LinkedIn currently has more than 277 million users in 200 countries and territories around the world, They host 3 million business pages, 2.1 million groups, and 77% of all published jobs. So it’s easy to understand why LinkedIn is the most popular social networking site for professionals, job seekers, and businesses, and enterpreneurs selling their services. About 48% of recruiters post their jobs exclusively on LinkedIn. After the recent Microsoft purchase, LinkedIn is only expected to grow more as Microsoft is certain to integrate some or all of its Office 365 Cloud products with the platform.
Getting to know how to navigate LinkedIn is very important for professionals in active or passive job searches. The following list has been compiled from the collective expertise of knowledgeable recruiters and resume writer colleagues that have spent years assisting job seekers with their career documents as well as LinkedIn profiles.
- A professional photo
- A customized profile URL
- A keyword injected headline
- A profile summary rich in keywords that sets you apart from the crowd
- A concise career story that is easy to understand
- Profile sections structured so that your career trajectory is easy to read
- Powerful action based statements
- Quantified achievements per job role
- At least 50 skills that connections can endorse you for
- Be a member of at least 2 LinkedIn groups
- Have at least 2-3 recommendations or more
- Showcase certificates and highlight your education
Profile Sections Character Counts and Image Dimensions
With the release of the “new desktop experience” for LinkedIn in early 2017, some of the character limits and graphic sizes have changed. This cheat sheet will provide a quick reference to the current guidelines (as of November 2017).
Character counts on LinkedIn include letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation.
Name field:
First name: 20-character limit
Last name: 40-character limit
Headline:
120-character limit
Summary:
2,000-character limit
Summary preview:
Depending on the device being used (desktop vs. mobile), LinkedIn will show the first two lines of the Summary (and then a prompt to “See More”). The preview is approximately 25-40 words (or 200-250 characters) — again, depending on the device.
Vanity URL (customizing your LinkedIn public profile URL):
30-character limit (5-character minimum)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/________
Cannot use spaces, symbols, or special characters
The customizable part of the URL is not case sensitive (JaneJobseeker, janejobseeker, and Janejobseeker will all point to the same profile).
The URL can be changed up to five times within six months (however, changing your URL frequently is not recommended). If a URL has been used and then changed, that URL will be unavailable for use by anyone for six months.
Website URL (links):
256-character limit
Status Update:
600-character limit
LinkedIn Publishing:
Headline: 100-character limit
Post: 40,000-character limit
Experience:
Job title: 100-character limit
Position description: 2000-character limit (200-character minimum)
Recommendations:
3,000-character limit
LinkedIn Groups:
Conversation title: 200-character limit
Body: 2,000-character limit
Comments: 1,000-character limit
Maximum Number of First Degree Connections:
30,000
Graphics:
Personal Profile Image:
400 x 400
Maximum File Size: 8MB
Acceptable File Formats: PNG, JPG, GIF
Personal Background Image:
1584 x 396
Maximum File Size: 8 MB
Acceptable File Formats: PNG, JPG, GIF