LinkedIn challenge: buff up your profile in 40 days
Some people choose to give up sugar or alcohol. Others prefer intermittent fasting. Others set out to strengthen their glutes. How about a bootcamp-style challenge that will really transform your career prospects? Here are 40 easy, yet meaningful daily steps that will help you take your profile from “couch potato” to LinkedIn athlete!
Warning: If carried through to completion, the following challenge can lead to side effects such as increased visibility with employers, tremendous job-search confidence, strong networking skills, etc.
Actions and Resources
- Get a free Ottawa Public Library card or Accès Gatineau card. This is the first step towards gaining free access to the 16 000+ courses and tutorials available in 7 languages on LinkedIn Learning.
- Create your LinkedIn profile.
- Log off LinkedIn. Whenever you want to take a course or tutorial on LinkedIn Learning, you must first log off LinkedIn.
- Log on to LinkedIn Learning free of charge with your library card.
- Take the course Rock Your LinkedIn Profile.
- Add a professional-looking photo (400 x 400 pixels).
- Add an eye-catching banner (1584 x 396 pixels).
- Craft a powerful headline.
- Draft a summary or “About” section.
- Book an appointment through Career Launch: LinkedIn: Writing a compelling LinkedIn summary.It’s the perfect way to get one-on-one coaching on how to create a 60-second intro (or elevator pitch) that looks and feels just like you.
- Add the two most recent roles under “Experience”.
- For each role, add a short description and three key achievements. Make sure everything is well formatted. View resource.
Example:
My role within x organization is to:
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong infinitive action verb
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong infinitive action verb
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong infinitive action verb
Main achievements:
In my first six months on the job/During this 4-month internship, I:
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong past-tense action verb
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong action verb in the past tense
- Detailed statement beginning with a strong action verb in the past tense
- Document the “Education” section. Add the exact names of your diploma(s); check official designations.
- Add at least five relevant skills. You can add up to 50 but start with the ones that define you the most!
- Send a personalized connection request to a classmate. Networking also happens in the classroom!
- Follow five relevant employers in your target sector. Which organizations do you dream of working for?
- Check out the Telfer Career Centre’s Career Blog and share an article as a LinkedIn post. When you share an article as a LinkedIn post, don’t forget to mention what you found relevant in said content!
- Attend an employer information session at Telfer and write down the names and position titles of the facilitators. Check out the Calendar of Events.
- Send a customized connection request with a thank-you note to the info session facilitators. It’s a sure-fire way to get noticed.
- Set the various parameters. Take the time to select your preferences for visibility, security, notifications and more.
- Congratulate a friend on their new position and make sure to customize your message. Networking also means acknowledging the successes of others with authenticity.
- Book an appointment through Career Launch: LinkedIn: LinkedIn Profile Critique. Get expert advice and take your profile to the next level. A one on one critique goes into detail and doesn’t skimp on professional branding excellence.
- Send a customized recommendation request to a colleague. Choose someone you respect and to whom you’d like to offer a recommendation in return.
- Follow a quality industry- or career-related blog. Many organizations have their own blog. All you need to do is find the publication that speaks to you.
- Continue exploring LinkedIn Learning, take a relevant course and post about it on LinkedIn afterwards. With over 16,000 courses available in 7 languages, LinkedIn Learning surely offers a thing or two that will boost your profile!
- Review the headline and correct any typos.
- If you are bilingual (English - French), please mention it!
- Meet with your Professional Development Coordinator at the appointment your booked to review your LinkedIn summary. Take notes, then make a first round of changes.
- Have a peer proofread your LinkedIn summary and correct any errors. Two pairs of eyes are better than one!
- Read and comment on the publication of a contact. Your opinion counts. Word it carefully.
- Send a personalized connection request to a valued faculty member. Your professors can also be part of your network.
- Set up job alerts. It’s one of LinkedIn’s great features!
- Add the LinkedIn app to your cell phone. Save time on your daily commute by doing a quick LinkedIn overview every day.
- Read a short article to learn about gender pronouns and choose (or choose not) to add them to your profile.
- Consider setting the “Open to” parameter. Are you actively looking for work? If so, make it known!
- Add your volunteer experience. Keep the format/presentation consistent with the rest of your content. Highlight your transferable skills and values. Your values may match those of an employer.
- Explore a few spelling- and grammar-checking applications and try them out with your profile content. Great free and paid tools exist. You just need to find them and combine a few.
- Send a personalized recommendation request to a past or present supervisor. Kind words, a courteous tone, and an offer of recommendation in return – it doesn’t hurt!
- Add five additional skills. You’ve taken on a huge challenge. You’ve gained important skills along the way.
- Check your profile analytics and note number of views. Enjoy the results and share what you’ve learned in a LinkedIn post!
To become a LinkedIn athlete, all you need is dedication. Put in the time, show up for yourself, and little by little, your profile will improve, and people will start noticing.