Module 1 Week 4

Overview

This week’s lesson is on Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile. Complete the activities in this order:

Learning Goals

Allow yourself about 30 mins to complete this lesson.

By the end of this lesson, you should have accomplished these learning goals:

  • Understand how to tell your story through LinkedIn
  • Know how to build a working draft of your LinkedIn profile with these components:
    • Headshot
    • Headline updated to include your software identity
    • Summary seciton to tell your professional story
    • Turing added to both Experience and Education sections

After you complete this lesson, you’ll synthesize your learning in this Exit Ticket.

Pre-Lesson Reflection

Reflect and document your responses to the following questions in this reflection document

  • What is a strength that you have?
  • What knowledge or skills have you picked up from friends, family, coworkers, etc.?
  • What do you really love to do?
  • What do you spend most of your personal time doing?

Week 4 Lesson - Overview of Building an Effective LinkedIn Profile

Section 1: Introduction

Please read through the lesson plan and watch the video lectures below and complete this reflection sheet as you go. This lesson will be covering Linkedin.

Linkedin is a social media tool you can use to:

  • Tell your career story on digital platforms
  • Communicate with recruiters, peers, and thought-leaders in your industry
  • Connect with people to build your network
  • Search for and apply to jobs online
  • Research companies, employees, and available opportunities

Section 2: Profile and Photos Overview

Per Linkedin, a complete profile has a current industry listed, at least 2 up-to-date positions with descriptions, a minimum of 3 skills, a profile picture, and at least 50 connections.

  • Profile Photo: Your profile photo should be easy to see your face and not cropped, blurry, or pixelated.

  • Cover Photo: The cover photo should showcase some of your personality or connect to your industry. Above all else, replace the standard Linkedin image.

Section 3: Headlines and Keywords

When searching on Linkedin, your profile picture and headline are some of the first things people can see about you. They can inspire people to click on your profile and learn more about you.

There are 3 typical types of Headlines on Linkedin:

  • Direct = Title of position at Company
  • Power Statement = title benefit statement
  • Keyword Focused = Action General title General title

Keyword Focused is the best option for job seekers as concentrated keywords can help attract specific individuals to your profile. If you’re looking for a job in software development but your headline and profile only showcase your previous industry experience in education, how will recruiters know to connect with you about work in software development?

Examples

  • Software Engineer - UI/Java/JavaScript Developer - Front End
  • Software Developer Former Educator B2B & B2C Customer Experience

Section 4: Summary

A summary provides opportunities to tell the story you want the reader to know about you and your career journey.

Your summary clearly define these items for the reader: Who you are + How you got there + What’s next

Close with an action item for those reading. What do you want people to do when they see your profile? Do you want them to look at your code, website, email you?

Examples to Integrate into Your Summary

  • Hook: It took me more than X hours of studying to learn the secret about Y, but since then, something unexpected has happened.”
  • Your Journey: “I grew up on the Mississippi River and watched it get clearer over time as manufacturing standards improved. Since then, I knew I wanted to spread the word about sustainability in business environments.”
  • Accomplishments: “Over the past five years, I’ve made it into the President’s Club three times and my closed-won business has seen less than 10% churn during the first 12 months.”
  • Technical & Transferable Skills: “I am Back End developer specializing in Ruby on Rails.” OR “I’m a Front End developer specializing in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.”
  • Your Goals: “I’m a software engineer interested in assisting small teams in optimizing their time and workflows so businesses can grow without adding more headcount and reps can advance their careers.”
  • Action Item: “Reach me at email@address.com or book time on my calendar here: [Calendar link].”

Section 5: Experiences, Recommendations, and Benchmarks for Success

Experiences

This section is where you showcase your current and prior work:

  • What your role was/is
  • What impact you had
  • Mention your specialties and how this prepared you for future roles

Endorsements & Recommendations

  • Endorsements allow other people in your network to confirm and highlight your skills
  • Recommendations are a way for you to showcase praise you’ve received or given to others

Benchmarks for Success on LinkedIn

  • Increase in 1st-degree connections
  • Increase in profile views and appearance in search results
  • Personalized connection requests from new connections

Resources

Check for Understanding

  1. Complete this exit ticket. Completion of this exit ticket is required for your professional development this module.

  2. Complete this reflection sheet while working through the items below
  3. You should also start to work on your building/updating your LinkedIn profile today to submit at the end of this week. Go here to find additional step-by-step resources and tips.

Due Dates & Reminders

  • Complete the exit ticket for today’s lesson by EOD Friday of Week 4.
  • Due this Friday here:
    • Your LinkedIn rough draft:
      • Professional-looking headshot
      • Updated headline statement
      • Summary statement using your professional story
      • Turing added to Education section
        • You should also add Turing to the Experience section if you do not have previous professional experience
        • You could also consider adding the Career Break feature to your profile to explain that you’ve left your career to transition to software development.