A LinkedIn profile that recruiters notice: a guide for developers and designers

Your headline appears next to your name in search results and messages. By default it shows your job title, which wastes the space.

Say what you do, with the main keywords someone would search for. A formula that works well: your role, your main skills, and what you are looking for or known for.

• Weak: Software Engineer at Company X
• Better: Full stack developer | React, Node.js, PostgreSQL | Building web products for startups

Put the most important words first, because they are the ones that stay visible when the headline is cut off on a phone.

A friendly, well-lit photo of your face, with a plain background, helps people trust a profile. It does not need to be professional photography. A phone picture near a window is enough.

The banner at the top is free space. Use it for something simple: your name and role, your main skills, or a clean abstract design. Leave it blank if you have nothing good, but do not leave the default grey.

Keep it short and written in the first person. Three short paragraphs are plenty.

• Who you are and what you work on, in two or three sentences.
• What you are good at, with one or two concrete examples.
• What you are looking for, and how to contact you.

Put the most important sentence first. LinkedIn shows only the first few lines before a see more link, and many readers never click it.

Under each job, write two to five short bullets that say what you built or improved. This is the same advice as for a CV: results beat duties.

Add the skills you used to each role. LinkedIn uses them in search, so they help recruiters find you.

If you have been a freelancer or built your own product, list it as a role. It counts as experience.

List the skills that match the jobs you want, and keep the most important ones near the top, because those are what people see first.

Use the Featured section to pin the things you most want people to see: a project, a portfolio link, an article, or a case study. It sits near the top of your profile, so it works like a shop window.

Ask former colleagues or clients for a short recommendation. Two honest recommendations are worth more than ten generic skill endorsements.

LinkedIn has an Open to work setting. You can show it to everyone with a green frame, or share it with recruiters only. If you are employed and want to keep your search private, choose recruiters only.

Set the roles and locations you want, including remote, so the right recruiters find you. Keep your contact details up to date, with an email you check.

You do not need to become a content creator. A few small habits are enough.

• Connect with people you actually work with or admire, and add a short note when you send a request.
• Comment thoughtfully on posts from people in your field. A useful comment is more visible than a like.
• Share something you learned or built once or twice a month, even if it is small.
• Reply politely to recruiters, even when you are not interested. It keeps doors open.

Be careful with unsolicited messages from unknown people who promise easy money or ask for personal information or payment. Real recruiters never ask you to pay for a job.

• Your photo, headline and banner are filled in.
• Your about section starts with its strongest sentence.
• Each role has results, not only duties.
• Your skills match the jobs you want.
• Your custom profile address is short and uses your name.
• Your contact details are current.

Review the page once a quarter, and again whenever you finish a project or change jobs. Open it in a private window to see what a stranger sees, since that is what a recruiter gets.