15 LinkedIn Tips to Help You Find a Job, Work Smarter, Boost Your Career

February 4th, 2011 by Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director

11. Showcase creative work directly on your profile

If you have art or other media you’ve created and want to demonstrate to potential employers, just click Add an application from the Edit Profile screen, then add Portfolio Display. You will then have to sign up for an account at Behance.net. Then just upload and describe your work.

12. Connect your WordPress blog to your profile

If you run a blog on WordPress and want your contacts to keep up with your postings, select Edit Profile from the Profile menu then click Add An Application and select WordPress. Then enter the URL of your blog. You can also choose to show all recent posts or only those which have been tagged “linkedin.” The most recent four or five posts will appear on your profile page.

13. Post files directly to your profile

Don’t just list your resume or link to samples of your work from your profile. Make them downloadable so people can save your work to their hard drives.

To attach files to your profile, click on the Add Sections or Add An Application links on the Profile page.
Select Box.net files as the application to use.
Click the Add An Application button and make sure the “Display on my profile” box remains checked.
Create a box.net account on the following screen, and then you’ll be able to start uploading files. The files you store will appear as icons directly on your profile page, which other users can then download.

14. Add connections using contacts from your e-mail account

If you’re just using LinkedIn’s search box, it’s difficult to find everyone you’ve ever e-mailed to see if they have a LinkedIn account. However, you can have LinkedIn search your e-mail account’s inbox to find contacts who have a LinkedIn account.

Select Add Connections from the Contacts menu.
For a web-based e-mail account, enter your e-mail address and password into the “See Who You Already Know on LinkedIn” box.
To import contacts from Outlook, click “Import Your Desktop Email Contacts” instead. LinkedIn will then comb through your mail and present you with a list of people you know who have LinkedIn accounts
Select who you want to invite, including people who are not yet on LinkedIn.

15. Add presentations from Google docs

To add a presentation to your profile, go to the Edit Profile page, click Add An Application, then select Google Presentation. You can use a free Google docs account to upload a Powerpoint deck or video and have it displayed on your profile. You can also create a presentation directly on Google and attach that to your LinkedIn page.