# LinkedIn profile guide: how to set up a clear, honest profile Source: https://www.cvsorted.co.za/blog/linkedin-profile-guide Published: 2026-10-21 A strong LinkedIn profile has a clear headline that names your work, an About section that explains what you do in plain words, a current experience list with real detail, relevant skills and a simple photo. Complete each section honestly and keep it consistent with your CV. ## Key points - Your headline and About section do most of the work, so write them first. - Keep facts consistent with your CV: dates, titles and employers should match. - Use plain words that people in your field would search for. - Complete the basics before you worry about extras. - Check your privacy settings, and decide what you want visible. ## What is LinkedIn for, and do I need it? LinkedIn is a professional networking site where people keep an online profile of their work and connect with others. Recruiters and employers use it to search for people and look at candidates they already know about. You can also follow employers, see job adverts and send messages. You do not need it for every job. For many shop, factory, driving or casual roles, employers may never look. For office, professional, technical and graduate roles it is often useful, and in some fields it is common for people to check it. If you work in or want to move into those areas, a profile helps people find and understand you. A profile is not a replacement for a CV. It is a public page. A CV is a tailored document that you send for a specific job. See the article on LinkedIn versus CV for the differences. ## What do I do first? Set up the basics so your profile is complete enough to be useful. In this order: 1. A clear profile photo. 2. A headline. 3. Your location and industry. 4. An About section. 5. Your current and past experience. 6. Education. 7. Skills. A half-empty profile gives people little to go on. Complete these seven before you look at anything else. ## How do I choose a profile photo? Use a clear, current photo of just you, with your face visible, good light and a plain background. Dress as you would for the kind of job you want. A phone photo in front of a plain wall is fine. Avoid group photos, sunglasses, filters, or cropped pictures from events. A photo is optional, and you should do what you are comfortable with. Profiles without one often look less complete, and people may be less sure it is you. For more, see the article on LinkedIn profile photo tips. ## How do I write a headline? The headline appears under your name in searches and messages. By default it shows your job title, but you can write your own. Use it to say what you do and for whom, with words people would search for. Plain examples: - "Stock controller | Warehouse and inventory | Pretoria" - "Primary school teacher moving into corporate training" - "Accounting graduate | Debtors and creditors | Open to junior roles" A headline with just "Looking for opportunities" tells people nothing about you. Put the work first and your situation second. See the article on LinkedIn headline examples for more. ## How do I write the About section? The About section is a short summary of who you are professionally. Write it in the first person, in plain language, and keep it to three or four short paragraphs. Include: - What you do and what kind of work you enjoy. - The tools, settings or customers you know. - One or two real examples of results. - What you are looking for, if you are open to work. Example for a fictional person, Sipho Dlamini: "I work in warehouse operations, mainly receiving and dispatching stock for a building supplier. I am comfortable with handheld scanners, stock counts and loading schedules. At my current job I helped introduce a simple checklist for deliveries, which reduced missing paperwork. I am looking for a stock control or dispatch role in the Gauteng area." Avoid long histories, buzzwords and claims you cannot support. ## How should I write the experience section? List each job with title, employer, dates and place, then a short description. Keep the facts consistent with your CV. Use two to five short lines or bullets for each role, focusing on what you did and what came of it. LinkedIn tends to be a little more general than a CV, because it is public and not tailored. You can describe your main responsibilities and a few highlights. If you have a gap or a career change, one sentence of explanation is enough. If your title does not describe the work accurately, you can explain in the description, but do not change the title itself to something you did not hold. ## What about education, courses and licences? Add your qualifications with the institution and dates. Add short courses and licences in the sections provided, with the name of the course or licence and the provider. These help people searching for specific skills. List only those you have completed or state clearly what is in progress. ## How do I choose skills? Add skills that you could demonstrate in work, and put the most important ones first. Include a mix of tools, tasks and subject knowledge, such as "Stock control", "Customer service" or "Microsoft Excel". A modest list of relevant skills is more useful than a long one. You can ask former colleagues to endorse skills, but it is not necessary. See the article on skills and endorsements. ## Should I ask for recommendations? A short, genuine recommendation from a manager, teacher or colleague can add credibility. Ask someone who has seen your work, make it easy by reminding them of what you did together, and thank them. Do not offer to trade or pressure anyone. The article on recommendations explains how to ask and give them well. ## How do I make my profile easier to find? People search with words, so use the terms that people in your field use in your headline, About section and job descriptions. Keep your location accurate. Complete your profile fully. Be active in a small, genuine way, such as connecting with colleagues and former classmates, and following employers you are interested in. You do not need to post often. ## What does a weak About section look like next to a better one? A fictional example for Alex Morgan, a bookkeeper: **Weak:** "Passionate, dynamic professional with a proven track record of success. A team player who thinks outside the box." **Better:** "I am a bookkeeper at a small construction firm, where I capture supplier invoices, reconcile the bank account each month and prepare VAT information for the accountant. I like tidy records and I enjoy explaining numbers to people who are not used to them. I am looking for a bookkeeping role with a wider range of clients." The second version has a job, tasks, a preference and a goal, and it can be checked against a CV. ## How can I use LinkedIn when I am looking for work? Once the profile is in place, use it in small, regular ways: - Search for job titles and set up alerts for the roles you want. - Follow employers in your area and read what they post. - Look at the profiles of people who do the job you want, to see the words and skills they use. - Send a short, polite message to someone you know who works for an employer you like. Do not ask for a job. Ask for a little information. - Tell your network what you are looking for in a short post, if you are comfortable. If you are applying for a job, make sure your CV and profile tell the same story, because the reader may look at both. ## How long should the setup take? You can build a good basic profile in an hour. Spend the first twenty minutes on the headline and About section, the next twenty on experience and education, and the last twenty on photo, skills and settings. Then leave it for a day and read it again. You will see things you want to change. ## What privacy and safety settings should I check? Look at your settings for who can see your connections, your profile photo, your activity and your contact details. Decide how much you want to share. Consider whether you want to show your phone number publicly, or only to people you know. Be careful with messages from people you do not know who offer jobs and ask for money or sensitive documents. Genuine employers do not charge you to apply. Also check what appears on a quick search of your name, and keep your professional profile and personal social media separate where you wish. The article on your online presence covers this. ## How should I connect with people? Start with people you know: colleagues, classmates, supervisors, customers, community contacts. When you invite someone you do not know well, add a short note with who you are and why you are connecting. Avoid mass requests. A smaller network of real contacts is more useful than a large one of strangers. See the article on connection requests. ## What should I keep consistent with my CV? Names of employers, job titles, dates and qualifications. If they do not match, a recruiter may wonder which is accurate. You can write more detail on one than the other, but the facts should agree. Update both when something changes. ## What if I do not have much to put on it yet? Start with what you have: your education, any courses, volunteering, projects and the skills you are learning. A short, honest headline such as "Matric graduate interested in retail and customer service" is better than leaving it blank. Fill the profile as your experience grows, and add something small each time you finish a course or a new task at work. A new profile with real, simple facts is more believable than a long one full of large claims. ## What common mistakes should I avoid? - A blank or unclear headline. - No About section. - A casual photo from a night out. - A profile that contradicts the CV. - Claiming skills or jobs that are not accurate. - Writing the profile in the third person, which can feel distant. - Using the site only when you need a job, so the profile is out of date. ## How do I check my profile? View it as another person would, from outside your network if you can. Read the top section only. Can you tell what the person does and where? Then check spelling, dates and the link on your CV. Ask a friend to read it and say what they would assume about you. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I need a LinkedIn profile to get a job? No, many jobs are filled without it. It is most useful for office, professional, technical and graduate roles, and for networking. If you work in a field where people use it, a clear, honest profile can help others find and understand you. ### What should I put in my LinkedIn headline? Put your job title or the kind of work you do, a key area or skill, and, if useful, your situation or location. Use words people would search for. "Open to work" alone says little, so lead with what you do. ### Should my LinkedIn profile match my CV? The facts should match: employers, titles, dates and qualifications. The wording can differ, because LinkedIn is public and general while a CV is tailored to a job. Update both when something changes. ### Is it safe to put my contact details on LinkedIn? You can choose what to show and who sees it. Many people share only an email address, or keep contact details visible to connections only. Be careful with unknown messages, and never pay to apply for a job. ## Next steps Spend thirty minutes writing your headline and About section in a notes app, then add them to your profile and check that the dates match your CV. If you want a guided way to put this together, you can build your CV step by step with [CV Sorted](/cv): it is free to build and preview. ## Related reading - [LinkedIn headline examples you can adapt to your own work](/blog/linkedin-headline-examples) - [How to write your LinkedIn About section in plain words](/blog/linkedin-about-section) - [LinkedIn vs CV: what is the difference and which do you need?](/blog/linkedin-vs-cv)