A Professional LinkedIn Profile

First impressions: photo and banner

Your photo, name and headline are what people see in search results and comments. Get them right first.

• Photo: a clear, recent photo of your face, looking at the camera, with good light and a plain background. Your face should fill most of the circle. A good phone photo by a window works well.
• Banner (the wide image behind your photo): a simple image related to your work, your city skyline, or a clean design with a line about what you do. You can make one in Canva by searching "LinkedIn banner".

A headline people search for

Your headline is the line under your name. By default it's just your job title, but you can write your own, up to about 220 characters. Recruiters search for skills and roles, so include the words they'd type.

A simple formula: role | skills or specialism | who you help or what you're working towards.

AI can help you draft options:

Write 5 LinkedIn headline options (under 200 characters) for me:
I'm a graphic designer in Ibadan, 2 years' experience, skilled in
Canva and Adobe Illustrator, looking for freelance brand design clients.

An About section in your own words

The About section is your short story. Write it in the first person ("I help…", "I'm…"), in three short parts:

1. What you do and for whom. "I'm a data analyst who helps small businesses understand their sales."
2. Proof. Experience, results, projects or certificates. "I built a sales dashboard that…"
3. What you're looking for and how to reach you. "I'm open to analyst roles. Send me a message or email me at…"

Keep it to a few short paragraphs. The first two lines matter most, because LinkedIn hides the rest behind "see more".

You can ask AI for a first draft, then rewrite it until it sounds like you. Readers can tell when a profile is all AI.

Experience, skills and proof

• Experience: add each role with two to four bullet points about what you achieved, not just your duties. The same bullets you'd use on a good CV work here.
• Skills: add the skills from the job adverts you're interested in, such as Excel, customer service or social media marketing. Put your top ones first.
• Licences & certifications: add courses and badges you've earned, including your CloudTech Academy certificates and badges, with the link.
• Featured: pin your best work at the top: a project, a portfolio link, a post you're proud of.
• Recommendations: ask a former manager, lecturer or client for a short recommendation. One or two good ones build a lot of trust.

If you're job hunting, you can set Open to work and choose whether all members see it or only recruiters.

Try it

1. Update your photo and set a custom URL.
2. Write a new headline using the formula: role | skills | goal. Use AI for options, then edit one.
3. Write a three-part About section in the first person.
4. Add at least five skills, and add this course's badge under Licences & certifications once you've earned it.