I’m working with a lawyer client who has been practicing law for 25+ years and recently lateraled to this firm.
When I looked at his LinkedIn profile, I immediately noticed that only had his most current role listed in his work experience section, making it look like he had only been practicing law for 8 years.
He also omitted his career prior to becoming a lawyer – which was incredibly relevant as he was a scientist and he is now an IP lawyer.
He told me that he left off former positions because he didn’t realize it was important to include them because they were so long ago. He also didn’t want make it seem like he had moved around so much.
When I explained the importance of listing his full professional history in order to tell a more robust story of his background and career, it clicked for him.
He also had left off his undergraduate school, which is important so LinkedIn can send you suggestions of potential connections, as well as to establish commonalities with people searching you and connecting with former classmates and joining certain groups.
In this video, I explore why it’s so important to fill out all of the sections in your LinkedIn profile, including past roles and education.
The short of it is to fill out all of the sections so that you can be discovered more easily and have more commonalities with others searching for you. While I often say less is more, not in this case. Listing all of your past positions (even some prominent internships) can help you find commonalities with others and then also use LinkedIn’s connection tools, which get smarter with suggestions when you include your full biographical information.