is to
better show your experience as a developer - LinkedIn may not be the best way
to show it. Why? It's hard to show your work on LinkedIn.

Well coincidentally I'm working on something that focuses on your work and not
who you worked for or the name of your job title:
[https://theymadethat.com](https://theymadethat.com)

Check out some sample profiles and compare it to LinkedIn

(When you click on what they worked on - it goes deeper)

Before
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinashlakshman/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinashlakshman/)

After [https://www.theymadethat.com/people/fvd58z/avinash-
lakshman](https://www.theymadethat.com/people/fvd58z/avinash-lakshman)

Before [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-
zehr-1b147/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-zehr-1b147/)

After [https://www.theymadethat.com/people/16ee83/gregg-
zehr](https://www.theymadethat.com/people/16ee83/gregg-zehr)

Before
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyfadell/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyfadell/)

After [https://www.theymadethat.com/people/rtk3hv/tony-
fadell](https://www.theymadethat.com/people/rtk3hv/tony-fadell)

Before [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-
tran-12159a18/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-tran-12159a18/)

After [https://www.theymadethat.com/people/yx9sg/mathew-
tran](https://www.theymadethat.com/people/yx9sg/mathew-tran)

Before [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-
novak-00177250/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-novak-00177250/) (this guy is
really trying to show his work - but LinkedIn can only do so much)

After [https://www.theymadethat.com/people/9eni8t/nic-
novak](https://www.theymadethat.com/people/9eni8t/nic-novak)

Try out theymadethat, and let me know what you think especially what you think
could be improved. I should warning you though, it's very buggy and barely
beta

~~~
mhermher
small constructive criticism. The images are really big and take up a lot of
space. If you want to keep them big, consider a slideshow like display
instead? As is, the information density is a little low and requires a lot of
scrolling. Viewed on desktop browser though, might seem more appropriate on
mobile.

~~~
chaostheory
Thanks - that is good feedback. Yeah the UI on mobile is another thing that
really needs a ton of work. Hopefully the worst of it can be fixed soon

------
gorbachev
What is it that you want to achieve with your LinkedIn profile? What you need
to do to it depends entirely on that.

------
amelius
In any case, don't forget to properly acknowledge those who helped you on your
LinkedIn page.

------
icantrank
stop

------
tophue
Hi James,

There is a professional marketer who was a speaker at an event I attended who
really impressed me with her self-branding. Both her LinkedIn profile and her
website are very good and they inspired me a lot to create a good one for
myself.

[http://www.karenx.com/](http://www.karenx.com/). The linkedin link is at the
bottom of the page.

------
vfulco
If you don't get the answers you want and are considering hiring a
professional to enhance your LinkedIn Profile, please reach out to me. I do
them, English resumes and other career/academic services. Thank you.

Vince Fulco, CFA, CAIA vfulco[@]weisisheng.cn

~~~
vfulco
Disappointed to be pushed down on this. I realize the self-promotion aspect
but I have done some very good, fairly priced professional work for interested
parties found through HN. I also give back in non-commercial ways in a 20:1 or
better ratio.

