I’m working with a lawyer who has been practicing law for 25+ years.
When I looked at his LinkedIn profile, I immediately noticed that he only had his most current role listed in his work experience section, making it look like he had been practicing law for just 8 years.
This is selling yourself short and greatly undervaluing your experience.
He also omitted his career prior to becoming a lawyer – which was very relevant as he was a scientist (he’s an intellectual property lawyer).
He told me that he left off former positions because they were so long ago.
He also didn’t want make it seem like he had moved around so much. (Don’t worry about that anymore – people care less about that than you think.)
When I explained the importance of listing his full professional history in order to tell a more robust story of his background and for searchability, it suddenly clicked for him.
He also had left off including his undergraduate school, which is important so LinkedIn can suggest potential connections, as well as to establish commonalities with those searching you and reconnecting with classmates and joining groups.
Make sure to include all of your past education in your profile again so that LinkedIn can help find commonalities with people. This is one of the best success strategies on LinkedIn – establishing things in common with others so they feel more comfortable about you.
The whole idea with LinkedIn is to create touchpoints with others that establish familiarities and commonalities, making them less of a stranger.
In this video, I further explore why it’s important to fill out all of the sections in your LinkedIn profile, including your past roles and education.