When you enter your professional life, the first thing you need to do online is to create your LinkedIn account. Just as Facebook connects you with your friends and a global audience, LinkedIn helps you build your network of professionals. Do you want to learn what goes into setting up a LinkedIn profile? If yes, then you are in the right place. Here is a detailed LinkedIn account creation guide that can help you set up a LinkedIn profile that stands out.
Steps To Create A LinkedIn Account
LinkedIn is the ultimate social media platform for professionals. So if you are a professional looking to build your presence on LinkedIn, then the first thing you need to do is to set up a professional account.
Here are a few steps that can help you create a comprehensive LinkedIn profile.
Start with the basics
The first thing you need to ensure is that the email account to provide must be the one you use regularly. Since you will receive notifications of connection requests and messages, provide a valid and active email address.
Some options are self-explanatory, like address and your country. Providing your phone number can be very helpful too.
When filling information on your profile, you need to mention if you’re employed or not. In case you are working somewhere, then say it on your profile. Otherwise, you can mention sentences like “seeking potential job opportunities.” It shows that you are dedicated and looking forward to potential job opportunities to show your skills and grow professionally.
Choose your account type
LinkedIn allows you to create both free and premium accounts. Both have their pros and cons. If you go with the free account, you won’t get certain benefits from the premium accounts. Besides, premium accounts are categorized into professional, jobseeker, etc. Depending on your needs and wants, opt for an appropriate account.
Be sure to choose the account that’s best for your situation. Each type of account comes with a one-month free trial. After the first month, if you don’t like the account, cancel your subscription or switch to another account type.
Let’s look into the step-by-step process of setting up a LinkedIn account.
The step-by-step process of LinkedIn account creation
Name & Account Log In
First, Visit LinkedIn.com to create your account. From the website’s homepage, click the “Join Now” button to register your account. You can access the button from the top right corner of the screen.
You can either use your Facebook account for quick Sign up or use your email address to register yourself. After entering the email address and password, you need to provide your First name and Last name on the next page.
Address & Work Information
The next page that appears requires you to provide your City name. LinkedIn detects your Country through its system, so you need not provide your country name.
Next, you need to mention your “Most recent job title.” You can either write your most recent designation or choose “I’m a student.” When you write your job title, you also need to mention your company name, industry, and employment type.
After completing the basic job title information, you’ll be asked to provide residence information.
Email account confirmation
Once LinkedIn has your basic information, it requires you to verify that the email address you used relates to you. To confirm your ownership of the email account, LinkedIn sends a verification link to your email account. To verify, open your email account and click on the verification link. When done, you can access your LinkedIn account and edit your profile to make it look professional.
Edit your profile
Once you’ve verified your account, you can open your LinkedIn account and edit your information. Click the “Me” button on the top right side of the screen to open and edit your basic information.
First, click the “Camera” button and upload a professional profile picture. It should be in professional attire. LinkedIn lets you add a cover photo too. Your cover photo should reflect your services, skills, and industry.
If you don’t display professional photos on your profile, you can be pushed aside easily. That’s because LinkedIn is crowded with professionals, and people don’t explore your profile if it doesn’t have an attractive profile.
Keep scrolling the “Edit Intro” prompt and fill every section with details in the best way. LinkedIn lets you describe yourself in an eye-catching headline. When someone visits your profile, the headline is among the first few things they will see. Therefore, write a catchy headline depicting your job title.
Write a summary
This is one part most people neglect. They either leave it blank or write an unprofessional summary that cannot grab the attention of potential employers.
From the profile, click the “Add profile section” and select “About” just below “Intro.” When you click the “About” button, a small editor appears that lets you write a summary about you. Use this section to tell your story, skills, achievements, and experience. LinkedIn allows you to write a summary of up to 2,000 characters. When I finished writing your summary, click the “Save” button.
Add your “Featured” collection.
Being a professional in a certain industry, if you have any content that belongs to you, adds to your profile. Any posts, articles, and other forms of media created by you on LinkedIn appear in the Features section. It allows you to add them to your profile.
Add background information
After providing your basic introduction, you need to give comprehensive background information about you. This information matters the most because it shows your work experience, education, certificates, and volunteer experience. Professionals and employers around the world emphasize hugely on this part of the profile. The better it looks, the better your overall profile looks.
Work experience
From the profile, click the “Add profile section” and select “Background.”
From the “Background,” select “Work experience” and provide detailed information about your professional work experience.
Make sure you provide all your previous work experience. It helps a lot in attracting potential employers. The more information available in the experience section, the more chances are there to get noticed. Be sure to include all your previous jobs in the experience section. Your current job always stays at the top, but all your previous work experience appears in the “Experience” section.
Education
After mentioning your work experience, it’s time to enlist your qualification. This is your chance to outshine many other potential candidates. The strong education section shows you have been a dedicated student throughout your student life.
Fill the sections with your qualifications and let people see your potential. Don’t be shy to brag about your qualification. The education section lets you write activities you performed in each degree, societies you joined, and overall description. Use this section to impress people and potential employers.
License & Certification
Now move towards the Licences and Certificates section.
Any professional diploma, certification, or license you have achieved, mention it in this section. Certification and licenses add immense weight to your resume and profile. It makes you stand out from the crowd and takes you one step ahead in the competition.
Volunteer experience
LinkedIn lets you show your volunteer experience too.
Use this section to show that you have always been a cooperative person and genuine help to the society or community. List down all the volunteer work you have done.
Add your skills
The key to winning major positions incredible organizations is to possess and display high-level skills. If you wish to seek a potentially strong professional career in an industry, then show it in your profile that you’ve relevant skills. You can do this by selecting the “Skills” section from the “Add profile section.”
Depending on your profile details, LinkedIn suggests a few relevant skills. You can either choose among them or search the repository of skills to choose and mention in your profile. From the search bar in the “Add Skills” window, write the skills you possess and add them to your profile.
Mention your accomplishments
Being a professional, you may have some accomplishments that make you a credible and highly professional individual. LinkedIn lets you enlist all your accomplishments, including Publication, Awards, Patents, Courses, Projects, Languages, and Test Scores you have gained. Mentioning these accomplishments in your profile can help you appear as a top-level professional.
Tips For Creating Your LinkedIn Account
- Don’t be shy – if you are good at something you should definitely add it to your profile in a way, everyone notices.
- Narrative speech – definitely underrated but very important. Make sure that you use narrative speech in your texts and descriptions. It’s more easy and interesting to read for a visitor.
- Professional visuals – should be clear but obviously, there are so many people who do it wrong. Use professional pictures with no background or a one-color background. No vacation pictures. Your facial expression should be professional, friendly, and inviting for others to interact with you.
- Call-to-action – you should add a call-to-action in your LinkedIn summary. It’s a great way that people will interact with you more often.
Wrap Up
The above LinkedIn account creation provides comprehensive information regarding setting up a LinkedIn account. The information provided includes all the essential steps required in LinkedIn account creation.
Setting up a LinkedIn account isn’t a hard task. But building a profile that’s comprehensive and excellent in all aspects might be an overwhelming task. Therefore, this write-up includes a step-by-step process to build a LinkedIn profile that stands out from the crowd. brandvidual also offers LinkedIn profile optimization services.
We hope you get helpful information from this LinkedIn account creation guide and create a stunning profile.