LinkedIn Profile 101

I've been working a little bit on the side to help some folks either break into the game industry or get back into employment after having been laid off. A number of brave folks have stepped up on this platform to introduce themselves, and I've ended up giving the same advice multiple times, so I figured I'd write it down in case other people would find it useful.

There's plenty of sites out there that talk about how to write a good resume, and I highly recommend them for important things like how to present your value proposition, using active verbs and quantifiable accomplishments, and the importance of clear, consistent formatting. Good writing is good writing and will translate to any medium. In addition, when working with LinkedIn, it helps to have a critical eye on how people read a profile.

Let's start with the holy trinity: your profile picture, your name, and your headline. These three appear on LinkedIn every time you post, every time you comment. More than anything else, these three things compose your identifier on the platform.

Profile Picture:

• You must have one; people are much more likely to click on profiles with faces
• Does not have to be a professional picture - you can crop a casual - I use the shot above from a conference I went to for all sorts of things
• In the game industry, you can get away with a highly stylized avatar rather than a picture, but make sure it is something unique/personal and not someone else's IP
• Make sure you are looking towards the camera - people want to see your eyes. For the same reason, do not use a picture with dark glasses.
• You don't have to smile, but use a picture where you look happy. Happy people are more attractive, instinctively; we want to be around them.
• Keep it professional - no drinking, smoking, curse words on t-shirts, etc.

Names are pretty straightforward. Use the one you want to be called. If you're John for legal purposes, but everyone calls you Sam, feel free to make your profile name Sam. John "Sam" Doe also works. Unless you're a world-renowned online personality who derives a significant amount of revenue from your brand, do not include your online handle.

Headlines are more complicated. There are many schools of thought here. Sometimes people will go with the scattershot approach: "Designer. Producer. Executive. 3D Artist. Wedding Photographer." I'm not a fan. Say 1-2 things about yourself very clearly. You can always flag interests farther down the profile; there is plenty of space under the fold to hide related terms for SEO.

Ideally, make the headline something that people hire for "Veteran Narrative Designer", "Senior Server Engineer", "Unity Expert". Don't be afraid to say what you are looking for, not just who you are. But, keep in mind that this will show up on every post you make. If you have two threads in your background (as I do, with design and production), it's fine to mention both, but emphasize how they are related. "Expert in Production Automation and Freelance Bagpipe Performer" may suit you to a T, but no one is hiring for that particular intersection of skills, and the people who are desperate to automate their assembly lines might be worried that you'll kip off down the moors on a whim someday.

This is pretty much the most powerful button on LinkedIn:

It's the button that lets you look at your profile as it appears to other people. The header, what you see at the top of this article, is the first thing you see, and what's there? The holy trinity, plus a background image. So add a background image that says something interesting about who you are, something that you would be comfortable talking to someone about during a job interview. For me, it's the mountains because I love where I live, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be here and make games.

The next thing that people will see is your about section:

This is your first real chance to go into detail about who you are, so make it count. You only have room for 1-3 sentences here before the site cuts you off with the "... see more" button, so make sure you have expressed a complete and clear thought before you get cut off. As a hiring manager, I want to know whether you are a potential fit before I click on that button.

And this is probably the most-neglected section in any LinkedIn profile:

Whatever the last 4 things are that you did on the site are immediately visible to other people. They don't have any of the context, though. They get the headlines in this big, heavy, bold, easy to read font, and then they have to click-through to get to the actual activity.

So, before you log off from LinkedIn for the day, go look at your activity. See what it says about you to other people who are looking at your profile - are you offering advice, insight, help? Are you asking for something, arguing about something, making categorical statements? Make a post about something in your field: "As an experienced producer, I've often found that when making the transition to agile teams resist planning poker a lot harder before they've actually done it." - what people will see on your profile is just the first ~10-15 words "As an experienced producer, I've often found that when making the transition to agile...". Before people even get to your experience, they see your activity, so make sure they are prepped to see you in the light that you want to be seen in.

LinkedIn is like any other social media site - its algorithms reward engagement. So, if you're looking for work, make sure you're engaging every day. Look for people who have the job you want; look for people who are working at the companies you want to work for. Make your profile look like their profiles; use similar language, phrasing. If they're active on the platform, engage with their content - it boosts both of you. Being good at LinkedIn will probably not get you a job - unless you want to work at LinkedIn - but it will help you get past the first filter in the job pipeline - the initial look. Look at your profile the way a hiring manager will, and make it the answer to the problem they are trying to solve.

Because the reality is that everyone who is hiring is hoping that the next person they look at is going to be the one. Every hiring manager has a problem; every candidate is a potential solution. If you can make it easy, fast, and clear that you are offering what someone is looking for, then you're on to step 2 - interviewing!