Discover how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a resume that stands out. Improve your summary, showcase work experience, and impress hiring managers.
According to a recent study, nearly one in four recruiters spend less than 30 seconds reviewing a resume. The report also shows that applicants have about six seconds to impress recruiters and convince them to keep reading.
These statistics underline the significance of a well-prepared resume during job hunting.
LinkedIn offers a built-in tool for converting your profile into a resume that meets most screening criteria.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a resume that highlights your experience and achievements. We’ll also share some tips for boosting your LinkedIn presence, considering that recruiters like to check profiles to learn about candidates.
One way to enhance your visibility to recruiters is by creating a personal blog to share relevant industry news. You could then embed your LinkedIn profile alongside your blogs to provide a way for interested readers to connect with you.
SociableKIT offers an easy-to-use widget for integrating LinkedIn profile posts on a website without coding. Also, you can customize the widget to make it stand out and capture visitors’ attention so they can engage with your LinkedIn feed.
Create a SociableKIT widget and showcase your LinkedIn posts on your website to generate more impressions for your profile!
Can You Turn Your LinkedIn Profile into a Resume?
Yes. You can turn your LinkedIn profile into a resume. LinkedIn lets you summarize your profile, including your introduction, educational background, and work experience, into a format you can submit to job recruiters.
This feature comes in handy when you are required to provide a professional resume on short notice.
Converting your LinkedIn profile into a resume is quite straightforward. We’ve provided a simple step-by-step guide for downloading a LinkedIn resume in a later section of this article.
Benefits of Using LinkedIn for Resume Building
Let’s outline the essential incentives for building your resume on LinkedIn:
- Convenience: You need about a minute to navigate your LinkedIn profile and download the resume. Also, any edits made to your profile will automatically reflect on the next resume you download.
- Professional Formatting: LinkedIn organizes your resume into a scannable format that lets recruiters skim through it quickly.
- Consistent Information: Downloading your resume from LinkedIn guarantees the information you submit to recruiters is consistent with your online profile.
- Compatibility with Recruitment Platforms: Many recruitment agencies integrate LinkedIn into their hiring systems. This lets you export your resume directly from LinkedIn to recruiters’ platforms without extensive reformatting.
- Accessibility: You can access the resume on short notice, as long as you can log into your LinkedIn account.
How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Resume-Worthy Impact
Most of the information you provide on your LinkedIn profile appears on your resume. As such, you want to optimize your profile to translate into a winning resume that separates you from other candidates.
Below are proven methods for enhancing your LinkedIn profile with your resume in mind:
1. Use Your Formal/Professional Name
Your name on the resume will be exactly how it appears on your LinkedIn profile. As such, we recommend using your formal name to create a positive first impression on recruiters.
Exceptions are often made for people in the creative industry with different professional and official names.
2. Craft a Compelling Headline
Your LinkedIn headline is often the first thing people see when they open your profile. It is the same with a LinkedIn resume.
Edit the headline to include your professional accreditations and affiliations to grab the recruiter’s attention.
3. Write a Concise Summary
Summarize your career journey and achievements to showcase your unique value proposition to prospective employers.
Finally, leverage industry-specific terminologies to avoid making your resume sound generic.
4. Optimize Your Work Experience
Use action verbs when describing your duties and responsibilities at the listed positions. Also, tie your roles to specific deliverables to emphasize your value.
Suppose one of your previous jobs was as a quality assurance manager at a manufacturing company.
You could describe one of your roles as follows: “Led the production and quality control department in implementing ISO 9001:2015 across the organization, achieving certification in a record 6 months.”
5. Add Relevant Certifications and Courses
Highlight your completed courses and certifications (whether from LinkedIn Learning or other accredited institutions).
Also, include other professional activities like publications and projects to emphasize your decorated career.
How to Convert Your LinkedIn Profile into a Resume
As mentioned in a previous section, converting your LinkedIn profile into a resume is easy and takes only a few minutes, even for a first-timer.
Follow these steps to download your resume from LinkedIn:
- Log in to your LinkedIn profile.
- Click the profile icon and select View Profile.
- Below your LinkedIn headline, you’ll see several tabs, including Resources.
- Click on the Resources tab and select to save your LinkedIn resume as a PDF. The resume will download to your PC.
Mistakes to Avoid When Using LinkedIn as a Resume
Remember, any mishaps on your LinkedIn profile will likely reflect on your resume and could hurt your chances of landing your dream job.
Let’s outline common pitfalls to avoid when creating a resume from LinkedIn:
Having an Incomplete Profile
If your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have all the details of your work experience, educational background, or qualifications, the sections will also be missing from your resume.
Ensure your LinkedIn profile is complete so the generated resume appears professional and enhances your credibility.
Your Headline Is Too Generic
A lackluster headline is just as bad as a blank one, and it can prevent you from making a strong first impression on recruiters.
Summarize your roles and accomplishments, encouraging recruiters to read the rest of your resume.
Including Irrelevant Information
Highlighting outdated skills and qualifications bloats your resume, causing recruiters to miss out on essential traits that show your suitability for the vacant role.
As such, review your LinkedIn profile regularly and delete details that do not align with your current or desired career path.
Grammatical Errors
Poor grammar and punctuation often water down your resume and the impression on recruiters.
Proofread your LinkedIn profile to keep it error-free. Also, you could leverage third-party tools like Grammarly to pick out noun–pronoun, verb-tense, and subject-verb agreement issues, especially if you are not proficient in English.
Having a Dormant LinkedIn Profile
Being inactive on LinkedIn doesn’t immediately impact your resume, but it could affect it in the long term.
For example, not staying updated with discussions and commentary about your industry can cause you to miss opportunities to modify your profile to align with market trends.
Also, recruiters might find your LinkedIn profile underwhelming should they review it. We recommend posting on LinkedIn regularly to grow a following on the platform.
Additional Tips for a Job-Winning LinkedIn Resume
Want to further refine your LinkedIn resume? Here are other proven methods to keep in mind:
- Request LinkedIn Recommendations: Ask your colleagues and past employers to endorse your skills and expertise on LinkedIn. While the recommendations don’t appear on your resume, recruiters who view your LinkedIn profile will likely read the endorsements.
- Create a Custom LinkedIn URL: LinkedIn usually exports your profile URL as it is to your resume. As such, personalize your LinkedIn URL so it looks professional and is easier for recruiters to find your profile. For instance, you can include a relevant professional keyword to increase searchability.
- Optimize the Featured Section: Upload rich media highlighting past projects and achievements. Such content gives you an edge when applying for jobs that require hands-on experience.
- Embed LinkedIn Profile on a Personal Blog: Start a blog post to share your insights on industry topics and demonstrate your skills and expertise in your field of interest. Ensure the content is SEO-focused so that it ranks on search engine results. Also, we recommend embedding your LinkedIn profile posts on your blogs for effective cross-platform promotion.
Use SociableKIT to showcase your LinkedIn profile on a website and curate an engaging feed that encourages visitors to interact with it. Our widget has a built-in LinkedIn profile posts embed code generator, so you do not need to write the script.
Sign up for SociableKIT and join thousands of professionals who use our widget to display their LinkedIn profiles on websites for increased visibility!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Got pending questions?
This section addresses commonly asked questions about turning your LinkedIn profile into a resume:
How Can I Make My LinkedIn Profile ATS-Friendly?
Use the checklist below to optimize your LinkedIn profile to make it accessible for any applicant tracking system (ATS):
- Use default fonts to make your profile easy to read and evaluate.
- Include relevant industry-related keywords to signal to the ATS that you have the required skills.
- Organize large text blocks into bullets to enhance scannability.
- Leverage LinkedIn optimization tools like JobScan and Resume Worded to check your profile’s ATS compatibility.
How Can I Get More Recommendations on LinkedIn?
The easiest way to increase your LinkedIn recommendation is through manual requests. LinkedIn provides features for sending recommendation requests to other users, such as former colleagues, team members, and employers.
Here’s how to do it:
- Log in to LinkedIn and go to your profile.
- Scroll to the Recommendations section and select the option to Ask to be recommended.
- Provide the name of the LinkedIn user from whom you want to get the recommendation.
- On the pop window that appears, fill in the relevant information, including your relationship to the user and the position in which you worked with them. You could also include a personalized request message.
- Finally, click send to submit the recommendation request.
What’s the Best Way to Showcase Freelance Work on LinkedIn?
The best way to showcase your freelance work on LinkedIn is by tailoring your profile to match your services and skills. Use our checklist below to optimize your LinkedIn profile:
- Add past projects to the experience section, highlighting your roles and achievements.
- Use the featured section to showcase your work. For example, as an artist, you can upload images of your paintings.
- Optimize your LinkedIn headline to highlight your title and skills, such as “Freelance Photographer.”
- Request endorsements from past clients to boost your credibility.
Can LinkedIn Premium Help Improve My Job Search?
Yes. LinkedIn Premium can help improve your job search success in several ways:
- You can send InMail messages to hiring managers and recruiters, a feature not available to non-premium users.
- LinkedIn lets you see everyone who searches or views your profile, providing valuable insight into recruiters who consider you a suitable candidate.
- You can get access to LinkedIn’s job application insights to help you optimize your profile.
- Premium members can access exclusive jobs that are not visible to other users.
Conclusion
Using LinkedIn to build your resume helps ensure compatibility with ATS platforms, increasing your chances of success. It is also a lifesaver when you need to provide a resume on short notice.
However, you should optimize your LinkedIn profile to ensure the generated resume contains essential information, including your educational background and work experience.
Also, we recommend regularly posting on LinkedIn to keep your profile active and starting a personal blog to boost your visibility to recruiters and potential employers outside the platform. Embed your LinkedIn profile on your blogs to provide a direct link that readers can follow to check out your educational and professional background.
SociableKIT provides a no-code widget for embedding and curating an engaging LinkedIn profile feed. The widget refreshes regularly, so new posts appear on the feed automatically.
Create a SociableKIT widget today and promote your LinkedIn profile to a wider audience!