Creating Your LinkedIn Profile

1. A Headline & Summary That Reflects Your Brand

• Incorporate your brand – your headline and summary should include the main things you want people to think about you.

• Use a title that reflects your experience and makes it easy for recruiters to find, understand and recruit you (e.g., “Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer” instead of “Business-Minded Partner with Legal Expertise,” “Labor Negotiator” instead of “Labor and Employment Lawyer”).

• Do not say you are looking for a job.

• Make your summary aspirational and about what you can offer – NOT a regurgitation of your past accomplishments.

• Sound nice. You do not have to sound “warm and fuzzy,” but beware of making yourself sound too formal, arrogant or aloof. (The same information on your resume that you write to impress credentials-focused legal employers can unwittingly come across as arrogant in a less formal LinkedIn profile; ask a non-lawyer friend to read your LinkedIn profile and give you honest feedback.)

• Include in your profile some information which suggests that you form strong relationships. Remember that credibility and likeability are just as important as core skills.

• Look at the headlines of people whose jobs you want – what do they say about themselves?

• If you are pursuing more than one career track (e.g., both in-house and law firms), design your LinkedIn headline and profile to apply equally to both (even though you will use two different versions of your resume).

2. A Professional, Current Head-Shot Photo

• A photo is a must and makes it easy for your connections to recognize you, especially if you haven’t seen them in a while.

• Wear a suit.

• Smile!

• Use a neutral background.

• Do not use a photo of yourself that was taken in a social setting or that has clearly been cropped to eliminate other people.

• Make sure the picture of you is big enough to fill the whole box.

• Get objective opinions before posting.

3.  An Accurate, Concise, Results-Focused Experience Section

• If you are unemployed, it’s fine to leave “current position” blank.

• Do not say you are looking for a job.

• Use bullets, and keep it short.

• Do not give the reader information overload by listing every matter or deal you worked on. A brief summary is sufficient.

• Don’t just list skills. Instead, frame your skills as problems that you solved and results that you accomplished for your clients or others.

  • Example: “Helped create and implement a risk management program that received industry-wide accolades and was copied by other companies.”

  • Example: “Member of three-person team that won multiple summary judgment motions and saved client millions of dollars in trial costs.”

  • Example: “Helped create and implement new compliance program that was recognized by General Counsel of client as cutting-edge.”

• Incorporate evidence (e.g., promotions, authorship, awards and recommendations) to prove that you achieved those results and have the skills that you say you have.

• Look at job descriptions of your target positions, and use their buzzwords in your profile.

4.  Recommendations, Skills & Endorsements (Optional)

If you choose to use these sections, include only those that are 100% consistent with your goal and are from credible and relevant sources.

• Delete or re-order them. You can do this under “Edit Profile” or “Settings.”

• Beware of letting your recommenders and endorsers define you (especially if you are seeking a career change or are trying to re-define yourself by emphasizing some skills and de-emphasizing others). Delete any recommendations and endorsements that are inconsistent with the brand narrative you are trying convey.

• Delete recommendations and endorsements from family members or from people with whom you have not worked, or who do not really know you.

• When listing skills, stay on message. Do not list skills that are irrelevant to the positions that you want.

5. Links to White Papers, Publications, Video Presentations, or Anything Else that Showcases Your Expertise & Experience

• Distinguish yourself; this is your chance to shine. To add a link, click the option “Add link” under “Edit Profile.”

• You can link to your law firm bio if it lists your matters. This is not advisable if you expect that within a short period of time you will no longer be on the firm's website.

6.  Education Section

• It’s important to complete this because it can lead to great alumni connections.

7.  Organizations

• This section can also lead to good connections.

8.  Interests and Personal Details

• There is no rule about what to include or exclude here. In general, information that makes you appear dynamic and interesting may foster more connections.

9.  Groups / Following

• At a minimum, join the groups of/follow your current employer, your law school and your undergraduate school.

• Ideally, join professional interest-based groups with a lot of members – it is the most efficient way to expand your network.

• Be active in at least a couple of groups. Let others see your name linked to insightful comments.

• For more on this, see the Using LinkedIn page of this site.

Customizing Your Public Profile URL

You can customize your public profile URL when you edit your public profile. Custom public profile URLs are available on a first come, first served basis.

1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your homepage and select Edit Profile.

2. You'll see a URL link under your profile photo like www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. Move your cursor over the link and click the Settings icon next to it.

3. Under the Your public profile URL section on the right, click the Edit icon next to your URL.

4. Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box.

5. Click Save.

Notes:

• Your custom URL can have 5-30 letters or numbers. Don't use spaces, symbols, or special characters.

  • LinkedIn recommends using a variation of your name and/or your professional brand since you'll share this URL with people so they can find your LinkedIn profile. Some job applications may also ask you for your LinkedIn profile URL.

• The customizable part of the URL is case insensitive. This means using JohnSmith, johnsmith or johnSmith will all point to the same profile.

• If the URL you want isn't available, please select a different one. LinkedIn can't make custom URLs available to members upon request.

• You can change your URL up to 5 times within 180 days. Once you have changed your URL for the 5th time, you won't be able to change it for another 180 days. Changing your URL several times may make it hard for people to find you.

• If a member uses a URL and then changes it, that URL will be unavailable for use by other members for 180 days.

  • If you navigate to a previously claimed URL, you may see a page that reads Profile Not Found.