How to Add Your Resume to LinkedIn

Everyone knows that LinkedIn is one of the most influential and direct ways to engage with potential employers.

But not many people add their resumes to the social media platform.

Some people worry that if they upload a LinkedIn resume, their current employer may clock the activity. Others are concerned about sharing too much information about themselves, and for good reason.

For those with standout skills, who understand their current role is either coming to an end or has limited value, knowing how to upload a resume to LinkedIn is valuable.

If uploaded in the correct format and worded well, a LinkedIn resume will gain recruiters' attention.

There are just a few things that you need to think about first.

For instance,

• Do you want your LinkedIn connections to know you are looking for a new job?
• What information are you willing to share publicly?
• How will you target potential employers?

A strong resume should always be tailored to a specific job role, which is hard to achieve with a universal LinkedIn resume. Therefore, many people prefer to upload their resume with each LinkedIn job application.

It depends on your circumstances and what you want to achieve.

The good news is that learning how to upload a resume to LinkedIn is straightforward if you follow the right steps.

Things to Consider Before Uploading a Resume to LinkedIn

Before you discover how to upload a resume to LinkedIn, it is important to decide if including a resume on your LinkedIn profile is the right move for you.

There are several reasons why only a small percentage of LinkedIn profiles contain a publicly visible LinkedIn resume:

Unable to Tailor Your Resume

One of the biggest reasons people chose not to upload their resume to LinkedIn is that it can come across as rather effortless.

A posted LinkedIn resume will show that you have the necessary qualifications and core competencies. However, an employer might not realize why you are a perfect fit for a particular role.

Subediting your resume to reflect the language, skills and experience echoed in a job advert will always improve your odds of securing an interview.

Similarly, it is also worth noting that employers will check out your LinkedIn profile before interviewing you.

If you have gone to the effort of refining your resume for a role, yet they come across a LinkedIn profile that does not seem to match your application, this may appear dishonest.

It is best to decide on your strategy before you learn how to upload a LinkedIn resume.

If you want to attract the attention of recruiters rather than specific employers, a LinkedIn resume upload could work for you.

If, however, you are taking a more targeted approach, it might be best to hold off uploading a publicly accessible resume to LinkedIn.

Risk of Fall-Out at Work

Employers and recruiters are not the only people on LinkedIn. Your manager and colleagues are likely to be on there too.

If you are connected with them on LinkedIn, any new activity will get people talking.

You only need to increase the number of conversations you are having on LinkedIn for people to start thinking you are looking for a new job. Imagine what uploading a LinkedIn resume would do.

If you are not quite ready to jump ship or are only testing the market, it might be best not to include a separate resume.

Your current employer may well dispute some of the claims made on your LinkedIn resume or perhaps they may consider some achievements to be commercially sensitive. You could find yourself in hot water.

Again, it all depends on your current situation. If you are coming to the end of a short-term contract or have been made redundant, you may be less concerned. In which case, posting a LinkedIn resume could be to your advantage.

Lack of Control Over Your Personal Data

This is a big one.

While LinkedIn gives you plenty of options to control your contact information, the same is not true when uploading a resume to LinkedIn.

Therefore, it is best practice to remove any private contact details such as your home address and telephone number. After all, once you upload your LinkedIn resume, you effectively lose control over who has access to this data.

A LinkedIn resume is designed to be widely accessible to help people with their job search. It can be downloaded, shared and copied.

It is a sad reality, but identity theft is on the increase. In 2019, 14.4 million US citizens became victims of identity fraud, equal to around 1 in 15 people.

It is best to think of it like this – could you be individually identified by the data you have included? If the answer is yes, you are at risk of identity theft.

Doing Your LinkedIn Profile a Disservice

Whatever steps you take, your main goal should be to trigger enough interest to generate contact from employers.

People often make the mistake of uploading a LinkedIn resume because they do not feel their LinkedIn profile is getting enough attention. They notice their profile viewing stats have fallen and want to bump them up.

The reality might well be that their LinkedIn profile is not strong enough. After all, it takes time and skill to create a high-impact professional profile.

While there is every chance that uploading a resume to LinkedIn could lead to some inquiries, your efforts are best placed in perfecting your LinkedIn profile.

Tips for Filling Out Your LinkedIn Profile

It is a good idea to think of yourself as a brand – someone with the right skills, experience and attitude for the job.

After all, LinkedIn is a personal marketing platform. If you are wondering why interest in your profile may have stagnated, it could be that your personal brand needs attention.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is not including all the key aspects they would include within a LinkedIn resume. They may miss out key roles and only provide a summary of the company rather than their achievements.

Here are a few tips for making sure your profile works hard without having to learn how to upload a LinkedIn resume:

Pay Attention to Your Headline

There is absolutely no rule to say that your main LinkedIn profile headline must be a job description. You can use this space to say a bit more about your role and what makes you different.

For example, if you are not shy about looking for a new role as a sales director, you might want to add:

High-billing International Sales Director looking for a new challenge.

Create a Story From the Start

Unlike an uploaded LinkedIn resume, your profile enables you to tell more of a story and embellish your personal brand.

Many people leave their LinkedIn summary blank, but this short overview of you gives you the chance to tell your story.

Much like a personal mission statement, it allows you to tell people what motivates you and how this motivation has made you successful.

You might want to spend time writing a couple of different versions and running them past friends and family.

Evidence Your Claims

Far too many LinkedIn resumes and profiles are littered with corporate buzzwords such as ‘driven’, ‘innovative’, ‘strategic’ and ‘agile’.

In reality, though, these words are meaningless unless you can back up your claims.

You will need to demonstrate these terms when you describe your achievements in each role.

List Your Core Skills

Drawing from your existing resume, scroll through LinkedIn’s list of skills and select those most relevant to you, remembering to include both hard and soft skills.

Try to keep them believable, though – a long list of skills will make it seem as if you just ticked every box.

This will help back up your summary story and give your connections a chance to endorse you for these skills.

Top tip: Once you have done this, go through the LinkedIn connections you know well and endorse their skills. Chances are they will return the favor.

Include All Relevant Job Roles

As with a LinkedIn resume, your LinkedIn profile will list your experience in date order, starting with your current role.

The main difference, however, is that the usual resume rules do not apply.

This means you can include more information about your key achievements, although within reason. Employers will still want to quickly find out if you are a good fit.

In much the same way as an uploaded LinkedIn resume, you will need to identify how you have put your skills and experience to best use within each role. Most importantly, how did the employer benefit?

Make sure you stick to the facts since other colleagues will read what you claim to have achieved. If your successes were a team effort, say so. Employers will value your ability to work well with others and to give credit where it is due.

The key thing to remember is relevance. If you are highly experienced, you may not want to include every job you have held since leaving high school. If you are planning on uploading your LinkedIn resume, the same rule applies.

How to Upload Your Resume to LinkedIn

Once you have polished your LinkedIn profile, the good news is that it is easy to upload a LinkedIn resume.

You can create one using the information you have entered in one of two ways:

• You can download your entire LinkedIn profile in PDF format
• You can use LinkedIn’s Resume Builder tool

To save your profile as a PDF, click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage on a desktop computer.

Next, you will need to click View Profile then More, where you will have the option to Save to PDF.

A LinkedIn PDF resume is quite limited, however. You cannot choose the sections that will be included unless you have full access to LinkedIn Resume Builder.

Again, this is accessed on the same More tab as described above.

You can also upload your resume as a .doc, .docx or PDF file by selecting Build a resume and clicking the Upload resume button.

If you want your uploaded LinkedIn resume to appeal to certain types of employers or you are seeking a managerial role, a tailored resume is best.

In this case, you will want to keep to the maximum expected resume length of two pages of A4.

Your uploaded resume will not be publicly viewable to all your connections unless you choose to upload it as a PDF within the Summary section of your LinkedIn profile by following these steps:

1. On your profile, locate the Add profile section with a drop-down arrow
2. From the drop-down, select Featured
3. From the Featured list, select Media
4. You will be invited to upload a file, where you would select the PDF version of your resume from your computer. Just remember to name it something descriptive such as ‘John Smith resume for download’.

How to Upload Versions of Your Resume for Job Applications

You can save up to four uploaded LinkedIn resumes within your LinkedIn account via Settings.

This means that you have more flexibility over which LinkedIn resume to send with a job application.

You may even choose to enlist the support of a professional resume writer for each version.

To upload a LinkedIn resume for job applications, follow the steps outlined below:

1. Click on the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage on a desktop computer
2. Click on Select Settings & Privacy
3. Select Job seeking preferences within the left-hand panel
4. Select Job application settings
5. Upload your LinkedIn resume using the Upload resume button

How to Upload Your Resume for ‘Apply Easily’ Jobs

When browsing job listings on LinkedIn, you will notice that some jobs have an Apply button and others have a LinkedIn Apply easily label.

Unlike the Apply option, Apply easily allows you to directly apply for the job through LinkedIn.

This is where learning how to upload a LinkedIn resume is beneficial.

Once you are viewing a job labeled as Apply easily, when you click on Apply now, you will have the option to upload a LinkedIn resume. Just select the Upload button and you can select one of your saved resumes or upload one directly from your computer or device.

Remember, though, your resume will need to be an MS Word or PDF document and must be smaller than 5MB.

LinkedIn will also send a copy of your full LinkedIn profile with each job application, so make sure there is no conflicting information.

Once you have uploaded your resume, simply complete any further application fields and click Submit application.

If you have taken the time to tailor your resume, you will be in with a better chance of being asked for an interview.

Final Thoughts

You should now have a better idea of how to upload a LinkedIn resume with ease.

The most important piece of advice to take away is to use LinkedIn in a way that works best for you. Whichever option you choose, try not to forget that an uploaded LinkedIn resume is no substitute for a compelling profile.

After all, with every LinkedIn job application, an employer will also have access to your full profile. So, make sure every resume you upload tallies with the rest of your profile information.

Most importantly, never forget to protect your privacy. If you are not comfortable sharing something with the entire world, do not include it. This rule applies to both an uploaded LinkedIn resume and your LinkedIn profile.