The (completely free) upgrade to your LinkedIn that elevates your resume
When writing the header of your resume, you should include all contact information that you would want a potential hiring manager to see. This includes your online portfolio (if relevant) and your LinkedIn Profile.
Including a long URL at the top of your resume can throw off the formatting and it does not look aesthetically nice either. How can you include a link to your LinkedIn profile but shorten the URL? It is so easy and one of my favorite tips to share with clients.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/james-taylor-0123428472
(Doesn’t look great)
Step 1
Log in to your LinkedIn profile. If you do not already have a LinkedIn profile, you should create one.
Step 2
On the top right corner of your profile screen, click “Edit public profile & URL”
Step 3
On the next screen, an overview of your public profile settings is shown. But for this update, you only need to focus on the top right corner (again). This time, it says “Edit your custom URL”. Click that tiny blue pencil.
Step 4
Now you can personalize the URL that directs people directly to your LinkedIn profile. You can change all the letters and numbers that occur after linkedin.com/in/ .
Tips for creating a unique LinkedIn URL
- Keep in mind, the shorter the better. If there was a situation where someone had to manually type in your URL then fewer characters would leave less room for error.
- Consider using your professional email as a guide for what to write. If your email is JamesTaylor124, for example, you could try and see if Linkedin.com/in/JamesTaylor124 was available. This could help create cohesiveness across your professional brand. If you do not have an email set up for just job searching, you could create a free one with Google and match the username to your LinkedIn (and vice versa)
- Remember that LinkedIn URLs can not contain special characters or spaces
Once you have a new LinkedIn URL that is customized to your brand, you can add it to your resume header. Here is an example of how to do that:
JAMES TAYLOR
City/State | 555-555-5555 | jamestaylor124@com |Linkedin.com/in/jamestaylor124
