How to assess your LinkedIn profile

by | Dec 27, 2012 | Author Platform, LinkedIn profiles, Social media

How to assess your LinkedIn profileI’ve looked at a few clients LinkedIn profiles in my time and as a result have developed a quick checklist to identify any work needed.  You can use this to check your profile and see what changes you need to make.  You can start to assess your LinkedIn profile!

Profile section

PhotoNameHeadline

 

Employment history

 

Education
Recommendations

Connections
Websites
Public profile

 

Summary

 

Skills and Expertise
Groups
Personal Information

 

Honours and Awards

Other sections:

Contact for:
Overall

Checklist

Is photo present? If no, add a professional image. If yes, is it of the person or a company logo.

    <li “mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:=”” auto;mso-list:l0=”” lfo1;tab-stops:list=”” 36.0pt”=””>If company logo – remove<li “mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:=”” auto;mso-list:l0=”” lfo1;tab-stops:list=”” 36.0pt”=””>If person – is it a casual or professional looking image<li “mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:=”” auto;mso-list:l0=”” lfo1;tab-stops:list=”” 36.0pt”=””>If casual – change to professional.

Is the name in sentence case? If no, change

Sentence case? If no change.
Just job title and company?  If yes, look at strengthening headline.

Is it complete? Are any gaps in the employment history? If yes, are they explained?
Does the history go back more than 10 years?
If yes, review whether this is relevant.
Is it complete? If no, update.

If the person has completed higher education, remove anything below that.

Are there any? If no, has the person sent out requests? If no, has the person made any recommendations

Review amount and quality

Are there any? If no, could there be? Add relevant sites. If yes, are they in standard format? If yes, then personalise.

Does it have its own URL? If no, change
Review public profile.  Is there too much information?   If yes, keep current info.

Is there a summary? If no, write one. If yes, review grammar and content.

Does the person have any recorded? If no, review work experience and education to identify skills. Also, review industry standards.

Has the person joined any? Are they industry specific and relevant? Have they taken part in any discussions?

Have they set up e-mail notifications?
Have they included this? Is there enough information for identity theft?If yes, amend content.

Are there any? Should there be?

Have they any publications, patents etc?

Has this been set up? Does it have a personal message?If not, add.

Review spelling and grammar.Is there too much information or too little?Are industry-specific keywords present?
Try this on your own LinkedIn profile and see how can you assess your LinkedIn profile.I hope you found this useful.
If this has helped you, or you have an idea for a “How to…” post, then I’d love to hear about it.
I hope you found this post “How to assess your LinkedIn profile” useful.