Manage your professional brand – You can define and develop how other members view your professional experience and qualifications. Since you will have complete control over your profile and its visibility, you can customize it to fit your needs. Your customized profile will help recruiters and other members understand your professional personality.

Create opportunities for you – Since people and organizations globally use LinkedIn, a LinkedIn profile will help you get noticed. An updated profile is a great way to ensure that you can be found by right people at the right time. It’s also an excellent way to find job opportunities and connect with recruiters. Once you’ve completed your profile, you’ll be more equipped to find jobs on LinkedIn.

Build your network and track your professional milestones – All of your professional achievements (new job, work anniversary, promotion, etc.) can be recorded and displayed on your LinkedIn profile. It’ll help you showcase your professional experience and achievements to other members who view your profile. An updated profile opens the door to meeting new members and making connections.

Add a professional profile photo - A good profile photo increases the credibility of your profile and helps you stand out from the crowd. Members with a profile photo on LinkedIn receive up to 2X more profile views. You can also add a background image to personalize your profile. Check out some more tips for picking the right LinkedIn profile photo.

Make your headline stand out – Your headline is created when you add your positions to your profile. However, you can re-write it to either promote an area of expertise or to let your personality shine through.

Write a summary - The About section of your profile should express your mission, motivation, and skills to people who view your profile. Ideally, you should limit the text to one or two paragraphs while filling this section. You can use bullet points if you’re not comfortable with writing paragraphs. Check out some LinkedIn profile summaries that we love.

Add all your relevant work and education experiences – You should keep the profile updated with all your professional experiences that align with your current career goals. You can also add media samples to provide quick access to your work portfolio.

Add relevant skills – A list of relevant skills on your profile helps you showcase your abilities to other members, like your colleagues and recruiters. It helps other understand your strengths. Once you add your skills, your connections can endorse them. If someone endorses your skills, it will increase the likelihood of you being discovered for opportunities related to the skills you possess. You can also take assessments for the skills you’ve listed on your profile to showcase your proficiency.

Request recommendations from your connections - A recommendation is written to recognize or commend a connection, such as a colleague, business partner, or student. There’s no limit to the number of recommendations you can request for. Once you accept a recommendation written by a connection, it becomes visible to your network by default. You can also hide recommendations that you think don’t suit your professional goals.

Use your profile strength meter to gauge the strength of your profile.