I challenge you to make your LinkedIn experience section more engaging. Too often this section is simply a rehash of your professional resume. Make it more like a resume on steroids!

Keep in mind that you have up to 100 characters for each of your position titles and nearly 2,000 characters for each position description.

 

Here Are 5 Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Experience Section More Engaging

  • Expand on your current position titles. Typically, people use the exact language of a position title when they would be better served by expanding on it. Add words or phrases that more descriptively depict what you actually do (or did) in that position.
  • Add one or two testimonials to current and recent position descriptions. Take excerpts of your best recommendations and add those to the end of this part of your position listing. It’s a great way to show how much your clients and others appreciate you. Additionally, you are giving them some great PR by including them in this part of your profile. You can also include a testimonial from someone in this section even if the two of you aren’t connected on LinkedIn.
  • Include media at the end of the position listing. Do this by clicking “upload” to connect a photograph, PowerPoint or other item from your computer. Click on “link” to add a link to a landing page on your website, a YouTube video, a link to a Meetup group, etc. Adding media to these listings makes your experience section more visually engaging.
  • List your leadership roles in volunteer organizations as positions in the experience section. Doing so has many benefits. You give more visibility to the organization than if you only listed it in the volunteer experience section. You have the opportunity to showcase skills and accomplishments that you haven’t done in a paid capacity. People familiar with your work in these roles can write you a LinkedIn recommendation for what you did.
  • Business owners – create separate positions for each of your business offerings. You will need to create a company page on LinkedIn to do this, which a good idea anyway. Learn more about company pages in the blog post “Why You Should Have a Company Page on LinkedIn.” Having more than one position for your offerings gives you the opportunity to elaborate a bit more on each of them. In addition, for each position your list, you can add more testimonials.

 

How Far Back Should You Go in Your Experience Section?

Since most of my clients are 50 and older, I often get this question. The job seekers in particular are concerned about age discrimination. Also, the general rule of thumb for a resume is to only go back about 10-15 years.

The answer to this question is “it depends.” You may choose to have your experience section mirror your resume and limit yourself to the that time frame.

However, if you had a position (paid or volunteer) more than 15 years ago which relates directly to a job you are seeking, consider adding it to your experience section. Doing that provides more key words and context for why you are pursuing that type of job.

In my opinion, people who own their business have more latitude in how far back to go in listing positions in this section. In fact, including that information can enhance their professional credibility.

 

How About You?

How have you expanded your LinkedIn experience section? What kinds of volunteer leadership roles did you include?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook and LinkedIn. She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, job seekers, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.