Over the Holiday, I was speaking with my 20 year old cousin who asked me during our conversation if I would take a look at his LinkedIn profile and make suggestions where I could. Of course I agreed, but as I wrote my suggestion to my cousin, a 20 year old kid still in college and just beginning his career, I thought that many of the things I felt he could improve upon could also be useful to many of my loyal Randolph Sterling blog newsletter readers no matter what stage they are in their career.

So, here they are:

1. Add a professional looking picture. It doesn’t have to be in a suit, but future employers are more likely to look at your profile here vs. other places. Show them that you are professional.
2. Take your birthday off. No need to give someone a reason to not take you seriously because you are too young (or too old).
3. You can link Facebook, Twitter, etc. to LinkedIN, however be careful what links. Remember this is a professional site so, although some people show everything everywhere, keep this as your “professional face” while still showing a little of your personality.
4. Join Groups. This is a great place to network with future employers and a number of other people in a professional setting. Contribute when you feel it is appropriate (you will see a lot of people write things just to see their name in print). Also, you can just follow people who seem to be thought leaders on particular subjects. It doesn’t hurt to stroke their ego a little by every once in a while saying something like “great comment Shawn. I’m going to mention your point in our next staff meeting.”
5. Start to build a resume. You are way too young to be worrying about what you are going to do with the rest of your life, but I am sure you have the makings of a plan. People will hire you for summer jobs, internships, etc. if they feel you are easily trained and can contribute to helping them quickly. Those internships and summer jobs will also help you land your first “real job.”
6. Check out LinkedIn’s Career Explorer. Neither I nor my staff have used it, but I’ve heard it is a great resource for students just starting out or exploring ehat they want to do.
7. Good luck!

Again, this was initially written for my 20 year old cousin, but I feel many of these points hold for anyone new to LinkedIn, or who never quite took the time to get their profile up to 100% or who never put much thought into what they were or weren’t sharing with potential coworkers, employers, or business associates. Also, from what our Director of Social Media says, from what he’s heard in the Q&A sessions of some of the social media seminars he’s attended, and what he’s seen with some of the people he’s worked with, more people could use these kinds of pointers than one might initially think.

So, I hope this was helpful, and, as I told my cousin, if you need a solid profile for reference, feel free to check out mine!