So you want to add or upload your resume to LinkedIn?
As a former leader of LinkedIn’s Education Team, I’m thrilled to show you two methods:
The easy way
The powerful way
How to Upload Your Resume to LinkedIn: The Easy Way
The absolutely easiest way to upload your resume to LinkedIn is to attach it to your About section, since that appears at the top of your profile.
Here’s how:
Go to your profile (just click the Me tab in the upper-right hand corner of the menu)
Scroll down to your Featured section
Click the + icon, Add media, and attach your resume.
That’s it! Your resume is now easily accessible to recruiters or anyone else who visits your profile.
How to Add Your Resume to LinkedIn: The Powerful Way
As easy as the above method is, it does come with two catches:
LinkedIn’s algorithm won’t scan your resume the way it will scan the rest of your profile, which means you may not be found for your skills (e.g., a recruiter searching for “SQL” may not see your profile even if that term is on your resume)
Even if a recruiter does come to your profile, they’re unlikely to actually open your resume since the average recruiter profile view is just six seconds. Which means that they’re going to be focusing on your Headline and your Experience highlights, not diving deep into attachments.
Thus, if you want to unlock the full power of LinkedIn - getting found by recruiters for your dream jobs - here’s what I suggest you do instead:
Open up your resume but resist the temptation to just upload it.
Instead, copy and paste each section into the relevant section of your LinkedIn profile.
If you have a Summary or Objective, paste that into About
Paste your Work entries into Experience - and be sure to include all your bullet points as well
If you have any remaining sections (Education, Projects, Skills, etc.), you’ll find corresponding sections on LinkedIn, too
How to Add Your Resume to LinkedIn: The Bottom Line
Now, I know what you may be thinking: “Jeremy, isn’t it redundant to just list these exact same things on LinkedIn?”
But think of it this way: How many times is your resume being seen by recruiters on your hard drive???
Unless they’ve somehow hacked into your computer (in which case you may have bigger problems on your hands), the answer is a big, fat zero.
Whereas there are millions of recruiter searches on LinkedIn everyday. And so every time they’re searching for your skills (SQL, sales enablement, screenwriting, etc.) and not finding you is a missed opportunity.
So the bottom line is this: You can upload your resume to LinkedIn in different ways. But never forget why you’re adding your resume to LinkedIn: To get access to opportunity.
And once you remember that, the right path will be incredibly clear!