Someone hears about you through a colleague, sees your comment on a post or receives your job application. They decide to look you up on LinkedIn.
What will they find?
Can they tell what you do, what you’re good at and why they should pay attention to your work? Or will they find a collection of job titles, vague descriptions and phrases that could belong to almost anyone?
Your LinkedIn profile is often one of the first opportunities you have to make a professional impression. And whether you’re a student, a recent graduate or a young professional building your career, that impression matters.
At NGTL, we want young people to recognise that building a professional identity isn’t about pretending to be more accomplished than they are. It’s about learning to communicate their abilities, experiences and ambitions with clarity and confidence.
That’s one of the ideas behind our Your Brand, Your Voice initiative.
Here are a few practical ways to put it into action.
1. Tell people what you actually do
We’ve all seen LinkedIn headlines filled with words like passionate, motivated, innovative and results-driven.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with those qualities. But they don’t tell a potential employer, collaborator or mentor much about what you can contribute.
Compare these two descriptions:
Before: Passionate communications enthusiast committed to excellence and innovation.
After: Early-career communications professional creating articles, customer guides and digital content that help people understand technology.
The second description gives readers something tangible. They know what kind of work you do and where your interests lie.
You don’t need an impressive job title to communicate your value. Start with the skills you have, the problems you can help solve and the work you want to be known for.
2. Make your About section work for you
Think of your LinkedIn About section as your professional introduction.
If you met someone at a networking event and had one minute to explain your work, what would you say?
Your About section should answer three questions:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Who do you do it for?
Start with your current professional focus. Explain the skills and experiences that support it. Then give people a reason to connect with you.
For example, if you’re interested in data analysis, don’t simply write that you’re passionate about data. Talk about the tools you’re learning, the projects you’ve completed and the kinds of problems you want to solve.
And if you’re still figuring out your career direction, that’s fine. You can communicate what you’re exploring without claiming expertise you haven’t developed.
Clarity is more valuable than exaggeration.
3. Show your work, not just your qualifications
Your degree, certifications and job titles are useful. But they don’t always tell the full story of what you can do.
Have you built a project? Written an article? Organised an event? Volunteered for an initiative? Contributed to a team assignment?
These experiences can provide evidence of your capabilities.
Use LinkedIn’s Featured section to highlight work you’re proud of. Where appropriate, include links to your portfolio, publications or completed projects.
And don’t underestimate the value of explaining your contribution.
Instead of simply writing that you participated in a project, describe the problem your team was trying to solve, what you were responsible for and what you learnt.
You may be earlier in your career than other professionals, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing valuable to show.
4. Build a voice people can recognise
You don’t have to post on LinkedIn every day to build a meaningful professional presence.
What matters is that your contributions reflect your interests, knowledge and professional direction.
You could share something you’ve learnt from a project, explain an industry development that interests you or offer your perspective on a challenge facing young professionals.
The goal isn’t to become an influencer overnight.
It’s to participate in conversations that matter to your career and gradually build a body of work that reflects how you think.
Over time, those contributions can help people understand not just what you do, but how you approach problems.
5. Keep your profile growing with you
Your professional identity isn’t fixed.
The person you were when you graduated may be different from the professional you’re becoming two years later.
As you develop new skills, complete projects and gain experience, your LinkedIn profile should reflect that progress.
Set aside some time every few months to review your headline, About section and experience.
Ask yourself: If someone discovered my profile today, would they understand the professional I’m becoming?
If the answer is no, it’s time for an update.
Your brand, your voice
We believe every emerging leader has a story worth telling. But telling that story effectively requires more than listing achievements.
It requires self-awareness, clarity and the confidence to communicate what makes your contribution valuable.
Through Your Brand, Your Voice, we’re encouraging young people to take ownership of their professional identities and become more intentional about how they present themselves to the world.
You don’t have to wait until you’ve achieved everything you want in your career to start building your professional presence.
Start with what you know. Show what you’ve done. Be clear about where you’re going.
Your next opportunity may begin with someone understanding what you bring to the table.
Explore our Your Brand, Your Voice initiative to learn more.
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