Not sure how to add your resume to LinkedIn, or even if you should?
After providing two suggestions for anyone interested in uploading their resume to this powerful career platform, we’ll show you how to add your own resume to your LinkedIn profile so you can attract more recruiters and energize your job hunt.
Before Adding Your Resume to LinkedIn
There are two things you should do before you begin uploading your resume to LinkedIn.
1. Remove Personal Information from Your Resume
Your resume likely contains certain bits of information you don’t want broadcast across the internet. While such information might be useful for a recruiter or hiring manager, LinkedIn is a public platform. Your personal details could fall into unwanted hands if you’re not careful.
Specifically, if you put your address on your resume, anyone who landed on your page and viewed your resume could see where you live.
Other information you should consider removing from your resume header or contact section includes your:
- phone number
- email address
- graduation date
2. Create Targeted Resumes for Each Application
A one-size-fits-all resume on LinkedIn prevents you from targeting a particular company with your resume’s content. Send a tailored version, and your response rate will quickly improve.
While you can only have one default resume set on your LinkedIn profile at a time, you’re able to submit a new resume each time you apply for a position on LinkedIn’s job search page. Use this function to make you and your application stand apart from anyone who chooses to spam one version of their resume everywhere.
Should I Upload My Resume on LinkedIn?
Yes, putting your resume on LinkedIn is completely fine if you took note of the precautions mentioned earlier.
However, don’t be tempted by the possibility of copy-pasting your resume onto your LinkedIn profile.
Your resume and LinkedIn profile are two distinctly different (but useful) tools at your disposal as you hunt for jobs. Whereas your resume should be created with specific companies in mind, use your profile to cover your entire work history, and act as a hubpage for your professional aspirations.
Two Ways to Upload Your Resume to LinkedIn
As we’ve touched upon earlier, you can put your resume on LinkedIn in two ways.
- Upload your resume through LinkedIn’s Application Settings page
- Add your resume to a specific job advertisement on LinkedIn
1. Upload your resume through LinkedIn’s Application Settings page
Adding your resume to LinkedIn has recently been made easier — good news for job seekers, worse news for people writing guides on how to upload your resume.
Simply navigate to the Application Settings page of their Job Search board, click the “On” button for the question “Save onsite application answers”, and then press the “Upload” button to pull up your resume file from your computer. Note that both PDF and Word documents (.docx) are acceptable — employers should be able to open both types of files.
There you have it: you’ve successfully set a default resume to your LinkedIn profile, which recruiters and hiring managers can check out on their own. You can also add up to four resumes to your profile, allowing you to switch between them based on the job you’re applying for via LinkedIn.
2. Add your resume to individual LinkedIn job ads
Another way to add your resume to LinkedIn is to find a job ad you like on their job search hubpage and then attach your resume directly to it.
If you’ve never navigated LinkedIn’s job search function before, here’s how to make it happen:
First, find the job you want
Navigate to the jobs section of LinkedIn by pressing the “Jobs” button in the page menu.
On the LinkedIn Jobs page, you can then look for jobs based on your location. Simply put in the type of job you want and the city you’re in, and options will appear (if there are any).
LinkedIn also tries to guide you toward other job opportunities as it learns what kind of job you’re looking for, which is a nice addition.
After you’ve narrowed it down to a job you’re interested in, LinkedIn helps you determine if the position is a good fit based on the skill-set and background you’ve listed in your profile.
Interested in applying for the first job you found? Click“Easy Apply” and you’re on your way.
Then add your resume to the job advertisement
After inputting some basic information, you’re then able to upload your resume directly to the ad on LinkedIn. Doc, Docx, and PDF are all acceptable file formats for your resume (as noted below the “Upload Resume” button).
Remember that not every job ad has an “Easy Apply” function. If the most attractive jobs only have a blue “Apply” button, that button will take you directly to the company’s website and their own job posting.
Double-check to ensure you’ve included the correct information
With your resume uploaded at this point, make sure everything on both your LinkedIn profile and job application are looking polished, with no visible spelling, grammar, or content errors. Once everything is looking good, click “Submit Application”, and your resume is on its way to your potential future employer.
Understanding LinkedIn and how you can leverage it to get your resume in the hands of hiring managers is an important skill. There are opportunities to be found on LinkedIn, so upload your resume (or resumes) and start sending out applications so you can find your next job!
Want to tighten that resume up a bit before uploading it to LinkedIn? There are many techniques that go into writing a resume that you may not be aware of — ones that could noticeably improve your application. Or you can try out our free resume builder to see those techniques handled for you, the choice is yours.
Best of luck, and check out our blog if you need more advice on creating a professional application that earns interviews.
