Online Presence

In the age of the internet, having an online presence matters for your success. This page will spell out some best practices for LinkedIn, GitHub, and your personal website (if you choose to have one). Before getting into the nitty-gritty of each of these platforms, however, take a moment to think broadly about your online presence. When a potential employer Googles you, what do they see (HINT: you should Google yourself regularly)? The first page they encounter should be positive and professional. Your social media accounts should be either professional or hidden. Regularly evaluate and optimize your online presence.

LinkedIn is a powerful professional tool. While it can be rather frustrating to keep up with, the time that you spend optimizing your LinkedIn profile is time well spent. If you don't already have a profile created, create one ASAP! If you already have a profile, consider using the suggestions below to edit and enhance it. 

Quick Tips

• Keep your profile up-to-date. 

• Always write in the first person narrative. LinkedIn is a place to bring your work experience to life and share some of who you are through your "career story". The more you look at your profile as your story, the better. Writing in the first person helps make your story seem authentic and warm. 

• Be concise. Cut down on the fluff and get to the point. While you want to come across as authentic, you also need to make sure the person viewing your profile leaves with a clear understanding of who you are as a professional.

• Highlight your work, expertise, and impact. It's okay to reuse the bullet points from your resume, but it's more impactful if you can spend the time to use LinkedIn as supplemental material. What is an employer going to gain from looking at your LinkedIn if they've already seen your resume? 

• Use your profile to build your brand. "A brand is what others say about you when you aren't in the room." Think about your brand as it is now and as you want it to be. If you're struggling to define this concept, start by brainstorming some key traits and skills that define who you are. How will this brand show up in your LinkedIn profile? You can use stories, examples of work, recommendations, "skills," and more to build this brand online.

• Use the Jobscan LinkedIn Profile Optimizer. Jobscan analyzes your LinkedIn profile and gives you a customized score and recommendations for improvement.

Your Profile

• Profile picture. Your picture should be recent, feature just you, have good lighting, and be a high-quality image. 

• Name pronunciation (optional). LinkedIn has a really great name pronunciation feature. You can set up an audio recording of your name that is accessible right on your profile. Note, however, that the name pronunciation feature is only available on mobile. Speak slowly and pronounce your name clearly with your phone about 4 inches from your mouth.

• Headline. Your headline is a quick one-liner that is one of the first things people see (with your name and photo, of course) when they see your profile. It matters. Use this space to quickly highlight your role, any skills that are unique to you, and specific passions.

• Pronouns (optional). Add your pronouns to your profile. You have full control over who sees your pronouns once they're added. 

• Profile summary. Your profile summary is an "elevatory pitch" style paragraph that should showcase who you are, what you do, what you believe, what motivates you, and why any of it matters. Highlight your impact. 

• Experience. It's okay to use the bullet points from your resume, but it's better if you don't. Keep in mind all of the important guidelines for professional experience on your resume (the 5 Cs, why your work mattered, focus on your value), and change the format to more conversational short paragraphs. Use bullet points for emphasis only. Remember, this is your career story. 

• Skills. Add key skills to the skill section of your LinkedIn profile. This might seem silly, but, in reality, LinkedIn users with five or more skills listed are discovered up to 27 times more in searches on LinkedIn. It's important. 

• Endorsements (optional). Skills on LinkedIn are subjective claims. While they might matter to the LinkedIn algorithm, they matter little to a potential employer viewing your profile until they are validated by someone else. Think of endorsements as an informal reference check; they provide important validation for the claims on your profile. 

• Recommendations. Speaking of external validation, LinkedIn also has a very important section for recommendations. Recommendations add credibility to your claims. As with any recommendation, think carefully about who you want to ask to write your recommendation and what you'd like them to highlight. 

• Volunteer experience (optional). If you have significant volunteer experience, include it on your profile! It can help fill in any gaps about who you are and what you do outside of work. 

Your GitHub profile can be just as important, if not more important, than your LinkedIn profile (depending on the types of jobs you're looking for). You've probably used GitHub already, but have you thought about GitHub as a part of your online presence? 

Quick Tips

• Keep your profile up-to-date. 

• Keep your username professional. Just as your email should be professional, so should your GitHub username. 

• Choose a profile picture intentionally. You can use a professional headshot, a more casual image (of you, with good lighting), or even a graphic - the important thing is to remember that a profile picture makes an impression. What type of impression do you want to make on a potential employer visiting your profile? 

• Include a bio. Again, this is all about professionalism and building your brand. Keep it short and sweet.

• Add your location. 

• Add your email. 

• Link to your website (and social media if appropriate). Give a potential employer every opportunity to get to know who you are and what you have to offer in more depth. If you have a personal website, link it. If your social media is professional, link it. 

• Add pinned repos. Adding a few pinned repos makes your profile easier to navigate and gives you control over your first impression to potential employers. Each pinned repo should have a clear name and description section, as well as a README.md file that includes an overview, installation, and pictures (if relevant). 

A personal website can be a great way to take control of your online presence. A personal website can be used to showcase your work, hobbies, and volunteer experience in more depth and can help employers answer the question "would they be a good fit?" A personal website is also a good opportunity to get a little more personal without making all of your social media public and professional. While there are many different website-building platforms, we recommend using GitHub Pages or Notion. Watch the video below to learn more. 

Quick Tips

• Think about design. While the main purpose of your website is about the content, don't forget to make the site look pretty, too. Think about your image-to-text ratio, empty space, and readability. 

• Stick to a single page. If you can, stick to a single page that is easy to scroll through and view on mobile. Your sections should logically lead into one another. 

• Link to other places. Again, you want to give a potential employer every opportunity to get to know you and who you are, if they're curious. Link to your LinkedIn, GitHub profile, and social media (if appropriate). 

• Write about your experiences (optional). If you enjoy writing, use that to your advantage! Check out this article that talks about the importance of sharing your experiences and writing for "non-writers."